The Lovely Museum off the beaten paths!
For those who are in the San Francisco Area: Of course you should check out Alcatraz, but don’t forget to explore the USS Hornet in the nearby village Alameda – a very special museum.The former aircraft carrier served during World War II and the Apollo 11 manned space mission, when it picked up the first men who ever set a foot on the moon. In October 1998 it was opened to the public and is now a museum. A very huge one, a more than interesting one. You should definately take your time to fully explore it.
Our tip is to calculate at least a minimum visiting-time of about two hours, to make sure you’ll see every part of the huge ship. It’s not only a display of how life (like eating, sleeping, working) on the aircraft carrier was like, but you can also see the actual space capsule of the Apollo 11 Astronaut’s, after their landing back on earth again. Or would you rather take a seat in the command area of the USS Hornet? Be careful not to get lost on this vast, very fascinating and truly exceptional museum.
What we really liked: It’s not really crowded (at least it wasn’t when we were there in September 2014 on a week day) and the museum guides there are men who actually really served there during the active times of the vessel. You can ask them tons of questions and they are more than happy to tell you about their memories. All in all it was a very pleasant, fascinating and interesting stay. We loved every minute there and would check it out again any time we’re back in the area.
Maybe an important sidenote: You have to climb some steep stairs, so it
‘s not really barrier free accessible and people who suffer from anxiety attacks might find the narrow hallways a bit troubling. We hadn’t reserved our tickets beforehand, but it maybe would be wise to do so. You know, just in case…
Information:
Opening hours: every day from 10 am to 5pm, gates close around 4 pm. But one hour is for sure not enough there.
Admission fee is 20 USD for adults, for groups, members of the military and students special fees apply.
Further information: www.uss-hornet.org
How to get there: Link to our awesome map
