Cub Scouts - USS Lexington Live Aboard Trip

Annually, the cub scouts stay the weekend on the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi.  The USS Lexington is a retired aircraft carrier built in World War II for the Navy.  The carrier has been turned into a museum that does allow "live aboards" which mean people to spend the night for the full experience.

Because I am the designated parent of the family to attend scouting activities, I was the lucky parent to attend with Collin.  We had planned to carpool with another family for the 3.5 hour drive. Then, the day before, the mom asked if we would mind flying there.  Her dad is a pilot and offered to fly us there.  He was staying the night with Collin's friend, Trace, anyway because Trace's mom was going to be out of town.  Would we mind?  ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!?  I could not wait to tell Collin the plan but decided to keep it a secret until we drove to the airport the next morning.  As soon as he heard we were flying, he was very worried about flying over water.  I told him would would but only for a little bit.  This barely calmed his nerves.  He forgot about his fear when he saw his friend waiting for us.

The boys helping the pilot check the plane

Getting ready to board and take off

We could not have asked for a better day for flight. The weather was cool and nice without a cloud in the sky.  We each got to listen to the pilot, Bid Daddy, talk to traffic control or us letting us know what he was doing.  Collin did not want to sit up front to watch Bid Daddy.  I think he was still nervous and happy to sit where he was.  The flight was to take us 56 minutes instead of the 3.5 hour drive.  Before we landed, we got permission to circle the USS Lexington.  This was great!  The ship looked so small from the plane.

During the flight, we could see where we were on the interactive map

Trace looking out the window

Collin asking the pilot questions

Corpus Christi bay

USS Lexington from above

Another great picture of the USS Lexington

We arrived 2 hours earlier than we needed to load on the ship, so we went to lunch.  Collin was so hungry, he ate two hamburgers and fries.  I was not sure what they would serve for dinner so at least he was full before he went aboard.  We then waited with the rest of the Pack to listen to instructions and load the ship.  The boys played in the sand or climbed on the ship parts that were by the loading bridge.

Looking for shark teeth

"Is this a propeller mom?" 

The aircraft carrier looked HUGE from the shore

When we were able to board the ship, we had to go straight to the berthing room (sleeping quarters) to drop off our gear before heading the the Hangar Deck to hear the instructions for the weekend. I did have to find a Dad to take care of him at night because the females and males had to sleep separately.  Big Daddy said he was happy to take care of Collin.  We separated briefly planning to meet back in 15 minutes.

By the time I got to the female berthing room, most of the beds were taken.  I found a section of 3 by themselves that were still available.  I choose the top thinking I would have the most head room and worried about how I would get up and down from there later.




Because there were 1,500 people planning to spend the night, the activities were sectioned off by arm band color.  We were the red bands.  That meant we watched a movie before dinner.  When I heard movie, I assumed it would be about World War II, the USS Lexington or another aircraft carrier.  Instead, we got to watch Journey to Space (3D) which was about the Space Shuttle program, International Space station and possible travel to Mars.  It was REALLY interesting.  Collin fell asleep about 10 minutes into the 445 minutes movie.  After the movie, we went to dinner one level below.  Dinner was hamburgers so the boys were not interested in eating them because we just had them for lunch.  We had about 30 minutes to explore before we came back to the Hangar Deck for Color Guard and a patriotic ceremony.  Next, we had two hours to work on the scavenger hunt which was a great way to take the tours and check out the ship.  The boys really liked the Flight Deck because they could get into a few of the planes.

This was one of Collin's favorites because of all of the controls he could touch

The boys thought it was hilarious to learn about the "poop deck".  Here they are pointing to the word "poop" on the sign.

We should have kept them in the Brig (jail) for a few minutes more

Collin's Den looking at one of the many planes on the ship

One of several models

In the Briefing Room

We came back to the Hangar Deck for ghost stories at 9:30pm.  Collin was bored because "the guy is just talking to us" but later kept taking about the stories so I knew he was listening.  We explored for 30 more minutes until we headed to the berthing rooms to get ready for Lights Out at 11pm.  Of course the boys were not tired but the fell asleep quickly.

The next morning, the lights came on at 6:45am.  Our breakfast was not scheduled until 8:15am so we let the boys play some games in the game room after getting dressed for the day.  Breakfast was eggs, sausage patties, biscuits and gravy.  Collin only wanted the sausage and choose to eat two bowls of cereal instead.  He said their milk was the best which is why he ate so much.  There were announcements at 9am and then we could either leave or stay on the ship.  We headed back because the boys had sports games or practices in the afternoon.

Collin letting me know he is ready