USS Midway and The Zoo

Day 126 - San Diego, CA - Rain Low 60's:

We decided to sleep in today! It was so nice. We got up around 9:30am and grabbed some breakfast. We came back to the room and just hung out. We hit the gym just before lunch for a nice run. After lunch we decided that we should head into town for a bit. I wanted to visit Balboa Park as I had heard great things about it from a few people. It was still raining as we headed in but by the time we got there the rain had stopped and we could at least see the sun trying to come out. It was a great area full of museums and gardens. Unfortunately we got there so late that most things were closing. With that we decided to go back first thing tomorrow morning. We headed back to the hotel, did laundry, got organized, cooked dinner, and our now watching the Oscars and updating the blog! Tomorrow we are heading to Long Beach, CA for a night but first we are going back to Balboa Park and then to Point Loma to visit the national historic sight there. It was so nice to just relax for a day and thanks to the rain we didn't feel TOO guilty about wasting time in a city that we have such a limited amount of time to visit!

Day 125 - San Diego, CA - Mix of Sun and Clouds to Rain Low 60's:

Today we went to the WORLD FAMOUS SAN DIEGO ZOO! There's not a whole lot to say about our day because our pictures show what we did, what we saw, and how much fun we had. We got to the zoo at about 10am...it's so nice, they have FREE parking. We immediately hopped on the bus tour so that we could get the lay of the land. It was a great introduction to the zoo. From there we pretty much walked. We walked everywhere in the zoo and then some. We also took the Skyfari which is an ariel tram that takes you from one end of the zoo to the other in less than five minutes!! We spent the ENTIRE day viewing the animals not leaving until 4:30pm. Really we could have spent two or three days there and still been entertained but other things were calling.

A few of my favorite things: FLAMINGOS. They remind me of Lisa and Becky. ORANGUTANS. I don't think that either our video or the photos can begin to grasp the true joy in watching these animals. I could have spent hours watching the two children play with each other. They are just like human children. Watching one try to hide in the burlap bag and walk around trying to scare the other was hysterical. SEA LIONS. They were so fast and performed so well. PANDAS. I've never seen on in person before. Watching the mom eat was like watching an old man. GORILLAS. Every time someone would put their head on the glass to take a picture he would lean back and look...it was so cute. The best though was he went away so we started to leave. All of a sudden we heard a big bang and a kid scream. Turns out the gorilla ran around, gained some speed, and slammed into the glass at the kid. We still don't know what he did but the gorilla didn't like it. Needless to say the boy wanted to leave IMMEDIATELY.

After leaving the zoo we headed back to the hotel to put our feet up! We hung around the room resting for a bit before heading back into the Gaslamp Quarter to get some dinner. After quite a bit of driving around we settled on Yard House. Once inside we learned that they claim to have the world's largest selection of draft beers. I don't think I can argue with that! They must have had at least 50 beers including Sea Dog's blueberry which allowed Ben to enjoy a Black and Blue!! We had a nice dinner and then walked around for a bit. The weather wasn't really cooperative as it was raining and so we decided to head back to the hotel. Ben was EXHAUSTED and was asleep before I had even brushed my teeth!

Day 124 - San Diego, CA - Mostly Sunny Low 60's:

Today we woke up at a reasonable hour....not quite as early as in Joshua Tree but we were out the door by 10am. Not knowing too much about parking we decided to use public transportation to make our way to the Navy Pier close to downtown. Having visited the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, we were aware that the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier was located here and had been turned into a museum. We arrived at the USS Midway Museum got our audio headset and began our journey through the ship. Let's start off by saying it is ENORMOUS. The flight deck alone is four acres. We spent our day walking through all the parts of the ship.

The USS Midway was built to hold 3,600 crew members but at times it had up to 4,500. The enlisted men's sleeping quarters were tight to say the least. They slept three high and their storage space was actually under their beds! We got to tour the kitchen. They gave us a few facts like the fact that they went through 1,000 loaves of bread and 3,000 pounds of carrots EVERY DAY! There were other staggering numbers but I can't remember them all although I wish I could. We were able to go into the Junior Officers rooms, they were a nice upgrade from the enlisted me but nothing compared to the Captain's Quarters and the Command Master Chief's Quarters. These men lived it up. They had their own bathrooms and rooms about the size of an average bedroom.

While on the ship we also got to see the engine room and the laundry room. These were undoubtedly the hottest jobs on the ship and by hottest, I mean in temperature NOT in best. These rooms would easily exceed 100 degrees and 70% humidity on most days. The crew members said that when they would get to come up to weather in the 90's it would feel cool while the other men were sweating!

We visited the sick bay on the ship. It was like a mini hospital. They had two operating rooms, an x-ray room, an exam room, and a pharmacy. Anything the men needed could be taken care of here. It was a joke that on the morning after a night at port there would be a large influx of patients claiming to be sick...really they likely just stayed out a little too late and didn't want to work. One man said that being in sick bay was like being on vacation because you got waited on hand and foot while everyone else was working!

