|
period furnishings and a scale model of the town as from that period. From the market side there were shops of jewelry, pottery, boots, clothing, etc. Throw in some restaurants and ice cream stores and you have as pleasant a day as you could have.
Next we drove up the coast to enjoy the views of the southern California beach towns all the way up to Carlsbad and Oceanside. Our personal favorite is the La Jolla Cove. The rocky coast, breaking waves and sleeping sea lions are both tranquil and stimulating. There's a reason that even the smaller, older seaside houses are worth millions. We came back a second time with Karen and Ron and had lunch at a wonderful outdoor restaurant overlooking the cove. No oil baron or software millionaire enjoyed the food and the view better than we did that afternoon.
Here's something we did that was out of the ordinary. We toured an aircraft carrier. The USS Midway is a former active warship that saw duty in Korea and Viet Nam. They retired it in 2004 and it is now open to the public. They give you a headset and a gizmo with some numbers and a volume control. Then they point you toward station #1 and you get to find out more than you ever wanted to know about life aboard a ship of war. It takes 3 hours but really is fascinating. Even Carol and Karen really enjoyed it. I saw Carol looking at the receipt book in the galley. She now knows how to make chip beef on toast for 600 people. I'm not looking forward to that grocery list.
They covered every aspect of life at sea. There was the laundry, meals, shower, chapel, post office and sick bay. We toured the navigation room, the control room, the engine room, the radio room and flight deck. In several key areas they had retired Navy personnel available to answer questions. One impressive fact is that ships of that time period needed to refuel with oil every 5 days while at sea. The current nuclear powered ships refuel every 25 years.
The San Diego Zoo is one of the best in the world so we had to take a peek. Every attempt has been made to house the animals in as natural an enclosure as possible and with a minimum of cages or bars. For instance the lion and gorilla enclosures had clear walls so that the animals could wander within inches of the people they were observing.
|
|
