USS KIDD Veterans Museum — Attraction in Baton Rouge

I couldn't even see the museum because of the rudest museum employee I've ever interacted with. I walked in from the riverwalk only because a museum employee was going that way and said I could go in with him. I went straight to the front counter on the first floor to ask questions. I introduced myself and said I'm just here on a reconnaissance mission to find out if I want to bring my mom in or not. The man behind the counter said, "websites are good for that." It took me aback. He said it really rudely and had his arms folded across his chest. I was so surprised I sort of stuttered about wanting to get an idea of how much time it takes to tour the museum. I asked, "it looks like a 1-2 hour sort of thing?" He just stared at me. I was like, "ok then. So how much are tickets?" He told me the prices. I said, "great, thanks." I turned to go and noticed a bathroom sign. He shouted at me across the gift shop to stop. I told him I was just going to visit the bathroom on my way out. He said I needed a ticket to use the bathroom. I asked if I could buy something like a magnet (I collect those). He said, "we are a museum, not a bathroom." I was so shocked and caught off guard by his tone and demeanor. Then he walked out from the counter and told me to leave. He literally escorted me to the emergency exit. I stopped and pointed to the door and asked if an alarm would go off. He said, "no, just leave." (I must note here: there is no sign or display that you must purchase a ticket to talk to employees or use the bathroom in...

I've been meaning to stop by and visit for years, and finally took the tour this week.

If you like models of ships, there's a pretty large collection in the museum where you buy your ticket.

I've toured the USS Alabama, USS Texas, and USS Missouri. By comparison, the USS Kidd is very small. The Captains sea cabin is almost tiny. I can imagine that it was quite crowded when it had a full complement of 329 sailors aboard.

The entire tour, stopping to take pictures all along the way, did not take that long. According to the brochure, this is the only preserved Fletcher class destroyer that retains it's World War II configuration.

The one area that's not open that I wanted to see is the engine rooms.

My only complaint is that the interior isn't all air conditioned. Only one area was, and the rest of the tour was a sweaty affair, but that probably makes it more realistic I suppose. One of the veterans that was ahead of me passed out from the heat.

The tour requires one to use steep ladders, so wear good shoes. These ladders require the use of both hands, so you'll need pockets to hold anything you take aboard. I recommend taking the tour when the weather is cooler,...

Kidd was very cool to explore, lots to see. Picturing oneself as being crew aboard her was claustrophobic to say the least, and helped me better appreciate the grit those crewmen had in order to operate effectively in such, uh, efficiently organized living during a cruise. From the head being a room full of toilets with absolutely no privacy at all to the bunks being at most the width of a man apart in height and stacked three high, it was a place which declared openly its intent to bring violence at sea with no room for anything more.

The museum ashore was no slouch, either. Plenty of exhibits bringing context to Kidd and her history, displays of notable Louisianan service members, and a neat exhibit about Captain Kidd, the very buccaneer emblazoned on Kidd's outside, as well as pirates in general.

The Pirate of the Pacific was well worth the trip to visit.

One star off simply because some of the info sheets referred to rooms they were not in, causing some mild confusion about what we were actually looking at, but with how cramped she is inside, it's probably the best...