Day 16: San Diego, California

Saturday, 21 January 2017
At Sea — North Pacific Ocean

Stats @ Ship’s Time 9:00p (PST) … UTC 5:00a (22 January)
Temp: 50F (10C)
Position: 32.42.23N / 117.13.76W

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion
and avoid the people, you might better stay home.
~ James Michener ~

A fantastic day in San Diego.  We snuck in between the rain that washed out the city yesterday and the storms heading to the coast in the days ahead.  We had a tiny bit of drizzle while we were indoors at the USS Midway … now a museum.  Even that rain was accompanied by blue patches in the sky.  Afterwards, the sun came out and we had a beautiful day to enjoy the city.  We appreciated what little warmth the golden orb in the sky gave us — the day’s high was 60F (16C).  Layering our clothes, we were quite comfortable during the day, but once the sun went down, the chill that descended with the darkness was … well, downright cold would be a good way to describe it.

After a rockin’ and rollin’ kind of night, we woke up around 6:30a to more of the same.  We were at breakfast at 8:00a when Captain B announced that the stabilizers would be housed now that Insignia was in shallow(er) waters.  A few minutes later, we felt the change in the movement of the ship, and then crash went a bunch of trays and a sneeze-guard in the Waves Grill where we were sitting.  Oooops.  Luckily we were very close to the breakwater and as soon as we were inside the protected area, the motion of the ocean calmed down.  We enjoyed the sail in to San Diego from our veranda, checking out the naval facilities on either side of us.

Insignia slipped into her berth at the Broadway Pier right around 9:00a — an hour before we were scheduled to do so.  By this time, we were connected to our high speed internet — yay — calling our families and updating our laptops and smartphones.   We were just wrapping up our list of to-do items when the Deck 6 passengers were called to meet with US Immigration personnel in the Insignia Lounge.  By 9:45a — we were walking off the ship.

USS Midway (CV-41) is an aircraft carrier that was converted to a museum after it was decommissioned in 1992.  It is at a permanent berth just a few minutes’ walking distance to the Broadway Pier where Insignia was docked.  Even though we arrived just minutes after the museum opened at 10:00a, there was already a large crowd.  We had purchased our tickets online (USD $8/person with military discount), so we didn’t have to waste time waiting in line.

USS Midway — from this vantage point, we can see the aircraft elevator.

The ship, commissioned in 1945, was the largest warship in the world at the time … and remained so for a decade.  It was the first ship that was too big to go through the Panama Canal.  It participated in various operations … including in Vietnam, where it led the evacuation from Saigon, rescuing nearly 3,100 refugees in two days.  In 1991 it served as the flagship for the Persian Gulf air operations in support of Operation Desert Storm.  Later that year, CV-41 rescued 1,800 Americans fleeing the Mt Pinatubo eruption.

Welcome aboard USS Midway (CV-41).

Unfortunately, we did not do Midway justice — not at all.  There was so much to see and do that it was downright overwhelming.  We did make sure to take the docent-led “Island Tour” … as the superstructure tower is referred to.  We were a group of 21 — IMHO too many for the cramped spaces we visited .. half as many would have been better.  We climbed four sets of ladders — as the steep staircases are referred to on ships — to start out in the air operations center where the Boss and Mini Boss oversaw the aircraft taking off from and landing on the carrier.  Then we went through the Navigation Center, and finally through the Captain’s Bridge, where we also saw the Captain’s Ready Room.

Afterwards, we strolled from one end of the ship’s 1,001-foot (305 m) long flight deck, checking out the aircraft on display along the way … even going into a few of them.

The Island is the command center for flight deck operations, as well as the ship as a whole.

A catapult officer (AKA Shooter) signals the all Clear to launch!

E-2 Hawkeye on the flight deck … note the folded wing.

Then down to the hangar deck we went.  This cavernous space — once filled with aircraft lined one after another, their wings folded — is used for a variety of exhibits and simulators and more.  We wandered around a bit, but decided to focus our attention on the “City at Sea” — decks 2, 3, and 4 … home away from home for the 4,500-strong complement of crew that served on the carrier.  We walked through and saw spaces that would have been a hubbub of daily activity on the ship … the chow line, the supply department, the Chapel and the Chaplain’s quarters, the Executive Officer’s quarters, the wardroom, the dirty-shirt wardroom, the galley, the enlisted uniform exhibit, the bomb elevator, the mess, the sick bay, the laundry, the hotel services office (which Mui called the linen exchange), the latrine, and more … all fascinating.

The Mark 6 is a 25-man life raft complete with emergency rations.

The Chapel

Carriers Past & Present — interesting dichotomy of size over a period of 100 years.

USS Gerald R Ford is a supercarrier launched in 2013.
USS Langley, the US Navy's first carrier, was launched in 1912.

Left: A glimpse down the weapons elevator shaft.

