Day 20 - San Diego

10th August 2016

We woke today at 8am, to the sound of the gardener cutting the grass on his sit on mower. Has he never heard of a lie in? We had a tough time getting Oliver out of bed because it's the last full day, and he so didn't want to do anything but be in the pool. We made a promise that we'd do a little exploring this morning, and that we'd have a few hours in the pool later. So he took his sad face and kept it with him for use at a later stage, and we bundled into the car.

I had been following a lot of SoCal places on Instagram for ideas, and had seen lots of aerial shots of an amazing curved bridge. There are a lot of bridges in this part of San Diego, as we are on a marina, so lots of water to cross. The particular bridge I was wanting to see is Coronado Bridge, that runs from San Diego downtown to Coronado Island (which is actually not an island, but a peninsula). I looked up some directions last night and was pleased to see it was only a few miles away. So we decided to make that our first point to visit. It's just as well that I didn't show Andrew many pictures of it beforehand, because once we were on it, there was no going back. It was HIGH. And there's not much between the right hand lane and the ocean. I thought it was wonderful, Andrew managed to not breathe once whilst driving across it. He wasn't sharing the love.  The bridge is so tall because it leads to the US Naval Base, so needs to be high to allow the tall ships to pass under. 

Coronado is home to the North Island US Naval Air Station and the US Navy SEALS centre. It is also home to Hotel del Coronado. Google it, and dream of being there.  It is stunning. Coronado and the hotel have evolved together, and at one time it was the largest hotel in the world. It's also had many many famous guests. Coronado itself is so quaint. Very much like the set from 'Back to The Future'. Palm trees line the streets, and the streets are full of cute shops and cafes where the rather rich looking women in gym gear (that looks decidedly unused) sit and share coffee and gossip.

We stopped at a cafe called Tent City and had a small breakfast. Tent City was set up in 1900 as a self-operating city of several hundred tents and thatched roof cottages south of the Hotel del Coronado. It remained for 40 years - almost like an early commune, and was dismantled in 1939 when the highway was built.

We walked down as far at the hotel, and then, with the pool promise still in force, we made our way back to the car. And back, over that bridge. Poor Andrew.

Next stop the cruise ship area. When searching for things to do, the USS Midway came up as the top tourist attraction. Some guides say that you should not dismiss it, until you've tried it. It takes around four hours to explore. Eeek, there's that pool promise looming again. Basically, it's an ex-service ship for the US Navy, and now a floating museum. It has lots of aircraft, now decommissioned, and best of all, the volunteers on board are men that served on the ship itself. It was busy around the area, but the vessel is so huge that it just swallowed up the crowds. We took an audio tour, and decided we would keep the visit to 90 minutes. We started on the flight deck, with the audio tour using a pilot of the day explaining how they catapult the aircraft off the ship whilst it is rolling around in heavy seas. Hard to imagine the skill and teamwork needed for such a feat. And can you imagine landing it? Described as a 'lucky crash'.

We explored below deck - the officers' quarters, kitchens, dining areas, and hospital and dentist. It still smelt just like a dentist. It's really interesting to think that whilst at sea, the whole ship works like a small town. Meals cooked, wages paid, films watched and illnesses cured. Quite a funny fact is that the most common cause of entering the sickbay was stitches to the head. The ceilings were really low, and the doorways lower, so most of the crew hit their heads. Even Oliver had to admit that the ship was very interesting, and you could easily see why people spend hours on it.

The most poignant part was a table set for one in the dining area for the uniformed officers. It was called the MIA/POW table. With the notice:

This table is a place of honour.

Its solitary setting is a reminder that some of those that defend our country are no longer among us.

The table is small to symbolise the frailty of one prisoner against his oppressors.

The table cloth is white to symbolise the purity of intention to heed their country's call to arms.

The single red rose in the vase reminds us of the families and loved ones who keep the faith waiting their return.

The red ribbon attests to the determination of thousands who demand a proper account for those missing.

The lemon slice on the bread plate reminds us of their bitter fate.

The salt on the bread plate symbolises tears.

The glass is inverted as they cannot toast with us.

The seat is empty for those who are not here.

You can easily make fun of Americans, and how they are maybe a little 'over the top' compared to how us English think you should react, but everywhere we've been, they honour their servicemen. The police, the firemen, soldiers, marines - all treated with the utmost admiration and respect. They get special discounts in shops and restaurants, and are allowed free into attractions. We could learn a little from that I think.

We disembarked and then walked onto a harbour cruise boat, for an hour tour of the San Diego harbour. It was really interesting, and the hour seemed like ten minutes. We sailed under the Coronado Bridge (Andrew much happier under it than on it), and passed by the Navy Base, where the ships are docked receiving maintenance or reloading. We saw Hotel del Coronado from the water this time, and some splendid views of the more modern buildings of San Diego.

The bridge is rumoured to be bent rather than straight across the bay, as Federal funding would only be granted for a bridge exceeding two miles. As the bay is only 1.9 miles wide, they curved the bridge until it exceeded two miles. Not sure how true that is!

With the cruise complete we headed back to our car, and took some time to admire the huge 'Kissing Statue'. It's 25 feet tall, and is a replica of a public display of affection of a sailor planting a kiss on a nurse. The couple’s familiar embrace is from a photo taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt on the cover of a 1945 issue of Life magazine, marking the end to WWII on Victory over Japan Day. It's wonderful. A really lovely place to have it, with USS Midway in the background.

We made our way back to base, and the pool. After finishing in the pool at 8pm, we freshened up and had a bite to eat at the hotel, before playing table tennis, which always seems to cause much laughter from Oli and Andrew at my expense. I think I'm quite good at it!

The boarding passes are printed, the bags are almost packed and we are starting to feel sad that these twenty days have sped by. We've experienced so much, eaten so much and have loved it.

Don't leave us yet. We've still got tomorrow to blog (our flight is at 5.50pm), and some thoughts on the trip.

With a heavy heart, I bid you good night.