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.