Well quite apart from the fact that we managed to get the cops over to Newport Place twice in one week, one could say that we had a good… no GREAT time in San Diego. It is such a champion city and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there.
There are some things that we missed out in our final post that are worth telling here, we’ll try and recount them as accurately as possible!
San Diego has so much squashed into it’s downtown area, it’s scarcely believable for such a small CBD.
Balboa Park is similar to the mall in Washington DC and full of museums and activities for all. We took a couple of bikes up to the park and rode around looking into all of the exhibits and wishing that we could visit all of them properly. Eventually after realising that the afternoon on Friday was drawing to a close (and that we had a braai to attend at Adriano’s) we settled on the San Diego automotive museum (mutually agreed upon) that was holding a VW through the ages exhibit. Everything from an original Type 1 Beetle through to some iconic examples such as the Split Window Camper, an immaculate Convertible Bug, some Rat examples of bugs that some artistic people had created and some “newer” MK 1 Golfs and Sciroccos.
The Park is also home to a magnificent Botanical House with a display of various orchids, bromeliads and carnivorous plants. I tried to photograph some of them but could have spent much longer in the cool fresh air.
On a final note, and unfortunately we weren’t able to witness it, we visited the Spreckels Organ Pavilion that houses one of the world’s largest outdoor pipe organs. For those who know things about these things it has 73 ranks that total 4518 pipes, and that my friends is apparently quite a few!
So that was another land based highlight of our week in SD and we also have one other highlight that was very much water based! We took the afternoon on yesterday to visit the decommissioned Aircraft Carrier USS Midway that is docked in San Diego Bay and now serves as a museum and a reminder of those who fought in the two World Wars and also the Korean War, the third and final of the Midway’s service. The tour takes you through the “floating city” from the quarters of the lowliest of sailors on triple berth bunks and barely enough space to breathe all the way through the serviceable areas, the Fo’c’sle and the armoury to the Captains suite. It was an amazing tour and we really could have spent longer on the ship. The thing is utterly gigantic and in it’s lifetime has gone through three flight deck re-fitments from a straight landing deck running the length of the deck to two angle flight decks including modifications to house steam driven catapults to launch aircraft to 200 knots in just over 2 seconds.
The last of the tour takes you through the inner deck where aircraft are stored and repaired and up onto the flight deck and to the control tower where all the action is monitored and regulated. All the while the history of aircraft that were used on the ship is laid out chronologically from WWII fighters to modern strike fighters and radar aeroplanes of the 21st century. It is all amazingly coordinated and unbelievably maintained. Unfortunately whilst explaining to Dom how a jet engine works, I got my finger caught in one of the fans and I think my fingernail’s days are now numbered!
So now on to Texas and Austin is our next stop. I will put up a photo gallery of Balboa Park and the Midway as well as some miscellanea of our time in SD and Newport Place with the Brazilian!
- All the lads and lasses out for all night cocktail hour!
Later Gang!
