USS Midway and the Pacific Ocean

Today we planned to go to see the USS Midway Museum in the morning and then to Coronado Beach in the afternoon, then head back to our campsite. Both turned out to be even better than we anticipated.

Carson and I woke up really early, so we went exploring around our campsite. Took some more palm tree photos and also discovered what we presume is a Native American reproduction of a wigwam. There were no signs though so I have no idea the purpose of it in that park.

We didn't see any rattlesnakes, but we did wake up to ants crawling all over the outside of our tent with some getting inside through the tent seams. A drawback to setting up the tent in the dark? Perhaps, though when I looked up comments on Tripadvisor afterwards, all the campgrounds in San Diego had ant issues. 

We stopped at Denny's for breakfast then got to the USS Midway right when it opened about 10 am. The USS Midway Museum is an aircraft carrier that was retired and turned into a museum. If you are interested, here is their website: http://www.midway.org/

They have an audio tour throughout the entire ship so we all picked up our headphones and remote thing. They have kid-level audio and an adult level one with more details about the different areas of the ship. Spencer loved the audio tour and listened to every single track! He was even punching in random numbers in hopes of more snippets of information. Carson didn't like it hanging around his neck so he walked around and asked millions of questions (Mom? Mom? MOM?)

One of the veterans told us to go to the top and get the tour of the control tower because that line gets long.  The kids got to sit in the Captain and co-captain chairs. The control tower is just like the control tower at an airport.

We stopped to have a snack/lunch and call Opa to wish him a Happy Birthday. Carson loves to make faces for the camera.

We saw and learned about lots of other cool things on the ship.

An early computer. 

Lots of planes and helicopters on the deck.

The boys in the Brig!

Jeff and Spencer trying all the different knots that were used on the ship.

There was also a Young Pilot's program similar to the Junior Ranger program in the National Parks. The retired veterans were so great with the kids, as were all the veterans that worked or volunteered at the Museum. Many of them had served on the USS Midway or else served on similar ships that the USS Midway oversaw.

We ended up staying until about 4 pm and learned so much about the Navy, how airplanes could land on a ship in the middle of the ocean, and how the men lived while at sea. It was definitely a happy surprise that it ended up being such a fantastic activity.

After that, we walked along the boardwalk where there were great shops, street performers and restaurants. I even met Tom Cruise!

The boys didn't know what to make of the Human Robot Statue. Put money in his tip
jar and he moved and sounded like a robot.

Crabs crawling on the rocks.

This man balanced these rocks which were just part of the shoreline. Amazing!

During dinner we saw this huge ship full of Dole containers. That is a lot of bananas!

Swoon!!!!

We ate dinner (pizza for the boys, ravioli for me, and a gyro for Jeff), then headed to Coronado Beach to watch the sun set. Very swanky houses, but the beach itself was public so we parked and went to explore. The boys had a blast playing in the waves and then in the sand.  I wish we lived closer to the ocean.

As the kids were playing, I was exploring with the camera. 

Bird footprints in the sand

The sand had gold specks in it so the whole beach was glittering.

And ending the day with a beautiful sunset!