Monday, May 11, 2009

San Diego Vacation, Day 4 - USS Midway Museum

Our fourth morning in San Diego was perhaps the most boring one for the kids - we toured the USS Midway, a huge aircraft carrier that has been turned into a museum. The museum is very well done, with lots of winding paths through the various parts of the ship, a self-guided audio tour and docents on board who were either stationed on this very ship, or a similar one, and are happy to share stories about their experiences. Of course, we couldn't listen to any of that - we were too busy chasing after our tired, bored, grumpy, ill-behaved wild children...!Some things were perhaps a little interesting for little people. Here we checked out the HUGE chains that hold the ships' anchors.Courtney looooves climbing stairs, so she was in stair-heaven on this ship!Up on the flight deck, Carter and Courtney got to sit in the cockpit of a T-2 Buckeye "Pilot Trainer" jet.Unfortunately Courtney did end up in the ship's brig, for bad behavior! (just kidding, if anyone should have ended up there it was a certain three year old...)After the tour we walked down the pier a little further, where they have a "Greatest Generation Walk" with various statues and monuments saluting the heroes of WWII. I loved this statue, it was huge! (notice little Carter by the woman's shoe...)This "Salute to Bob Hope" was very cool too.We tried having lunch at a fish place on the pier, but that same certain three year old threw such a tantrum we had to leave. I can't *really* blame him, we had been running them ragged up to this point!! We ended up heading back to the hotel for lunch, and then putting them both down to nap in their beds - the first non-carseat naps they had on the trip! It was definitely needed. In the afternoon we had a really fun time hanging out at the hotel. We went for a swim in the pool while Daddy ran to the grocery store, where he picked up some steaks to grill for dinner. We stayed at a Residence Inn (for free, thanks to Daddy's Marriott points he's racked up with all his business travel!), which worked out GREAT - separate bedrooms for the kids, and access to a fridge, stove, dishwasher - and the grills down by the pool! They also had happy hour in the evening, so Mommy and Daddy even got to enjoy free wine with their steak dinner - woohoo!! We all got a good night's rest that night, gearing up for the next day - a long, hot day at the zoo...!!

2 comments:

Laura E. said...

Wow! All these posts are amazing! I really want to take this trip now. I didn't realize that statue was so huge until you pointed out Carter in the photo. I didn't even notice the little guy down there! Your hotel sounds fantastic too! So cool!

Nikola said...

Incredible photos! I had never heard of this particular museum in San Diego, but it looks like a must-see. Thanks for the info! It sounds like a nice time.