San Diego Apr 10

I was at San Diego for a week on work, but also managed to squeeze in some time for sightseeing. The main attraction was USS Midway (more on that later) but I managed to meet up with an old friend, so a Mexican dinner.

Ever had a fried ice cream? I had one. It was ice cream wrapped in egg and cereal, deep fried for 2 minutes.

On to USS Midway. I had the fortune of having a tour guide that served 4 tours totaling 8 years onboard (yes, that's my old friend) so he was able to not just bring me around the aircraft carrier but threw in stories that no one else knew about. Like the CO was not relieved of duty after the carrier was hit by a merchant hit. How his stateroom has a carpet and a TV. Sneaking up on the Soviet coast during the Cold War.

Here's a view of San Diego from the island of the carrier.

A view of the flight deck, with an assortment of aircraft that served the US Navy.

The enormous laundry... imagine washing clothes for 5000 people.

The galley where food is served, and the all too familiar metal trays.

The forecastle where the anchor is.

Plus the "toothpick" used to turn/untwist the anchor cable.

Casualty power cables...

Sliding stairs. The sides of the stairs can be folded down to form a slide, very useful when you need to slide things up and down the stairs, such as a stretcher with a casualty onboard.

A wonderful tour, an eye-opener, and all because I had a great tour guide.