The Ol' Battleship

When you have kids, you find yourself doing things you never would have expected.

Case in point: I spent last night in a bunk on the decommissioned Battleship New Jersey (BB-62) last night, in the company of my two sons, much of their Cub Scout pack, and a couple hundred other scouts.

So I'm a bit groggy and out-of-sorts today, since there wasn't all that much "sleeping" going on. (Lights-out at 23:15, scattered giggling and fart noises for half an hour afterward, reveille at 06:00 -- and I don't sleep well in a three foot by six-and-a-half foot by three foot box to begin with.)

I've said to The Wife at least six times that, if this had been a day trip, I would have loved it -- we got a great two-and-a-half hour tour of the ship with an ex-Air Force mechanic docent (thanks, Arlene!), and many parts of the experience were wonderful.

The sleeping arrangements, however, were the exception. (The food wasn't wonderful, either, but who would have expected it to be?)

Anyone expecting coherent thought from me before I get a real night's sleep will be disappointed.


Footnote: This post originally was scheduled to open with a reference to the fact that the two berths above me were filled by the daughters -- twelve or so years old each -- of some guy in our group, but I couldn't manage to make a "I'm so tired because I spent the night under two pubescent girls" joke that was sufficiently funny or shocking to work. But, honestly, who brings two daughters of that age to such an incredibly boyish stag party as a Cub Scout camp-out on a battleship?