Source: By Cliff (originally posted to Flickr as USS Lexington) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Have you ever heard of Corpus Christi? If you haven’t, then you should know that it is an amazing city, actually the 8th largest city in Texas!
Tourism guaranties 1$ billion for the Corpus Christi region. Can you image than how unique this 1$ billion city is? It is basically the reason to see the city, but there are so many attractions in the city that you will forget about the 1$ billion!
Have you ever heard that there is a city that estimates that much money from tourism? I know you didn’t. So don’t hesitate, you have to see some amazing thing in Corpus Christi.
Visiting Corpus Christi you have to go and see the USS Lexington, also known as the “Blue Ghost”!
Wondering what am I talking about? It is an Essex-class aircraft carrier that was built during World War II, and it was built for the US Navy.
When it was built, it was planned to be named Cabot, but there was a word that during the construction it was lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
So the new aircraft carrier was renamed while it was under construction to commemorate the old ship. The beautiful ship was the fifth US Navy ship to have the honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington.
And from the 1992s, the wonderful ship’s home is the city of Corpus Christi and where she operates as a museum.
So, if you are wondering why it is called the “Blue Ghost”, the history of the beautiful ship starts in 1941, the Japanese called the ship the “ghost ship” because of the tendency to reappear after the word that it has sunk
and the dark blue camouflage scheme, all this led to a story which made the crew refer to the ship as the “The Blue Ghost”.
You can see the ship every day throughout the year, from 09:00 am to 06:00 pm. The official address is 2914 N. Shoreline Boulevard.
Tickets cost are:
- Adults 16.95$
- Seniors and Military 14.95$
- Children 11.95$
Member and children under 3 don’t pay for entrance, they can enjoy the tour and the visit for free. There is a parking, all day long, and the cost of the parking is 4$, and it is free for members.
If you want to take a look of the tour and get informed before your visit, you should know that there are five different routes, covering 100,000 square feet and eleven decks and there are volunteers that can help you while you are exploring,
but there is a guide of the ship and more details in the following link -> https://usslexington.com/tours/self-guided-tours/.
There is also a 3D mega theater which you can check out, show times are available every day, from 11:00 am to 05:00pm, but more about the theater check the following link -> https://usslexington.com/attractions/mega-theater . Don’t miss the movie!
You will have fun, you will have a historic day, you just can’t miss it, and you will walk, climb and see a part of the history.
Don’t forget to download the QR reader, you will need for the whole full experience of the QR codes. There is a "LEX tour" WiFi, which you can use while touring around and just look for the QR codes. It is available in English and Spanish.
Also, check out the youtube video of the tour, it will be helpful ->
Fun fact: A portion of the movie "Pearl Harbor," starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, and Alec Baldwin, was filmed on the USS Lexington.
Source: By Skaarup.HA [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
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Today's author is Jovana.
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