USS Midway

One of the best things I did in San Diego was take the USS Midway tour. This is a decommissioned aircraft carrier named for the great battle in the Pacific during WWII. It was commissioned near the end of that war and saw service in the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf wars. In fact, the best part of my time there was listening to the presentations of two pilots who flew off of it during the Vietnam War. One talked about taking off and the other about landing on a carrier. They were great!

The first photo is from the stairs leading up to the ship (you can get an idea just how big it is) looking toward the stern of the ship. The other photo is of the hanger deck where they store the planes. For perspective, I'm standing near (but not at) the front of the ship on this deck, and couldn't see to the end of it. It's over three football fields away.

;;;;;;;;

Here is a shot of a passage-way leading through multiple bulkheads. I thought it looked cool to see each door looking smaller and smaller into the distance. The one on the right is a picture of the "island." The tower where the directing of all things in the air and on the sea takes place.

;;;;;;;;

Up on the flight deck the photo on the left looks off the bow of the ship. The dashed red-white lines show the paths of the catapults that help launch the planes. The other picture is really cool. I'm standing out on one of the two "diving boards" off the bow of the ship, hanging about 60-70 ft. over the water. If you can see the portholes down low - earlier I looked out those very portholes while in the forward section of the anchor room. It was pretty neat.

;;;;;;;;

I have lots more pictures of this tour which I'll post in the coming days. I also have some of the S.D. Temple, the S.D. Pier, and Kim with Melody. Don't forget to click on the photos to see the big pictures. See you in the funny papers.