On presidents day we went to see the
USS Hornet Aircraft carrier in Alameda, CA. I wasn't sure how it would go with our 3 yr old, but she loved it. Highly recommend it, great day out for big and little kids. I've tried to include some kid-related intel in this post since I couldn't find much online myself.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5beAXg0VdvOZtwwGQvFrO9JUJqUL6UZJRmZDk8p_sFNLwB7Q5CU_tei2h2bzArEx9zMJd9giFnoXqqB_8DGpHoE5p_gikX2W63gohLehMGxhO7KyIxoP5LKzsYPoF9wXZp0wFnrP0q6M/s1600/DSC_0789.JPG) |
USS Hornet |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY8K7ggx9TJf_CB-eHQRmVKA1UARtzY_Fd_I-HM22CuoLcgsmCcOD10C0EkEVD0JpHzjQXco8D6rYwRu7BRvjfYXPIG-zPyhyphenhyphenoGZymwgZzjPVnRI6xRo7x4RDUwDwcvfAyNkbW6qax2C0/s1600/DSC_0797.JPG) |
Hangar deck |
We took a docent-led tour up to the bridge, which probably took about 45 minutes. There are a number of steep flights of stairs (in the Navy they call them ladders, which is confusing) to get between decks, and probably about 5 flights to climb up to the bridge. I wasn't sure how that would go with the 3 yr old, but I just carried her up and down, which was fine.
I think you could take kids of any age around most of the ship as long as you're confident carrying them on steep stairs. We saw a number of people with babies in carriers. You'll probably need to get a locker ($3) for your kid-related supplies since they have strict bag size restrictions.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYuZE-wtKLJK3E7FFvss7HtGtkRm3bvMuk-xV8e0G1I678-tbUV_hec2VL4b41y-Yl2GnyGNtXefNSl5q1DcpEoRL3vLcMo-A-jS7HkipZlLm3kKm_P9qodW_UYSnuToB9uJR7bJeaFzs/s1600/DSC_0799.JPG) |
Flight deck |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitol_tVz-pF7EOStEEsTGIjTK3XPuPxiwxrBDTEHAuslVybFFx7zJERj2EjsGk62RB842LApnc0q0mjirkVjMzPGVa-8iT43kigQfyKVDLJvGmdyxmhxsvuknPkdgYNwK-rgLJYB9-9N4/s1600/DSC_0801.JPG) |
Maverick, call the ball |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZhfN-KcEPa1IFZb_AnH6ljfqEmmFUIjj7lEYR2_iJmAnkY4i51LQmxxquyuHs0l-gL0pwx2-oVQVW-6R6C0OTIMkQ2k6KnOAeMXf_ksP4LHdS92qcrOeaodiAj2LBHuP-mSqHNIbpn8I/s1600/DSC_0806.JPG) |
Good view of the city |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE-PZkjU6KBmKQw0sR2KEXGXNFq6OKfpj9DObxecUKySKLJYVdOpdneWp3cVU_DLf5J9TXtOXQFdk3_PNqDutLYLiFzPWHGAk5Ff8buJAvojhrRLnAzPG3eYcszumEiDDDSUtM2cIJBEw/s1600/DSC_0815.JPG) |
On the bridge |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUaJGwn9bEr4Fc2nsjWwOl-GrdwXxix0Yb3Lydy4EffwDoaOqZ4hnaxwfXY2az9KxdIKwBOqpx9FFeXAuod2g7M-ssC7hDTa61lLjtGCzNkdXuLXqWd97PzYMjF6EcLtGJeK32Y3cLn_A/s1600/DSC_0822.JPG) |
The USS Hornet recovered both Apollo 11 and 12! There's quite a bit of cool NASA gear to see, including the decontamination trailer where they kept astronauts who went to the moon |
After the bridge tour and lunch on the hangar deck (they have a basic cafe with hot dogs and sodas), we went down to the second deck, where you are free to explore the length of the ship. E loved wandering through all the rooms, as did we. We probably spent 3.5 hours on the ship all up, and probably could have spent longer still if we didn't have a tired little person.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-iiqkatQndLmcmRssR8sWIbWAD1gEXkFfuxXVuCduNcnomqoVxCpM-ZMPX2nJiQHnX7xyO1W-IGJcdSHHs0YMLY2Ja-kcU-TxIXPT0yYJFqCKE_8txDlSpRpUONB_PS4D79dL-5EfnM/s1600/DSC_0833.JPG) |
Ready room |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7h4CTLDreWSiH4VVYBy-z-K0Wov9sTZUKRh0UYzCEPwfNdNuaLDmpABZkukGqYe6wGgGSuSH7U5kqOmW-wymPpTphcDamgWwGt6wglKskNos4m9UDPX6jtm7wfbawfgpU6cT9xXuJZRo/s1600/DSC_0835.JPG) |
Kitchen |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJoH8GPAhEubsG4rtYku5kGPK4qFCCe9hTZ8OJhDbgfwIsoPY-GGMsnlEcyTTRf05rNFrMUw3mg4aoOP-g8T8hTkcl4Niu2YxZ6n6jct9Yxn0ZKafOzZ6JkJceel3nugytjVbcEhAnjuo/s1600/DSC_0840.JPG) |
Wardroom |