After a 24-hour soaking rain, the local news had lots of reports about flooded roads and closed trails in the area. So we picked some sight-seeing stops in the San Diego area that were not reported to be flooded. We headed toward Coronado Island first. We drove there over the long Coronado bridge, and Denisa snapped a picture of the San Diego harbor while we were crossing.
Besides the military base that takes up most of the island, the most famous attraction is the Hotel del Coronado. Built in 1888, it was the world's largest resort hotel for years. This luxury resort has housed the rich and famous. Today it also hosted the poor and curious, as they welcome tourists to meander its lobby and beach.
We were greeted on the beach by a sand castle almost as elegant as the hotel. Some of the words were rubbed out, so we're not sure why the castle was built. You can tell that we are way behind in our blogging, because we were actually visiting here on February 28. So the date on the castle was just the day before. That was when it rained the entire day, so we're pretty sure it wasn't actually built on that rainy day. We're wondering if it was built for a proposal on February 27th, that turned into a rainy-day proposal instead of a beautiful blue sky beach proposal. We're also wondering what the proposal reply was since the name is rubbed out. So many unanswered questions?!?
It was a popular photo stop today, and we had an offer to take a sand castle picture together this morning.
This is called Golden Beach, because the sand has flecks of mica that sparkle in the sunlight like gold. Our picture doesn't capture the sparkle. But it does capture the fact that yesterday's all-day rain gave it a consistency that would be great for making another sand castle.
There are some old concrete breakwaters along the beach that have protected it from the pounding waves for many years. So the beach is actually pretty calm, and popular for swimming most days.
But this morning the only thing venturing into the water were the sea gulls. They were coming out with round juicy balls that caused their friends to be jealous.
Mark--the master googler--tried to figure out what they were eating. His google of "What is round thing sea gulls in San Diego eat?" got limited results. We're hoping those aren't seal eye balls, but that is the only thing that google came up with.
The clouds made a dramatic backdrop to the red roofs of the Coronado Hotel complex that stretches for miles along this beach.
The gardens around the hotel are beautifully manicured. These bird of paradise plants were blooming with lots of flowers that fascinate us with their detail.
We drove south along the Silver Strand, the fancy name for the beach-lined neck of Coronado Island. Further south, we stopped at another beach in Imperial City. Less touristy, there is plenty of parking close to the water to take a stroll in the sand.
Again, we didn't see anyone in the water and few people on the beach this week-day morning.
That might have something to do with the signs posted on the beach. We later heard on the news that the Mexico government allowed the dumping of gallons of raw sewage into the Tijuana River. That river flows into the Pacific just a few miles from here. Even though we were just a few miles from Mexico, we didn't opt for the trip across the border into Tijuana this time.
We decided it was time to leave the beach, so we headed inland to San Diego's famous Balboa Park. It was built in 1915, when this city hosted the Panama-California Exposition in celebration of the opening of the Panama Canal. It is filled with ornate Spanish Renaissance buildings that make for beautiful pictures against the blue sky.
The buildings in the park have become homes to museums and public spaces over the last 100 years. In fact, there are 15 major museums here, which makes it great for one-stop shopping for anyone with a penchant for museums.
Balboa Park is also home to the very famous San Diego Zoo. This is another highly recommended stop, but the $52 tickets per person were way over our budget.
So we had to be satisfied with the topiary elephants trimmed out of the bushes nearby.
Balboa Park is a great place to meander on a beautiful afternoon. The El Prado Plaza is a public meeting place where entertainers gather.
The children especially enjoyed the huge bubbles that were being blown on the plaza.
For a small charge, they could hold the wand and make their own bubbles.
We didn't even know there was such a job as a professional bubble blower, but these people were very talented. They could even blow bubbles within bubbles. We watched the delighted children chase these bubbles that were larger than life. We were surprised at how well the iridescent bubbles showed up in our pictures.
It was also interesting to catch the soapy leftovers still hanging in mid-air after a bubble had just be popped.
Balboa Park is also a great place to see statues around the fountain.
This guy stood motionless as a statue until we put a tip into the jar at his feet. Just like a piggy bank that rewards a saver, the statue-man unfroze and played a guitar song in appreciation of the tip.
Our favorite free stop was the Botanical Building. The sign outside said that it was the most photographed spot in all of San Diego.
People aren't taking pictures of the outside of the building. They are more interested in the beautiful blooms inside. We had never seen so many orchids in our lives.
