More About San Diego

We went to La Jolla Cove and watched the seals,  

or are they seal lions?
 

We love all the Suessian plant life in 

San Diego.

 

Back in the day, this lifeguard tower at the Cove 

didn't have any windows or a door.  Why is that

significant?  You'll have to email me.

Here's a peek at the Spanish Village Art Center 

located near Balboa Park.  A bunch of artists 

have their studios here.  I love the painted tiles!

I want to start a village like this in Nashville.

Do you think it would fly?

This is just a fun bench at the Art Village.  

It looks like they cut the footboard of a bed

in half and used it for the arms.  The back

of the bench is obviously the headboard.  

Clever!

Here are some hydrangeas at the Art Village.  

I want some blueish purplish hydrangeas.

And I want them now!

Here's a picture of Howard taking pictures at Balboa 

Park.  Later I'll post some of his pictures, they turned out

really good.  He's becoming quite the photographer.

Here's a fun statue I stumbled upon.

The USS Midway is in the background.

This statue is HUGE!

I went back to Old Town again with a friend.  

We went to Bazaar del Mundo, a collection

of very cute Mexicany shops and restaurants. 

I want some steps like these somewhere on my 

property in Nashville!  Do you think they'll

fit in with all the antebellum architecture?

The USS Midway

When we were in San Diego we got to explore the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier turned museum.  She (obviously feminine) was completed in 1945 and turned into a museum in 2004.  It's overwhelming to think of the things she's seen and experienced in her 66 years.

Up until our Midway adventure, the biggest water vessel I'd ever been on was maybe the ferryboat at Disneyland.  Howard had been on the Constellation for his Eagle Scout celebration.

It was hard to fathom that I was on a ship as I walked up and down the 4-acre plane-filled deck.  Howard loved looking at and learning about the planes.

My favorite part was learning about what daily life must have been like for the 4,500 passengers.  I loved seeing their living quarters (squishy for the enlisted men!), the barber shops, the brig, the mess halls, the kitchens, the meeting rooms, the doctors' and dentists' offices, etc.

The kitchen was particularly fascinating to me, especially since my recent experience as girls' camp cook.  Check out these appliances!

These electric pots might have helped with
the marinated chicken.

We definitely needed this for
banana pudding day!

These recipes for 100 would have been incredibly useful!

Check out the quantities listed and then multiply by 45

to feed 4,500 passengers.  Inconceivable!

As I write this post, I'm wishing that I had taken more pictures of all the rooms we saw.

Me, in the brig - for not taking enough pictures.

These are the anchor chains of the Midway.

I borrowed this guy's picture.

Each link of the anchor chain weighs 130 pounds!
This is my picture and my foot.

Here's the machine shop.  This is where my dad

would've worked had he been on the Midway.

There were lots of rooms with lots of...

knobs and buttons and switches.  Oh my!

Painted gray wires lined all the passageway ceilings.

I can't even begin to imagine how they kept track of 

all of them and what they were connected to!

I didn't take a picture of the enlisted men's itty bitty 
living space (doh!), so I borrowed one from this guy.

Howard and I spent 4-5 hours touring the USS Midway and could've stayed longer if closing time hadn't crept up on us so quickly.  It was definitely worth the $18 (per person) admission fee.