San Diego

We flew into Lindberg Field early Sunday morning and headed up north of Miramar to visit with Tom & Pat Reeve. It turned into an extended brunch with hours of pleasant conversation as we caught up on family events with them. Pat's a gourmet cook and fixed a great breakfast so we were duly stuffed when we finally tore ourselves away from a most enjoyable afternoon and drove down to Coronado and checked into the Amphib base. The photo above was the view from our balcony, looking past the Bay Bridge (no tolls anymore) to the city skyline beyond. The weather was great - typical "San Diego days" as we used to call them when we lived here - and it was especially nice to see the sun again after leaving rainy Vancouver.

Spent the next couple of days just enjoying the city..and the weather. Went to the Zoo the first day. Crowds not too bad and Balboa Park as pretty as ever. Must say that the admission price had gone up a tad since I first came here 55 years ago - now costs $37 apiece to access the grounds. At least the parking was free. We walked our legs off for about 5 hours and generally reminisced about bringing the boys here about 35 years ago.


Rita standing in one of the large aviary enclosures, which was quite well done we thought.


The one creature we hope never to meet on our hikes.

Next day we jumped on the ferry from the end of Orange Avenue on Coronado over to the Broadway St. pier. Made for a nice day's excursion. The ferry landing is next to the Maritime Museum - actually about a half-dozen old vessels of various sizes, types and eras. The photo below is the view from the landing on the Coronado side.




And here are some of the boats...


The USS Dolphin - deepest diving US sub apparently.



There's also an old yacht from the 20's, loaded with teak appointments. It really was gorgeous (for a boat). Rita's standing in the salon where the family took its meals.



They also have the ship that acted as HMS Surprise in the Russel Crowe flick "Master and Commander" a few years ago. Was interesting to walk around it both above and below decks.





Lastly we walked down the quay to the USS Midway - a carrier I had the "pleasure" of staying aboard for a couple of nights during my Indian Ocean cruise in 1981 on the Independence. Had to trap aboard to drop off mail or spare parts or something and was their guest for a couple of days. My main recollection was how relatively hard it was to find my way below decks. It's not laid out like a modern carrier. This one was built at the end of WW II and is a real rabbit warren below decks. If I hadn't had a guide who knew his way around to take me to the mess deck I probably would have starved looking for it on my own.

Anyway, here it is in all its glory. The folks who run it as a floating museum have done a great job with it. I swear it looked better this day than it did when I was aboard in the IO.

Several old aircraft displays highlight the flight deck and hangar deck.


The best way to view an aircraft carrier...maybe a little farther away would be better...say a few miles maybe.



A Dauntless dive bomber - the plane that sank the 4 Japanese carriers at the battle of Midway.




They had the usual assortment of F-14's, F-18's, S-3's, etc. but of course we had to take a photo of the "Thunder Guppy", the plane my squadron flew when I was CO of Vt-19 in Meridian. Actually, this is probably the best spin trainer the Navy's ever had.


Departed Wednesday for a leisurely drive up the coast towards Laguna Beach, where we'll be staying for the next week.