The orchids came in so many colors and shapes that Denisa just kept snapping pictures. Yes, it was our most photographed San Diego spot as well.
This orchid had an unusual shape and color. This arboretum must have the optimal environment for these fussy plants, as they all looked so healthy and happy here.
More common tulips were also happy here, at the peak of their bloom while we were visiting.
Less common platycerium ferns are also grown here. The more common name--staghorn fern--aptly describes the hanging fronds that looked like antlers around Mark's head.
So besides the ornate architecture and the expensive zoo, we think the stars of the show at Balboa Park are the plants. That includes the huge trees that also reside here. Denisa couldn't back up far enough to get the entire tree into one camera frame. But you can get an idea of its size when you see Mark standing at the base of its bright white trunk.
The root systems are often exposed on the sloping hills. They make an interesting maze at the base of the tree.
Between the roots and the towering umbrella of that magnificent tree, it was Mark's favorite tourist site of the day. Man can build ornate buildings, but only God can make a tree. Even in the heart of the city, we have wandered into His wonders again.
We wandered through the desert gardens of Balboa Park, intrigued by this tangle of a cactus.
This tree didn't have sharp spines like a cactus, but it definitely had a thorny trunk that would keep most tree-climbers at bay.
After a fun day of experiencing some of the free sites of San Diego, we were ready to face the traffic and head home to our spot at Mission Bay Resort. We were given great advice to stay in this centrally-located RV park, and we're glad that we don't have further to drive in the San Diego traffic. We love seeing the sites of the city, but we don't enjoy the parking hassles and congested roads that come with them.
The first evening we were in San Diego, we met our next door neighbor in the campground, Leslie. We asked her for advice on things to see in San Diego, and she told us about the USS Midway aircraft carrier. We recognized that it was the top-rated thing to see in San Diego, but the tickets are pricey. That's when she gave us two free tickets! We were blessed by someone we had just met!
We didn't realize what a great blessing it was until we saw the weather forecast. San Diego was supposed to get rain all day. That's a problem, because most of our planned activities involved spending most of our time outside. Suddenly, we had an indoor activity for our rainy day--and it was going to be free!
We arrived (in the rain) shortly after the USS Midway museum opened. The museum is actually the 972 foot long aircraft carrier that was the largest ship in the world when it was built in 1945. The USS Midway is parked at the Navy Pier in downtown San Diego. Admission includes self-guiding audio-phones that have recordings describing the details of what we were seeing.
There are 29 airplanes on board the aircraft carrier, but we really came to see the ship. When it was in service from 1945 until 1992, it was a city on the sea. There were usually over 4,000 men on board at one time, so they didn't have much personal space. The enlisted men's beds were stacked three high, with only a tiny walkway in between.
Someone as claustrophobic as Mark doesn't even like to think about sleeping in such tight quarters, with someone right above and right below. The audio-phone included stories from sailors that spent time on the Midway. They mentioned that the snoring was deafening in these confined quarters.
Each enlisted man's possessions had to fit in the cargo area under his bed, and a single small locker beside it. That's considerably less storage space than we have in the motor home.
We also visited the room that housed the chains attached to the anchors. Each of those chain links weigh more than Denisa. The audio-phone told us that the entire ship vibrated when those giant chains ran out to the ocean when the anchor was dropped.
The most special thing about visiting this floating museum is the volunteer docents that are scattered throughout the ship. Most are retired military veterans, who have interesting details to share about life on a Navy ship. We met Chris Davis about thirty minutes into our visit. We immediately liked him when he told us he spent a year of his military career in Clinton, Oklahoma, in 1962. That's just 15 miles away from where we retired.
He must have liked us as well, because he spent the time to tell us wonderful details about how these Navy ships operated. For example, this glass display board is used to keep a visual record of other ships or airplanes in the area. But the sailor posting the new information can't be standing in front of the board, because that would make it impossible for the rest of the people in the room to see. So the Navy specially trains that sailor how to write backwards, posting the information while standing behind the glass panel. All this printing was done with a white marker behind the glass while writing backwards. We would have never known that detail without Mr. Davis's help.
He described the brig, where sailors were held if they broke the Navy's rules. Interestingly, there are Marines aboard Navy ships to police the brig. For some reason, Mr. Davis thought Denisa should be in the brig picture.
