Some places don’t let you rush.
They slow your steps, quiet your voice, and remind you—without ever saying a word—that history is heavy. Steel-heavy. Memory-heavy. The kind of heavy you feel in your bones before you ever feel it in your feet.
Our final stop on NOLA Road Trip #2 was Battleship Memorial Park, home of the legendary USS Alabama. We expected to spend a little time here.
Instead, we spent most of the day.
More Than a Battleship
Before you ever step foot on the USS Alabama, the park itself sets the tone.
You pass memorials that encourage you to slow down. You wander through open grounds where history isn’t confined to glass cases—it’s laid out beneath the Alabama sky. And then there’s the Aircraft Pavilion: a massive hangar filled with aircraft spanning multiple generations of military history.
World War II planes sit not far from jets that feel almost futuristic by comparison. One of the most striking is the A-12 Blackbird, a Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft that looks like it still wants to outrun time itself.
This isn’t a quick walk-through kind of place. It’s an immersion.
Squeezing Into the USS Drum
Moored nearby is the USS Drum, one of the oldest American WWII submarines on public display—and a National Historic Landmark.
If the battleship feels like a floating city, the Drum feels like survival distilled into steel.
The passageways are narrow. The ceilings are low. You don’t walk so much as shuffle sideways, constantly aware of how little space existed between sailors and machinery. Entire crews lived, slept, and fought in these tight quarters for weeks at a time while hunting enemy ships.
It’s humbling. And just a little claustrophobic.
Boarding the USS Alabama
And then… the main event.
The USS Alabama doesn’t loom so much as she waits. Massive, steady, unapologetic.
Climbing the ramp onto her deck immediately gives you a sense of scale. This is a 680-foot-long battleship that earned nine battle stars during World War II—and completed her service without losing a single sailor to enemy fire. That remarkable record earned her the nickname “The Lucky A.”
Once aboard, it becomes clear that photos don’t prepare you for the reality.
The ladders are steep. The decks stretch on and on. Room after room reveals what life was like for the roughly 2,500 sailors who called this ship home during the war. Zack and I climbed every level above the main deck, exploring compartment after compartment, eventually reaching the captain’s quarters near the top.
By the time we descended back to the deck, the ship had taken its toll—on my ankles, my energy, and my sense of just how much we hadn’t yet seen.
So we sat. We rested. And I made a promise.
We’ll come back.
We’ll explore the lower decks.
And next time, we’ll finish the submarine too.
Saved by the People Who Remembered
After World War II, the USS Alabama was decommissioned and eventually slated for scrap. Her story could have ended there.
Instead, the people of Alabama stepped in.
Through a grassroots campaign—powered largely by schoolchildren donating spare change—the funds were raised to bring the battleship home. In 1964, she made her final voyage to Mobile Bay. In 1965, Battleship Memorial Park opened to the public.
Today, the Lucky A rests peacefully, her guns silent, her decks open—still teaching, still remembering.
Planning Your Visit
If you go, give yourself time. Real time.
This isn’t a stop you squeeze in between lunch and dinner. Wear sturdy shoes. Expect to climb. Expect to rest. Expect to leave with sore legs and a full heart.
And don’t be surprised if you leave knowing you’ll need to come back.
Some stories are too big for one visit.
Some places don’t let you rush.
If you love stories hidden in old steel, quiet memorials, and backroad stops that linger long after you leave—come travel with us.
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Have you toured the USS Alabama or Battleship Memorial Park? What part left the strongest impression on you? Let me know in the comments.