USS Midway Tour

Living in an RV park for an extended period of time and traveling to and from the hospital daily made San Diego start to feel like home. I had visited almost every mall I could find in the area, went running around Mission Bay and a walk along the water at Embarcadero, took Sequoia to the Festive Beach dog park, had a relationship with a groomer for him and a hair stylist for me, I knew which grocery store I preferred, and scoped out the closest Red Box. While Adam was resting in the hospital I took myself to a play in Balboa Park at the Old Globe theater, saw the seals in La Jolla, visited Sea World previously, went to the La Jolla arts festival at UCSD, and another fair in the eclectic neighborhood of Hillcrest, but for some reason I felt like I had not seen enough of San Diego. I felt so at home with housework and responsibilities I forgot I was on vacation. So, before we left San Diego I wanted to have one more touristy experience.


This past Tuesday we toured the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier named for a WWII battle. It has sailed all over the world and is staffed by over 1000 volunteers some of whom had sailed on her or flew the planes on display. The museum featured various types of retired aircraft as well as explained the workings of the vessel, how the aircraft take off and land on the carrier, and life aboard. I was surprised to see so many planes with dates painted on them from around my birthday. They must have flown during the Vietnam war; the war that brought my parents to the island of Guam and where I was born. I felt some affinity towards them and a weird sense of pride that I have never experienced before when visiting other military locations. It seems that many people in San Diego have actually been to Guam since this is a Navy town. I even saw a Guam license plate on a car one day. It was the first time I felt my own connection to the military and felt proud. Learning about what it takes to run the aircraft carrier showed me just a glimpse of how hard our troops really work for our freedom and the extensive technologies our government has at their fingertips.

Go Navy!

The carrier was not quite as large as I expected or should I say, it did not seem as large as some of the cruise ships I have been on which was surprising. However, maybe that was due to the fact that I was comparing its size to the planes parked on her. Of course it was huge and large enough to house more than the 40 planes on display with lots of space in between. We had the chance to climb up and down some ladders to see the Brig and engine rooms as well as the Bridge and captain's quarters. What surprised me further was the fact that if the Navy wanted they could put this ship back in working order even though thousands of visitors have pushed many of the buttons on her. It was hard to remember that this ship was a high-tech vessel while watching the five year old in front of me flipping every switch he could reach.




Adam directing planes to land



Another highlight for me was meeting a pilot giving the lecture about how planes land on deck and hearing his war stories about how he flew in many of the planes on display. However, now that I think about it I wonder if he was pulling my leg and making up those stories to enhance the experience. If so it worked! Those volunteers really brought the ship to life explaining how life was while they lived aboard. From someone who has never actually lived in military life, I found it fascinating.

Adjusting the steam engines. Full speed ahead!