Yesterday was the undoubted highlight of our trip to the US so far. We went down to the city centre (about 20 minutes drive), parked on the dock right next to the ship and spent three hours exploring the USS Midway, America’s longest-serving aircraft carrier. Commissioned just two weeks after the end of WWII, the ship saw service in Vietnam as well as in the Gulf before being finally retired in 1992. Since then it has served as a floating museum in San Diego harbour and is visited my hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
Impressively large (it was America’s first carrier to be too big to fit through the Panama Canal) it is HUGE when you get close up. We arrived just as the exhibit opened and scored good parking and also an unhurried tour of the island, including the bridge, the navigation room and the fire control rooms. The guides, mostly all veterans and acting in a totally voluntary capacity, clearly love the ship and their interaction with the general public indicates that their work is much, much more than just a job.
Elevators (lifts) carry you to the deck level of the ship and were a bonus for me as access to all other areas was by many, many narrow and steep ladders. After three hours of climbing and descending I can tell you that I will be happy if I don’t have to climb again anytime soon.
As a child, I grew up within the memory of WWII and my reading matter and the conversation of the adults with whom I interacted mostly centred around the war. I developed a passionate interest especially in WWII aircraft and, as well as reading voraciously about them, I bought Airfix construction kits of most of them and assembled and displayed them. So, seeing some of these iconic aircraft close-up was thrilling.
As well, the decks were crowded with a chronological collection of aircraft that have flown off the carrier over the years. I especially loved the F4 Phantom and the delightful little A4 Skyhawk, one of my all-time favourite aeroplanes.
Oh, and I also found this cutie hanging around at the FA/18. Whoohoo!
Everything about the ship and the experience is done with passion and respect. It could so easily have been made flashy and over-the-top but restraint is the key word. You can fault the Americans for many things but one thing you cannot fault them for is their patriotism. As “just another tourist” I felt honoured to have been able to spend time there and soak up the atmosphere.
For those of you who would like to read up on the Midway here is a link.
Tomorrow I’m going to go back to Sand Yego and meet up with motor racing author and Facebook friend, Norm DeWitt. I might see if he will sell me a copy of his book, “Making it Faster” and I hope he will sign it for me.
That’s all for now. It’s Sunday morning here and, after my over-exertions of yesterday, it truly IS going to be a day of rest.
Till next time, thanks for reading.