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| From Cabrillo National Park |
However the view wasn't the only thing up in the park to see. We also enjoyed the displays on Cabrillo's exploration and discovery; local geotechnical discoveries; and the monument itself.
The park also features Old Point Loma Lighthouse which is open to the public for viewings. The light house is furnished as it would have been in the late 1800's to early 1900's and is really interesting to see. They also have quite a bit of history of this lighthouse as well as light keeping in general.
Moving on, the point also was a communications point for the military and included coastal defence. You can view the hut where the military would have kept active watch as well as the gun emplacements (now empty).
But wait .. there's more .. You can also enjoy hiking along the multiple trails through the park as well as enjoy multiple locations to watch the tidal pools. Needless to say, the hour or so we planned to view the park was not enough time and even when we left a couple of hours later we still felt as if we could easily spend some more time there. But alas, we had a full schedule and it was time to move onto the next thing.
Onward we went to visit the Marine Corps Recruitment Depot Museum. This was a small museum but was interesting as it showed the history of Marine Recruitment very concisely. The exhibits included the typical issued gear for WWI and WWII among other things. Being a civilian, I think I found the most interesting thing to be the schedule for basic training in the Marine Corps. The museum was smaller than anticipated but was interesting none-the-less.
Last stop for the day was the USS Midway. This was the first time I had stepped foot on a naval vessel and for that first time to be a Carrier Class was a bit overwhelming. This ship/museum is in constant change as they find different veteran organizations and/or donations to restore different portions of the ship. There are quite a few planes on static display on the flight deck and the different "stories" available on the audio tour made the entire experience educational as well as entertaining.
While I found the entire ship fascinating, I found the four restored pilot ready rooms to be enthralling.
Of additional interest was the veterans on the flight deck serving as docents and walking their groups through a Carrier Launch or Night Landing and all sorts of other great information. The ship also offers a gift shop and a cafe. We ate at the cafe on the back deck and looking out in the harbor - wonderful experience. Although we had around 4 hours to spend at this location there were still areas of the ship that we did not have the opportunity to experience such as the control tower and the engine rooms. I'm highly encouraged to return.
As the day started to come to a close we decided to take a short drive over the bridge to Coronado Island for the view. Then we were off to our hotel to park the vehicle and walk Old Towne San Diego for dinner. LD, having visited San Diego before knew of a place that he had previously enjoyed eating and so we wove through some of the stores before ending for dinner.
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| From USS Midway |
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| From USS Midway |
As the day started to come to a close we decided to take a short drive over the bridge to Coronado Island for the view. Then we were off to our hotel to park the vehicle and walk Old Towne San Diego for dinner. LD, having visited San Diego before knew of a place that he had previously enjoyed eating and so we wove through some of the stores before ending for dinner.
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