San Diego is a beautiful city and so much like many
Australian costal cities (weather wise at least). It's no wonder so many ex-pat
Australians live there. Through the years the area has been inhabited with
Portuguese, Spanish and finally Americans so the diversity in their lifestyles
is evident throughout the city.
We spent a few days in San Diego while Adam attended a work
conference at a Marine base just north of the city. We visited the world class
San Diego zoo, Coronado Island (location of the Naval base North Island), USS
Midway (aircraft carrier), Maritime museum and Carol and Alexander did a city
bus tour. Like many of the places we visited we could have spent days seeing the
sights. We also took the opportunity to catch up with some other Australians in
San Diego who Adam works with.
Located in Balboa Park, the zoo has a fantastic selection of
animals from around the world. This was Alexander's first trip to a zoo and
while he probably won't remember it, he get to see some familiar and some not so
familiar animals. Unfortunately all the koalas in the exhibit were sleeping
while we were there. I guess that happens when they are nocturnal. If you're
ever visiting San Diego this zoo is a must see. I think it's also worth a trip
down from LA if you have time.
Maritime Museum
Located in San Diego Bay, the museum houses an impressive
collection of historic sea vessels. The collection includes the Star of
India (1863 iron windjammer), HMS Surprise (used in the movie Master and
Commander) and a Soviet submarine.
The Star of India is actually the oldest ship that still
sails regularly and the oldest iron hulled merchant ship still afloat. Not a
bad record to hold. The HMS Surprise is actually a replica of HMS Rose and
was built in 1970. It's not really entitled to the title HMS but has been
registered that in honor of it's role in the movie Master and Commander.
Life aboard either of these old vessels back in the day (either for the
paying passengers or crew) would not have been great.
USS Midway
The USS Midway is a decommissioned aircraft carrier,
coming floating naval aviation museum located just down the wharf from the
San Diego Maritime Museum. The Midway had a long and illustrious career in
the US Navy, first being commissioned in 1945. It underwent several
modifications / overhauls during her career, going from a straight launch /
recovery deck to the modern day offset deck of the aircraft carrier. Those
modifications allowed her to say in service until 1992.
We did an audio tour through much of the ship and even
though those aircraft carriers are massive, they certainly use all available
space. I suppose you have to when you house 3000 or 4000 personnel onboard
when underway on operations. Not my cuppa tea and I'm certainly glad I
joined the Air Force!!!
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Very tight sleeping quarters for the enlisted.
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I guess you need a big anchor chain if you're to anchor a ship as big as the Midway
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The maintenance deck would not have been this empty when on operations
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Sea King Helicopter - actually the one that plucked some of the Apollo astronaunts from the sea after they returned to earth from their moon landings.
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F-14 Tomcat (as used in the movie Top Gun)
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The famous sailor returning home to the loved one statue next to the USS Midway
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Other San Diego Photos
Here is a few other photos from around the beautiful town
of San Diego. The Hotel del Coronado is located on Coronado Island, just
across the bay from San Diego. We spent the first two nights there at the US
Navy Lodge. Certainly a great place to stay and no wonder it books out
during the summer months. It's right on the beach. Hotel del Coronado was
built back in 1888 and has hosted Presidents, royalty and celebrities
through the years. People just stop by the check out the lobby - well worth
a look. We just had ice-cream there. I think that was all we could afford at
that place.
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Hotel del Coronado
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Adam enjoying the San Diego beach
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Alexander doing the sight seeing the hard way
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Some Norfolk pines located in San Diego
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Hotel del Coronado
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Navy Lodge that we stayed at located right on the beach
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Carol visited an old jail / police station as part of her city tour
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