Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
San Diego – the Kiss, the Hope, and the Ship, USS Midway
It was just last month that we booked a few nights in San Diego. This was the first time we stayed on the waterfront, a perfect location for touring the aircraft carrier and museum, USS Midway.
It had rained the night before and was a bit cloudy but still warm enough for a pleasant walk on the Embarcadero.
We passed many eateries and shops on our way to the Midway, and eventually saw the ship ahead.
But first we stopped at the Kiss, (“Unconditional Surrender”) a statue of the iconic moment captured by Life Magazine after WW2 was finally over. Many visitors staged their own versions of the Kiss in front of the statue.
Nearby we found Hope – Bob, that is.
I remember his shows in front of the troops (on TV during the Vietnam era, not WW2, just so you know.) Thanks for the memories, Bob!
After the Kiss and the Hope, we boarded the Aircraft Carrier USS Midway, and spent most of the day exploring the many decks, narrow passageways and rooms below.
The ship was commissioned in 1945 as the largest ship in the world. It has 18 decks, weighs 69,000 tons fully loaded, and is 1,001 feet long. This City at Sea carried 4,500 crewmembers, served up 13,000 meals daily, handled 43,000 pounds of laundry weekly, and 80,ooo haircuts annually. We tried our best to imagine living aboard this giant ship and wondered how sailors didn’t get lost in the maze below (they did.)
The Flight Deck above had great views of the city and naval base across the bay.
There we listened to retired pilots describing the challenges of launching and landing jets on a moving ship in the middle of the ocean, often at night and under radio silence. We heard more stories at home from our son-in-law, a former Navy pilot, of his own exploits landing an F14 at night. Not for the faint of heart, hats off to all of them!
After a full day on the Midway, we walked back to the hotel, stopping for dinner as the sun began to set.
It was a perfect day.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
Definitely worth visiting that huge warship. I can imagine how interesting it is, although I doubt my wife would agree. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
Bob toured the ship on one of our previous trips while I did not. But this time, I decided to join him and really enjoyed it! And staying on the waterfront made it a nice place to walk to. 🙂
Wonderful photos, Susanne! I’d love to see the ship, it’s fascinating!
Thanks, John. It really was interesting. I think you’d enjoy it!
I would. 😊
I remember touring it when it was in Bremerton. It made Les cry
Sweet memories, Maria!
Suzanne this was wonderful! We went to Pearl Harbor and went aboard the USS Missouri and it was not as big as the USS Midway by far and it was a maze below decks too! The quarters were so cramped – I suppose if you were a tall sailor you would definitely suffer! BTW great photos – especially the sunset!
Thanks so much! We toured the Missouri at Pearl Harbor too, but it’s been a while. I think it’s a battleship rather than an aircraft carrier but still big! I can’t imagine living on either one!
Sounds like a fascinating day out. That ship seems huge compared to our own HMS Belfast (moored in the Thames and also a museum). And those statistics are amazing! I love the Kiss and Bob Hope sculptures too.
Thanks, Sarah. It really was a fun day, and the ship was so interesting! Aircraft carriers are huge, especially this one! I remember seeing the Belfast on the Thames, but we didn’t take a tour.
That’s amazing! I’ve been to San Diego quite a few times and I never realized the Midway was even there!
Bob visited on one of our earlier trips, but this was my first time touring the ship. It was very cool! 🙂