The Highly Decorated, The First of its Kind and the Safe Haven

  

On this same trip out-of-town that I have talked about in several of the latest posts, the theme was history. Each of below listed historical places were places I had visited for the first time. Each experience was filled with a tremendous amount of learning and the continued awe I have with American history. Each place took a couple hours to go through. The Eastern State Penitentiary had an audio tour on the day we visited, and, again, this was the first time I had ever been on audio tour. 

USS New Jersey

This was a pretty extensive self-guided tour. We walked the entirety of that ship. This ship had a distinguished and incredible career. Here are just of the facts that are posted outside of the ship: 

• The New Jersey is America's most decorated battleship. It has 19 Battle and Campaign stars. 
• The New Jersey served in more conflicts than any other battleship, providing fire support against enemies in World War II, Korean War, Vietnam and Lebanese Civil War. 
• The New Jersey is the longest battleship ever constructed. It measures at 887 feet, seven inches, equivalent to three football fields. 
• The New Jersey fired more 16 and 5-inch shells than any other battleship in history. 
• The New Jersey served across 48 years (the battleship was decommissioned and reinstated three times); saw more than 55,000 Sailors and Marines serving onboard.

To walk the inner-most parts of the battleship was incredible. We got to peek into the room in which the anchors where stored, we got to walk down the very halls and entered the very rooms that thousands of Sailors and Marines frequented. We got to see where they slept, where they ate and where they did their laundry. Some spaces were tight and others were not necessarily meant for tall people. We got to see the communications room and got to hear some of the audio from times the missiles where being launched, we got to see the navigation deck and all the instruments that went into navigating. We got to see the guns that shot the 16 and 5-inch shells and the amount of gun powder required to shoot the guns. 

Seeing such a large-no pun intended-piece of history was just awesome. To see this battleship's greatness in its retired state, I can't imagine it in its height. 

For a full history of the USS New Jersey, you can visit here. 

Eastern State Penitentiary

I was a little apprehensive to visit. I had visited one other penitentiary at a different time, and did not enjoy that experience. But after some convincing, I went. What an experience! The day we went, they only had an audio tour available. 

The audio tour lead you through 10 key spots through out the penitentiary, but after that you were free to visit any of the other spots listed on the map they gave you as you entered. 

Eastern State was in its natural state. No renovations have been made, the plaster on the walls is peeling off, the cells are in ruins, trees are growing in some cells and and rust covered the different metal surfaces. 

What I believe made this audio tour unique and what set our tour as a whole, as oppose to a guided tour, was the fact that we got to hear the voices of previous inmates and guards. They talked of their experience, the sights and sounds that could be found in the prison. These narratives gave life to the prison; they called to thought what other stories the prison held.

According to the history the audio tour gave, Eastern State was truly the first of its kind. The whole purpose was to cause penitence—remorse and/or regret—for what they had done. In the early days of the prison, prisoners were in complete isolation. Each cell held one prisoner and each of these of prisoners had the basic necessities to survive—a bed, a toilet and sink and a desk or a small dresser—as well as a door in the back of the cell that lead to the exercise yard. As years passed and controversy over the prison got heavier, cells began to hold more than one prisoner. Again, in the early days of the prison, there was no life sentence and prisoners were not executed there at Eastern State. While the prison held many notable prisoners, the most notable of was Al Capone. 

Words cannot accurately describe the sights and historical significance of this place. I am glad I decided to go. 

Cape May Zoo & Lighthouse  

This was a neat little trip. At the southern most tip of New Jersey, you find these two spots. 

The first place we stopped at was the Cape May Zoo. This is a free, non-profit zoo. But, even more cool than that is the zoo houses moderately to critically endangered species. While small compared to other places, the zoo has a number cool animals—snow leopards, Siberian tiger, numerous different species of turtles and even albino deer. For some of the species, the zoo attempts to breed them in order to sustain that line of animals. 

The second place we stopped was the Cape May lighthouse. According to the Web site, this is the “third documented lighthouse” in southern New Jersey. Just a short distance away is the beach, the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware visible from the shore. In addition to the lighthouse, we got a bonus historical spot. On the beach not far from the lighthouse, we stumbled upon an old World War II bunker. The bunker was brick and blocked up, with zero access in. According to the sign, this bunker was built after the attack on Pearl Harbor to protect the coastline from the Germans should they get so bold as to attack the U.S. 

These historical sites were just a few of the treasures of American history, and I am so glad that I got to experience them. 

I have attached just a few of the photos from the trips to let you see just how cool these places were.