He asked what we thought the most common injury on the ship was. Denisa was pretty sure it came from tripping over all the doorway thresholds, because they had already tripped her up a couple times. He pointed out those raised doorways are part of ships because they would help to keep water compartmentalized if there should be a water leak.
Mr. Davis pointed out that it was head injuries that sent most sailors to the medic. The low doorways and ladders caused some problems for Mark, but Denisa didn't even notice them. We also found out what the series of numbers to the left of door meant. They are posted all over the ship, describing the exact locations, as well as the person in authority of that area.
There are over 60 different rooms and displays open to the public throughout the ship. We had completely stopped listening to our audio-phone by now, as we had our own personal tour guide taking us from room to room. When we got to the room with keepsakes from different squadrons, Mr. Davis pointed out this picture of his squadron. There he was, standing on the second row on the right hand side back in 1973. Everyone in the picture had a nickname, and his was "Earthquake."
Earthquake stayed with us for over two hours, telling us stories and pointing out things that we would have missed on our own. Denisa is sitting on one of the airplane ejection seats, with her right hand gripping the cord that would start the ejection process. He described how it worked, and why it was definitely a pilot's last option.
Mr. Davis pointed out the model of the Navy's newest aircraft carrier on the left--the USS Gerald Ford. He described how the planes will be catapulted off the front using new magnetic technology, rather than the steam power used on the USS Midway. He also described the process of planes landing on the deck, including the trip cords that catch them. He pointed out that modern carriers have an angled landing strip just in case the landing is unsuccessful. The model on the right is of the first aircraft carrier. With that straight landing area, a missed landing resulted in crashing all the planes parked on the flight deck. Our day was so enriched by the little interesting bits of information we received from our own private tour guide.
Mr. Davis knew about all the planes, and he had lived on many different Navy ships. We appreciated his service to our country, and today we so appreciated his personal tour. It made our experience at the USS Midway so much richer!
He let us tour the next part of the ship on our own, so we were back to our audio-phones for descriptions. We learned about the process of feeding over 4,000 men working day and night shifts from a kitchen that never slept. The picture below is part of the fancy officer's dining room, where only dress uniforms were worn. Mr. Davis had already pointed out that officers usually preferred to wear their work clothes and dine in the less fancy mess hall rather than taking the time to dress for a meal.
We also saw the barbershop, the dental office, the hospital, the tailor shop, the laundry, the engine room, the chapel, the store . . . It takes a mind-boggling amount of food and supplies to run a ship with this number of people. It was also interesting to think of all the jobs on a ship. We had never thought of all the things a sailor might do that seem far removed from the planes flying off the flight deck.
This was a great way to spend a rainy day, as most of our time had been spent indoors so far. But we wanted to see the flight deck, so we zipped up our rain coats and braved the rain that hadn't stopped all day.
Normally, we would have spent an hour looking at all the planes on the flight deck. But today the steady rain made it too uncomfortable to stay outside for too long.
The good news is that there was no line for the "island tour" because of the rain. Only 20 people at a time are allowed in the tower that oversees the action on the flight deck. It is the equivalent of the air traffic control tower of the ship. Through the rain-streaked windows we could see more of the flight deck from a bird's eye view.
We could also see downtown San Diego behind us, shrouded in the rain.
Our final stop in the island was the control room. We learned about the ways that navigation changed from 1945 to 1992. Denisa got to steer this monster-sized ship.
After almost six hours aboard the USS Midway, our legs were tired and our stomachs were hungry. We wanted a picture of the outside of the ship, but it was just too big to fit into the camera lens.
We stopped for a few minutes at the pier to see some famous statues in the area. The kissing sailor doesn't look that big with the Midway in the background. That's why Mark is braving the rain to give some scale of size to that kiss.
The Bob Hope statue was more life-sized. He is immortalized with some of the many troops he entertained over the years.
The rain continued for the rest of the day, AND through the night. It was a 24-hour rain storm that the local meteorologist described as "unprecedented and record-breaking." Another retired military docent admitted that it wasn't chamber of commerce weather, but he would sure be happy to get off water rations in San Diego. Most of California has been in a severe drought for years. But the recent storms have brought the lake levels back up to normal and removed the drought through most of the state. It dampened our first day of San Diego sight-seeing, but we felt doubly blessed in spite of the weather. We were blessed with the free tickets, and blessed with a personal tour. It was a great day!