Right: Sick bay services on the carrier included dentistry.
moaning and groaning, and kicking his heels, this “seaman” has two dentists working on him.

It was 1:00p by the time we were ready to leave … well not really ready as there was still so much to see and do, but we had a few chores to take care of.  Manning the “Talk to a WWII Vet” table today was Commander Stan Able, a pilot who was serving on USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) when it was hit by two Kamikaze pilots.  Our last act on the ship was to stop and say hello to him and thank him for his service.

Left: The starboard chow line is open!

Right: Mui thanks Commander Stan Able, a WWII veteran, for his service.

Before calling for an Uber ride, we wandered around the waterfront near USS Midway to check out the “Unconditional Surrender” statue.  The name may not mean anything to most people — I didn’t know what it was called until I looked it up online.  But if I were to describe it as a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day — the day celebrating the victory over Japan — everyone would know what I am talking about.  As well, nearby was a collection of sculptures described as a “National Tribute to Bob Hope.”  In the display, Hope is facing military personnel, cracking some of his signature jokes … with audio enhancing the experience for real-live people visiting the tribute.

Left: Unconditional Surrender … that iconic moment on V-J Day.

Right: A national tribute to Bob hope … complete with live audio.

No sense describing our chores … suffice to say that we got it all taken care of and stowed our purchases in the cabin before disembarking the ship again to enjoy the rest of our afternoon in the city.

Back in the mid-1980s, I made a weekend trip to San Diego with a couple of girlfriends … Mui was on assignment in Saudi Arabia at the time.  On that occasion, I had dinner with the girls at Anthony’s, a very popular casual restaurant on the water.  A few years later, when Mui and I visited San Diego, we had dinner there together.  And finally, in 2002, when we embarked Celebrity Infinity for our first Panama Canal crossing, we ate at Anthony’s again.  So, it seemed like a good idea to continue the tradition today — especially when we found out that the place was closing at the end of January.  With a reservation for 4:45p, that’s where we were going to go … until we started talking to Dee, our Uber driver.  When she mentioned the place had gone downhill since our last time there, we decided to cancel our reservations and try our luck elsewhere … so glad we did.

Heading in the direction of Seaport Village, we passed various eateries there.  Trip Advisor reviews rated them 3.5 stars … OK, but we wanted something better.  Continuing our walk to the marina at the far end, we found Sally’s Fish House — a modern-looking place with al fresco seating.  It was neither lunch nor dinner time … but they were serving tapas, so we went in.

All set to enjoy an al fresco dinner at Sally’s.

Not only was the service attentive, but the food was yummy, yummy.  We ordered three plates to split — crab cakes; battered rock shrimp; and Sally’s signature angus burger (with brie; served on a brioche bun) with a side of sweet potato fries.  Excellent … excellent … and tasting even better as food always does when enjoyed outdoors with the setting sun coloring the evening sky.  I forgot its name, but the beer I ordered was perfectly suited to my palate, and Mui enjoyed his glass of Riesling.  We skipped dessert … next time … as we will definitely return to this place when we next find ourselves in San Diego.

An excellent meal of crab cakes, rock shrimp, and angus burger.

Left: Cycle-limos like this one take visitors for a ride along the waterfront.

Right: Dusk reflections at the San Diego Marina across from Sally’s.

Panoramic sunset from the Embarcadero Marina Park.

The walk back to the ship was after dark — after we enjoyed the final colors of the sunset from the Embarcadero Marina Park.  As the sun disappeared the temp dropped, and despite the layers I had on, I was downright cold when we finally made it back to the ship.

It was only 6:00p and I had two hours of high-speed internet before the ship set sail.  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to process photos for the blog.  At 8:00p, Captain B came on the P/A to advise that we would be delayed departing San Diego 15-20 minutes … the last of the pallets of provisions for the upcoming Pacific Crossing still needed to be loaded.  Oh, and by the way … overnight the conditions would be just like last night … in other words, rockin’ and rollin’ … with 20-25 foot (6-7 m) seas expected.  Alrighty.

By 8:45p, we were on the move.  Despite the chill, we bundled up to watch as a tugboat pulled us away from our berth and turned us around.  Then, we enjoyed the twinkling lights of San Diego set against the inky skyline until we could no longer distinguish the buildings lined up along the waterfront.

USS Midway with red, white and blue lights on the island.

The bright lights of Star Princess (on the right) mingle with the San Diego skyline.

Left: The Coast Guard accompanies Insignia as we leave our berth.

Right: County Administration Center in Art Deco style at night.

A bit of trivia as we depart San Diego …
This 8th largest city in the US was named after Saint Didacus.

We expected to enjoy San Diego … but our day really exceeded all of our expectations.  We can’t wait to come back and explore more of what the area has to offer.  And we won’t have to wait for another cruise to do so … we can visit in our motorhome ;-)

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