U.S.S. North Carolina Battleship - Wilmington, North Carolina

Oh the splendor and beauty that is the U.S.S North Carolina Battleship Memorial. When I decided to plan a trip from Michigan to somewhere warm I looked to North Carolina. I chose Wilmington mainly in part because of this ship. I knew it would be an activity we could do as a family that would be cool and educational (I'm a huge fan of both). Needless to say I was partly right. This tour was one of the most in depth and amazing I have ever been to. Although that is exactly why it was not great for my kids. My husband and I wanted to take in every detail and they wanted to see about an 1/8th of it. We saw the whole kitten caboodle but it wasn't without its hardships. We had to do a lot of child maintenance. We repeated slow down, don't get lost, just enjoy it, well, isn't this amazing, be quiet, buck up, don't run, and for gosh sakes get out of those people's way, many times. What the kids liked, they really liked. The guns and the first time going into the depths of the ship. Then it got old for them real quick. On the other hand, Jon and I loved seeing the mess halls, sleeping arrangements, little luxuries, and all the inside outs of the crews daily lives. So, I'd say if you have kids like mine or young children plan your visit accordingly.

Here are the nuts and bolts of the visit. You enter the building and purchase your tickets. $14 for adults and $6 for children plus tax. Then you get your photo taken to purchase later if you so choose. Next it's off to board the ship. There is a self guided audio tour you can pay for and download on your phone. I did this and abandoned it pretty quickly. It was very informative and done in a cool way but hard to navigate. I also had a hard time matching up where to stand for each recording. Then I gave up because I would have been on that boat for 60 hours and the kids left me after two minutes. The regular self guided tour of the ship has a suggested path highlighted by arrows. These were sometimes very clear and others not so much. We fumbled around and figured it out. Without the arrows you could very easily get lost in the bowels of the ship. When you've done they whole tour or when your kids whine enough that it is time to go, you are directed off the ship and through the gift shop (per usual) to exit. It was a fun little gift shop but we left empty handed. I'm not sure if you can experience this tour if you are in a wheel chair or can't go down and up steep steps. I did not see any elevators and many areas were a tight squeeze. You could definitely go on the ships deck because there are ramps leading up to it. That's that. Despite my kids, I loved it.

The Vessel In All Its Glory

Entrance to purchase tickets

This shows how much you actually get to see of the ship and it's A TON!

Soda Fountain, yes really

Trying to capture traversing the levels of the ship. The steps are very steep and there are lots of them. Cool unless you have trouble with stairs or small places or general clumsiness.