Valkyre

Cruise - Day 2

What with all the commotion seeming to die down, and having a nice meal, Mike and I went to bed early, the first night. I woke up once during the night and peeked out the window. I could see the wake from the ship. Small whitecaps that gleamed in the lights from the ship. I found watching them kind of soothing and went back to sleep. I woke up again, to find light coming through the window. I got up and looked out and saw the above. We had arrived in San Diego and were making our way to our berth. If one wanted to, you could pay extra and take tours that were being offered by Balboa Park and tour the museums. Last time we were there, we went and visited the automotive museum. Mike didn't believe me when I told him that there had been some vintage motorcycles there. So, we were planning to see the automotive museum, to prove that I was right like always, and then visit some of the other museums. However, when I looked at a San Diego website of the museums around the cruise ship terminal, I came across a listing for an Aircraft Carrier Museum. Interesting! It turns out to be the USS Midway, a decommisioned aircraft carrier turned into a museum by volunteers. I was worried about being able to find her. I figured that the port, if it was anything like the Port of Los Angeles, would be huge. The aircraft carrier could be miles away. Mike was already up and about when I woke up. He walked into the room. "You were worried about finding the aircraft carrier?" I knew then that he had spotted it. He went to have his morning tea, up on the 11th deck and saw, on the opposite side from our room, the USS Midway. She was parallel to our ship and about 2 berths over. An easy walk from our ship. We wouldn't have to worry about cabs, buses, or trams.

The tour was about 3 and a half hours long. You start the tour on the Hangar Deck, where they have a few vintage airplanes on display.

You basically get an idea what life was aboard an aircraft carrier while at sea. The people who are seen, and those who are unseen, but keep things moving. The galleys, the sleeping quarters, shops, post office and barber. Plus much more. From the Hangar Deck, you go down to the Second Deck and tour that. From there, you go up to the Flight Deck and see even more of their collection of vintage planes and helicopters.

After that, we were able to go up into what is called the Island Superstructure. This is the Bridge and Primary Flight Control. (This is the area that Tom Cruise buzzed with his plane and made the guys coffee spill in Top Gun. A different ship in the movie though.) This involved a lot of ladder climbing in some rather tight places, so we had to watch our heads and backs.

Back down to the flight deck and we could look across and see the grand lady who had brought us here, our ship The Monarch of the Seas.

After we were done touring the USS Midway, there wasn't really any time to go to Balboa Park and tour the museums there. We needed to get back to our stateroom. Dinner was at 5:30pm and tonight was Formal Night. They would prefer the men wear Tuxes, or nice suits. And the women wear cocktail dresses. Mike bought a new suit, just for the occasion. And I bought cocktail dress. Dinner was at a nice restaurant called, Vinces. Very fancy. The waiter puts the napkin in your lap for you. There are about 15 pieces of silverware for you to work through. The food is excellent and there is something different on the menu every night. I wish I could remember what I had. Mike had the Mahi Mahi. While we were eating, a gentleman was walking around taking pictures. He took one of Mike, then one of me. They actually came out better than we thought they would, so we ended up buying them. Here they are. One of the few occasions you will ever catch me in a dress:

Drinks with dinner, a margarita for me and a Rob Roy for Mike. Cordials with desert, and we weren't feeling any pain. We went to bed after dinner. Next day, Catalina.

Posted by Valkyre at October 2, 2006 09:35 PM