The ship had everything that the men could need while at sea. There were stores, a galley, movie rentals, a post office, laundry, doctors, dentists, barbershops (haircuts were MANDATORY every 10 days), bedrooms, bathrooms, and a church. The men didn't need to leave the ship to get anything.

A few interesting things that I learned had to do with the mess hall. There were three mess halls on the ship. One for the enlisted men where they ate off metal trays, were served from a buffet, and sat cafeteria style. Then there was the Wardroom. This is where Officers would eat. Here they were tables, real plates, real silverware, and orders were taken. Yes, they pay extra for this but you must be an officer to even have the opportunity. Now even if you paid and were an officer, you could only enter if you were in the uniform of the day. If you were not in uniform you would eat the Dirty Shirt Wardroom. This was more similar to the enlisted men but the food was a bit better and it was available 24 hours a day. Lastly there was the CPO Mess. The men who ate here were the highest of the enlisted men. You would not and could not even enter the room if you were not a CPO. This included Officers (technically ranked higher) and the Captain of the ship. If you wanted the good food this was where it was at...surf and turf, ice cream, the best of the best!

Aside from the daily needs of the men, this ship was home to an ever changing fleet of airplanes, fighter jets, helicopters, and other aircraft. During the day the ship launched an aircraft every forty-five seconds and at night it increased to every minute and a half. That's pretty darn fast when you consider they were in the middle of the ocean. The flight deck and hanger were both full of different planes that would have been on the Midway at any given time. Most of these we had seen when we were in Pensacola but they were still neat to see. We learned a bit about the way planes took off and landed when we took a tour of the "Island." This is what we would call the flight tower. Here is where the orders were given to pilots. Also here you would find the navigators and the captain of the ship steering the boat to it's next location.

The ship also had a very large area where bombs were kept. The bombs were here to be put together and loaded on the aircrafts. It was an interesting thing to learn about. The bombs were not complete and rather were completed based on the orders and the crew were given and for the specific plane they would be going on. We got to see the bomb elevator. Here they were lifted out of the storage unit and actually brought to the mess hall...it was where they were wheeled through to get to the other side of the ship. Can you imagine? Sitting down, eating your dinner, and a bomb just strolls on by...CRAZY. Not only did the ship have an elevator for bombs but it also had TWO elevators for planes. These elevators would bring the planes from the hanger to the flight deck. They as you can imagine were quite large.

The ship is an amazing piece of work. It at one time was out to see for over 250 days straight. It would be restocked by other boats and planes. If you are ever in San Diego I strongly recommend a visit here. I would be sure to get there early and pack a lunch. We were unaware of how much there would be to look at and weren't prepared for the amount of time we could have spent there. I'm sure we could have spent the whole day if we had packed appropriately.

After we finished at the Museum we took a walk along the water and grabbed some lunch at a local deli. Once we were done we had spent a whole lot of money and we didn't get a whole lot out of it...next time pack it up! It was so neat.

From there we hopped on a train and made our way to Old Town San Diego. Here is a bit of background on Old Town: "Old Town San Diego is considered the "birthplace" of California. San Diego is the site of the first permanent Spanish settlement in California. It was here in 1769, that Father Junipero Serra came to establish the very first mission in a chain of 21 missions that were to be the cornerstone of California’s colonization. Father Serra’s mission and Presidio were built on a hillside overlooking what is currently known as Old Town San Diego. At the base of the hill in 1820’s, a small Mexican community of adobe buildings was formed and by 1835 had attained the status of El Pueblo de San Diego. In 1846, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant and a Marine Lieutenant, raised the American flag in the Old Town San Diego Plaza.

In 1968, the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation established Old Town State Historic Park to preserve the rich heritage that characterized San Diego during the 1821 to 1872 period. The park includes a main plaza, exhibits, museums and living history demonstrations." (http://www.oldtownsandiegoguide.com/history.html, March 7, 2010)

It was so neat. We walked the streets and stopped in at many of the general stores. I have a thing for general stores. I find them to be so interesting. These ones weren't quite as good as the one in Greenville but it was still fun to look around. We also visited a stable museum. Here we saw the way that men and women traveled when first coming to California. Let's just say it was long, hot, and bumpy. This museum was one of preservation not conservation and so the wagons that we were looking at were the actual wagons used untouched except to fix them or keep them in their current state. Did you know that one of the most famous wagon companies was in Concord, NH? I didn't.

Old Town was a great area. There were lots of restaurants and lively people. It seemed to be a very popular area and if visiting again, I will definitely make more time for the Old Town area. We hopped back on the bus and made our way back to the hotel for dinner. We enjoyed the hot tub for a bit and then hit the hay for the night!