Virginia Vacation, Part 7: Norfolk Maritime

Norfolk has tons of maritime history, as well as a strong maritime present. Unfortunately, all the tonnages, weaponry, ship classes and such are completely lost on me. We went on board of USS Wisconsin and then took a boat tour around the Naval Base, it was all very interesting and I was taking pictures all the time, but none of the information stayed in my head.

So I am now going to post these pictures with very minimal comments.

USS Wisconsin in Norfolk

On deck of USS Wisconsin

Control center of USS Wisconsin

Union Jack flying on USS Wisconsin. Flag poles on the bow and stern are called staffs. On the stern, it's a flag staff; it flies the national colors. On the bow, it's a jackstaff and the flag it flies is a "jack".

The blue flag with white stars is a "Union Jack". USS Wisconsin still flies it, as she did during her active service. After September 11, the Navy began flying the "Don't Tread On Me" jack, as shown in the next photo (of some other ship in the Navy Yard). It has 13 red and white stripes, a rattlesnake, and the words: "DON'T TREAD ON ME"

USS Wisconsin saw her last active duty during the first Gulf War, in 1991. In accordance with tradition, the crew painted strike marks on the turrets. Each mark denotes a successful mission.

Doctor's office on USS Wisconsin. This is typical of the officers' quarters.

In contrast, this is how the regular sailors slept - in cupboards, stacked three high... Each cell had a storage compartment for personal items under the mattress, as well as a curtain for privacy.

This is where the crew got their food...

... and this is where they ate it.

The ship had a machine shop for minor repairs.

This is a view of USS Wisconsin from the stern (taken from the Navy Yard tour boat).

"Letters from the fallen" memorial in Norfolk, honoring members of the U.S. armed forces who died in combat. I saw letters from Civil War, WWII, Korea, Vietnam... The first was written on Oct. 4, 1776, during the Revolutionary War, and the last on Jan. 31, 1991, during the Persian Gulf War. One thing they have in common, those who wrote them did not come back...

Starting the Navy Yard tour. This is the biggest dry dock, built in... China?.. Chile?.. somewhere weird.

These are very big, very powerful, very automated cranes for loading and unloading the ship cargo. These were built in China and somehow delivered here whole... even though I don't understand how that is possible.

These are slightly smaller, but also very big cranes. The COSCO ship is not what you think: it is an abbreviation of some Chinese shipping company.

Some kind of ships (possibly destroyers?) in the Navy Yard.

Submarine

Another submarine

This big ship is leaving its dock and going out for a spin...

... here it is already turned and heading off into the distance. It is very big.

Some other kind of ship (we had a very informative tour, but all these names and figures are totally not staying in my head).

Very, very big ship. Don't remember what it is used for.

These are definitely aircraft carriers. Two of them.

One of the aircraft carriers.

Same aircraft carrier.

The other aircraft carrier.

And finally, just a beautiful sailboat.

> Part 8

Virginia Vacation, Part 8: Norfolk Zoo

At the entrance to the Norfolk Zoo, this rotating globe-fountain vividly reminded me of the MoVa globe in my office, a gift from my favorite coworker, aka my son...

Except this one's a bit bigger and rotates on a bed of water, while you can find out all above the MoVa technology here.

Now to the actual animals...

This one is a Siamang, an arboreal ape, relative of gibbons. They live in Malaysia, Thailand, and on the Island of Sumatra.

The next one is a Sun Bear, the smallest of the world's eight species of bears. They live in Southeast Asia, from Burma and Laos all the way to Sumatra and Borneo, in tropical and subtropical forests.

To me, he looks hauntingly like a cross between a human and a dog... somewhat like Sharikov in Bulgakov's Собачье Сердце (Heart of a Dog).

And this one is my favorite in the whole zoo, a Red Panda. Here she is getting out of her house...

... and here are just a few more of the dozens of pictures of her that I took.

Isn't she beautiful!?

Now the next one is Alik's favorite, a Malayan Tapir.

They also live all over Southeast Asia, including Sumatra.

This is Binturong, also known as bearcat, because apparently it has a face of a cat and a body like a bear.

Hmmm... doesn't look much like a cat to me, and even less like a bear... If anything, looks somewhat like a coati, although a bit bigger and not as charismatic.

Now this is a pair of rhinos, running around.

Interesting fact - a group of rhinoceros is called a "crash", but I am not sure whether just two qualify... They didn't crash into anything while we were watching, so I left the question open.

And here is a single rhinoceros, looking thoughtful...

The next rhinoceros is of a feathered variety, a Rhinoceros Hornbill, found only in the rainforest in Southern Asia - and, yes, in the Norfolk Zoo.

A huge, beautiful bird! They have a long, narrow enclosure, and when one of them flies from one end of it to another, this is something to behold!..

This couple are Southern Ground Hornbill, native to Africa.

This is the male separately...

... and this is the female.

Red River Hog, also native to Africa.

Cheetah taking a rest.

And a gorgeous Malayan Tiger.

> Part 9