Cruiser Olympia & Becuna at Independence Seaport Museum

The Independence Seaport Museum has two floors (st and 2nd) and mostly contains galleries and exhibits. The first floor has a theater and it is where the gift shop is located, while the 2nd floor has the galleries and exhibits with a playhouse, an education center and a library.

Part of the museum are two historical ships few meters from the museum towards the dock; - the Cruiser Olympia and the submarine Becuna!

Top deck of Cruiser Olympia

Getting down inside the submarine Becuna

Entrance going inside Cruiser Olympia

The museum is located at Columbus Blvd. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Cruiser Olympia, the oldest steel warship in the world was launched in 1892, and the only surviving naval ship of the Spanish-American War. Its role in the battle of Manila Bay was so vital because of its victory over the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay, making the US's emergence as a world naval power, which was commandered by Admiral Dewey.

Its last naval mission was its transport of the body of an unknown soldier from France to the US in 1921. In 1996, it become part of the Independence Seaport Museum and became a National Historic Landmark.

Here are some photos inside Olympia:

Another historic ship worth visiting is the submarine Becuna. It was launched in 1944 and served in the Atlantic and Mediterranean during the Korean and Vietnam wars. It was decommissioned in 1969 and became a National Historic Landmark and part of the Independence Seaport Museum in 1996.

Just a heads up if you want to explore the submarine on the inside. It doesn't have any AC and is not recommended for people who are claustrophobic.

For those who are interested and quite more adventurous, don't miss out the opportunity to visit the torpedo rooms, control and sonar rooms.

Historic London Town & Gardens

London Town is just minutes away from Annapolis, Maryland. It is one of Maryland's earliest settlements on South River that has a museum and park and features history, archaeology and horticulture in a 23-acre area of space.

One of our tour experience was a chance to get a free taste of a dessert unique to Maryland; - the 10 layer Smith Island Cake. It was superb! ( I should have taken a photo of it...ugh!, but you can easily find one online if you get curious how it looks! )

Here is one: (photo is not mine:)

They offer a colonial hearth cooking demonstration to visitors, so this was actually the highlight of our tour! :)

There is a garden sanctuary on the South River at the crossroads of the Chesapeake Bay, but due to time constraints, we didn't visit the gardens.

We were able to visit one of the historic areas though, - the Lord Mayor's Tenement. It's an old colonial house and inside of it showcases the lifestyle routine of a daily living in a typical colonial home. Quite an interesting experience!