Until I was in my 40's and went there as a parent escort for a Scout Trip I always thought that those huge turrets with the large 16 inch guns just sort of "sat on top of the deck". I thought they sat on a kind of turntable and they brought the ammo and powder to them as needed.

Never realized that they were large multi deck structures that go deep into the hull and that the whole thing rotates. You cannot even see most of what rotates as it is inside the ship. Still amazed how they got the shells and the bags of gunpowder from the magazine (where you certainly dont want them to explode) up to the guns.

Thing that got me at the time, as someone who vividly remembers the Apollo missions is that Shuttle missions had become so routine by the time of the Challenger explosion There had been ten missions in 85 and early 86 so everyone thought the kinks had been worked out of the system. I was in a college at the time and when word first came out no one believed it.

At least the sundials tell the correct time now. Live near an old one and the number of people during the summer that would say , "hey this sundial is wrong" was astounding.

Warning to Visitors Driving to Salem - I live in town and was walking around some of the side streets last evening. Even though there are numerous "Resident Only" signs for street parking, visitors were (clearly illegally) still parking on the street.

If you choose to do this do not be surprised if your vehicle is towed. Saw two or three tow trucks removing these and bringing them to the impound lot. Between the tow charge and the ticket it will be an expensive trip to Salem for you.