USS Midway, Star of India, a submarine and the ship from Master and Commander

When Mom and Liz were here, we had planned on going to Disneyland on Friday but it had rained all over the place...I mean, the ground was WET! Oh, the woes of winter in San Diego! So we put off the trip and instead went to the bay to check out the USS Midway, the Star of India and some other miscellaneous ships. Of course we didn't know this until we got there. It seems the ship from Master and Commander (yes, from the movie) was there as well as a Soviet submarine. Somehow, I don't have any pictures of the Master and Commander ship, which turns out to be a Hollywood replica of a real ship.


I can't seem to find a photo of the M and C ship, but Apollo took a lot from inside the ship. I thought this was the most interesting. It's the bathroom! Nice bucket.

They both went on the sub of course. It looks like it's been sitting there, or somewhere, for quite a while. Look how rusty and gunky it is at sea level. Mom and I didn't go on any of the ships. Well, I popped onto the Star of India just so I could take some pictures of the two kids, but other than that, Mom and I just walked around talking and taking pictures. Oh and Mom waited obsessively for planes to fly in so she could get that perfect photo of planes appearing to fly into buildings.

Liz spent a lot of time playing with the various objects on the Star of India. This retired guy whose job it was to inform us about everything on the ship told us how parents love this thing (sorry, don't know the name) since it tires out the kiddies. That didn't work with Liz. She had a lot of energy.

Speaking of retired guys, they were definitely dedicated to their jobs. You didn't even have to look one of them in the eyes, they honed in on you as if their life depended on reciting every fact they knew about the ship. Fortunately, Liz just ate it up. Here she is asking one of them about the ropes. He just loved that.

Apollo and Liz. Oh look, there's the Master and Commander ship behind them! Maybe I'll go take a better one later. Sorry.

Liz made a Mexican lady very happy by paying too much for a necklace. She didn't even try to bargain with her.

Apollo met someone at the ticket office who was also from Detroit and cut a sweet deal for a few bucks off his and Liz's tickets to go on the USS Midway. These tickets were separate from the other ships at the bay and were spendy, despite the "discount." They're normally $15 each.

I found this photo online somewhere (obviously, since I haven't been flying above San Diego lately...or ever). To the very left you see a bunch of boats docked, then a bit of land, then the first ship is the USS Midway. If you look carefully, you can see the runway for the jets.

Bunks and lockers from within the USS Midway. I was surprised at exactly tight the quarters were.

Liz playing with the switches inside one of the jets on the Midway. About six jets were set up as simulators for people to play with. From what I hear, it was a lot like playing a video game.

Some of the dials and buttons.

Meanwhile, remember that bit of land I described above in that aerial shot of the Midway? Well, Mom and I were standing on it when suddenly the wind started getting crazy. We were freezing cold! Again, GAH! to you wintery San Diego!! hehehehehe We tried huddling up to the tree's to block out the wind. After one particularly ferocious blast of wind involving a bunch of palm leaves, Mom huddled under a limb, curving her body to fit it. When I went towards her to huddle in for warmth she said, "Get your own limb!" WELL, there's motherly love for ya!! :) We later discovered the thorns on the tree (yes, thorns!!) had ripped a hole in Mom's shirt.

After calling Apollo around six times, apparently he was enjoying himself on the simulator during each call and couldn't hear the ring, we got the "kids" to come to the top where we could zoom in and get a photo of the two of them together. You can't tell but Liz is trying to rabbit ear Apollo.

After a brief situation involving police sirens, Liz being left alone at the carrier, Apollo knocking someone over while running back to the carrier to find her, and a teary eyed teenager, we went to Coronado. This pigeon landed on Mom's hand and stayed there long enough for me to fumble at my camera in my purse and take several pictures. Seems he was picking at her rings. Gold digger! And no, Mom's not that big. The wind was blowing like crazy and poofing out her coat.

Though we hung out in San Diego and did this touristy stuff, I think Mom, Liz and Apollo had a great time.