San Diego Day 3- USS Midway

Our adventure today was going to be along the waterfront of downtown San Diego with the USS Midway being the main attraction.  Arthur had been to San Diego previously for a conference and expo show a few years ago and didn't see much of the city except for the aircraft carrier the USS Midway from the Convention Center.  That was not close enough to a large engineering wonder for him so it has been on his list to visit an aircraft carrier.  Last year we were across the harbor from one in San Francisco but didn't have time in our whirlwind day in the city so we had to skip it. I think there are only 5 aircraft carriers in the country open to visitors and most certainly none within a thousand miles of our landlocked location so San Diego and the USS Midway were our chance to make this happen.

We headed downtown to the waterfront early to make sure we got a place to park and to wander along the parks on the water's edge before the museum opened.  Sometimes we are both amazed by how much we just enjoy walking through a new place.  There were naval monuments scattered through the parks as well as activity at the marinas for us to watch with curiosity.  It was also a gorgeous morning with several people out and about enjoying a day off for Presidents' Day.  We decided that owning a boat isn't for us, although we would consider kayaks some day.  Much to our disappointment we needed to turn around on our walk so we could go back and get in line for tickets at the Midway.

Once aboard our first stop was a tour of the command center of the ship-- home to the control tower for the flight deck and the ship's control and navigation rooms.  Next we stopped in to look at the radio room.  My grandfather was stationed on the USS Solomon aircraft carrier in the Atlantic at the end of WWII and served as a radio operator.  We then meandered through the interior of the ship below decks-- all the areas that kept this floating city of 4500 people afloat including the kitchens and mess halls, laundry, post office, barber shop, sleeping quarters and engine rooms.  It is hard to imagine that many people trying to move about through these narrow hallways and ladders.  With Arthur's height he walked around in a continual crouch most of the tour. 

 In many of the areas were volunteers to answer questions or to share more about the history of the ship.  While looking through the Admiral's quarters and strategy room everything was set up the way it would have been during the Desert Storm operation.  The volunteer in this room had been on the Midway during Desert Storm so we heard about the experience first hand.  Most of the volunteers we spoke to had actually served on the Midway. Our last stop was the flight desk where we meandered through the display of airplanes and helicopters that had been used on the ship.  We also sat in on a few fascinating presentations about the intricacies of launching and landing aircraft on the ship and how all of these complex steps took place about every 45 seconds since that is the frequency at which the aircraft took off or landed.

Arthur probably could have stayed on the ship the entire day but I was getting hungry so we walked up the water front the other direction to the Little Italy neighborhood for a late lunch.  We decided to have the carbonara which we fell in love with at a sidewalk cafe in Rome a few years ago and some shrimp linguini since we were on the ocean and seafood seemed to be an appropriate choice. 

 After being stuffed for a late lunch it was time to make our way out to Point Loma on the other side of the bay to watch the sunset for the evening at the aptly named Sunset Cliffs.  Once again there was a traffic jam and parking was an issue-- who knew sunset was such an event.  We walked a little ways along the shore taking in the scenery but also watching the people.  Some were down below the cliffs in the water surfing in wet suits.  Others had brought picnics.  Several were in their camper vans parked along the roadside. We enjoyed watching the sun drop below the western horizon of the Pacific Ocean and had a brief disagreement about whether the sunset held a candle to any of the sunsets we see in Kansas.

Since we had a larger, late lunch we decided to find something simple for dinner.  We headed to Liberty Station Market on our way back and it soon became one of our favorite stops due to ample parking.  The area was originally a naval training base but after it was no longer needed in 2000 it was converted to a shopping and arts districts. Many of the barracks buildings are now shops or art studios and the mess hall is a food market where we stopped.  We browsed the eatery selections and also did a taste testing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar-- you don't find this in Kansas much.  We decided on chocolate and salt caramel crepes.