USS Midway Museum
Our last activity in San Diego for this trip was to do something new to us, visiting the USS Midway Museum. As it wasn’t opened as a museum until 2004, it wasn’t a tourist offering when we lived in Southern California in the early 1990s.
The USS Midway was an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, and, says Wikipedia, the lead ship of her class. It was commissioned a week after the end of World War II, and named for the 1942 Battle of Midway which was one of the significant battles in the Pacific Theatre of World War 2. Midway was the largest ship in the world until 1955, and operated for 47 years, seeing action in the Vietnam War and serving as the Persian Gulf flagship in 1991’s Operation Desert Storm. Midway was decommissioned in 1992 and moved to San Diego in 2003 for its new life as a museum ship.
We had to book in advance for this tour, given it is busy summer time here, but it was worth doing. They recommended three hours for the visit, and we spent close to that, amazingly. The admission includes an audio tour, which is well done, as it incorporates stories from sailors who served on the ship.
So, what did we do/see? We arrived at opening time, and started immediately by viewing an introductory movie about the Battle for which the ship was named. That was moving. A veteran of that battle commented at the end of the film on the horror of what civilised people do to each other, and concluded by suggesting that it made him think we are not civilised yet. We think he has a point!
The movie theatre – museum entry-level – is on the Hangar Deck, where the planes were stored. We had a quick look here, but on the advice of one of the museum staff we quickly headed up to the Flight Deck before, as he said, it got too hot. While we were up there, one of the museum volunteers suggested we head over to the “island” for a guided tour of the bridge (the only way you can see that part), as that can quickly get a line. So we took that advice too, and lucked out as we were able to join a tour that was just starting. That was interesting – and included information about the various forms of navigation used, including celestial – but don’t ask ME to explain it all! This tour involved some steep stair-climbing. Those sailors had to be fit!
Anyhow, with these three sights/activities under our best, we then took an extensive walk around Deck 2, seeing such areas as the Admiral’s quarters, Captain’s quarters, Officers’ country, mess and wardrooms, galleys, laundry, and machine shop – and learnt a lot about life on board along the way. It was the life, really, that interested me the most!
Back on the road
Then it was back on the road, to return to Yorba Linda. As we’d driven down the coastal route (I-5), we decided to return via the inland route (I-15), both of which routes we’ve done many times before. We were amused though by Ms Google who got us out of San Diego and onto the I-15. At one stage of the route we had to merge onto the Martin Luther King Jr Freeway, which Google identified on its directions as “ML King Jr Freeway”. The ever-helpful Ms Google, translating this, told us to merge onto the Megalitre King Junior Freeway! What a hoot.
It’s an interesting drive, going through desert-style country (bordering the Anza-Borrego Desert), and more farming country. We stopped for an afternoon cuppa at a favourite little town, in the mountains, Julian. We have stayed here before in the historic Julian Inn. Julian is an official California Historical Landmark. It was settled by Europeans in the 1850s and, as you can probably guess from this dating, was a gold town. Its elevation is over 4000ft (1200m) but it can get pretty hot in summer, with its average high maximum for July being just under 30°C. It was hot this day but that didn’t stop us from eating its famous apple pie. (Well, I had an Apple Oatmeal Crisp).
We then drove on through San Ysabel Mission and Indian Reservation areas, and more reservations (with their casinos) in the Pauma Valley which had some lovely looking farming going on, including oranges. We also passed the pretty Lake Cuyamaca.
By this time it was late afternoon and I-15 was becoming congested, so we hopped off it, and onto the historic US-395 for the drive into another favourite town in the area, Temecula.
We stopped here for dinner at a modern bar-restaurant, 1909, that had a water misting system for keeping diners cool. Just what we needed. Len tried a weird wheat beer that, unexpectedly, had a watermelon flavour, while I tried a vodka based cocktail. It was happy hour and hard to resist a fresh cocktail for USD6.
For dinner I ordered the “pesce” which resulted in the server saying to me “you know it’s fish don’t you”! When servers ask that, you get a sense of the problems they’ve probably had in the past! However, I was able to reassure her that I did indeed know it was fish.
Back in Yorba Linda
From Temecula it’s roughly an hour’s drive to Yorba Linda, and we arrived “home” at 8pm, in time for the evening current affairs and satirical news programs – Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah. They didn’t disappoint. (We love that they are mostly on four to five nights a week.)
Noah, commenting that Trump’s anger about Sessions recusing himself must be about deflecting Mueller’s investigation of his (Trump’s) finances, wondered what could be worse than what’s already been disclosed. Had Trump, he pondered, claimed himself as Putin’s dependent on his tax return! You can see the ongoing jokes happening here.
All these satirists mimic Trump’s voice of course, which on its own can be pretty amusing.
The big issue at the end of the week was the number of sackings being racked up. (It made us think, a little, about the end of Whitlam’s days in government.)
BTW we are also, through our devices, catching up with Australia’s dual-citizenship parliamentary shenanigans.
Anyhow, it was really lovely being back with Carolyn and her family, and not just because she keeps plying us with food and drink! Our days are quickly running out, now. Wah!
All those tiny little living spaces are so cute to look at, like a doll’s house. Buuuuut very different to live in, I dare say!
I reckon Hannah. Most of the officers at least have a little living space. The others just have bunks and a locker.
…. and just imagine the food that came out of those huge vats in the galley – not ‘like mother used to make’ for sure.
But just think, too, what such a ship cost and the relative shortness of its working life (though it is still working, I guess, just not at its original purpose which was to kill people or, as the politicians etc. like to tell us, to prevent any putative enemy killing us. You do have to admire though, the crews who lived for so many weeks at a time in such confined quarters. Makes our small apartment look palatial.
Great photos, as usual – the lake looks beautiful.
Love from us both,
Mum.
Yes, you’re right about the food, Mum, like HUGE tubs of beef stew, a cook said. He wasn’t concerned about cholesterol and calories he said but about keeping them nourished and able to work. I suspect that’s fair enough. They were probably active enough to not have to worry. The kitchens worked 24 hours a day, or 24/7 as people say now, on 12-hour shifts.
Wow – 12 hour shifts – and I get tired preparing dinner for two!
Sounds pretty horrible to me too Mum.