The USS Iowa

Today we took a family trip to visit the Battleship, USS Iowa which is docked in San Pedro.  Our friends toured this great ship a few months ago, and when I spied a Groupon for it, I grabbed it.  The family wasn't too crazy about their mother's/wife's idea of a good time, but it was difficult not to appreciate the greatness of the ship once we were there.  Here are few things we saw...

Two bridges on the drive over

 Life savers, just in case

 Ammunition the size of an 11-year-old

 Very cramped hallways not meant for anyone over 6'2"

 The Captain's Quarters where three presidents have been entertained while they traveled

 Super long halls and doorways

 Lots of stairs and ladders

 Amazing views from up high (see all the tiny people on the main deck?)

 Lookout points

 A chart showing that the Iowa is nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall (!)

 Big guns 

(all that clutter around them is for a movie being filmed on board)

 A truly awesome battleship built in 1940 and still in pretty good shape!  The self-guided tour was totally worth our time, plus if your kids are into Iron Man 3, you'll get to see the ship yards where the battle scene was filmed as you cross the St. Vincent and Thomas Bridge.