San Diego’s Warships and Warplanes

 

Going on a trip to celebrate my husband's birthday and mine has become a family tradition. They are just three days apart. The first spot to start this tradition was San Diego, California. We instantly loved its weather, and our good family friends welcomed us there like we were never separated by distance and time.

We drove from Los Angeles to San Diego for nine hours with a few pit stops along the way. On the long freeway, we saw contrasting views in succession: open fields of grass, mountains, ocean, and houses and buildings later on. I remember getting lost because our GPS tracker lost its signal while we were passing by mountainous areas or somewhere remote. There was a fork and we did not know if we should make a left or a right. The worst part was, we were running out of fuel. We were oblivious because we were enjoying our chats and what we see along the way. We were praying for a petrol station. It was getting dark, and we were caught in a village that looked like Elm Street. Hehe… Our imagination was running wild already. But thank God, there were about three gas stations at the end of that gloomy road! And the signal came back! Whew!

We went to many places in San Diego with our family friends. My husband celebrated his birthday at a restaurant that serves good crabs and seafood. Our son finished one big bag of crawfish! That serving was good for two to three persons supposedly. I wrote “bag” because the seafood was steamed in plastic bags that have seasonings and herbs in them, and served hot like that. We also ate at In ‘N Out. Honestly, to me, it was an overrated burger joint. Or maybe I’m not just a fan of burgers, in general. I also stopped eating beef three years ago. Meanwhile, a stopover at La Jolla had me buying lots of Trader Joe’s dark chocolate bars and peanut butter chocolate cups, my ultimate sweets fave.

The San Diego trip was a bit short as we had to return to LA. If only our time was longer, we would have gone to the San Diego Zoo. (We had more time in LA, so my blog about LA would feature that.) The trip to San Diego reminded me of what war meant then and how the outcome has significantly paved the way to great freedom in almost everything today. Lest the present generation will truly appreciate that, threats of impending wars will not even be in the news today.

No way to drive on a six-lane freeway. Husband did it all throughout this trip. To think he had a sore ankle. I’m bad.

San Diego has a nice harbor area. U.S. Navy ships are docked on the piers. We had the chance to visit a decommissioned one.

But of course, we saw this monumental landmark! Side story: the sailor died this year at the age of 95. The dental assistant (in a nurse’s uniform) whom he kissed had already died three years prior at the age of 92. The two were strangers. The sailor was tipsy and was in a celebratory mood because the war had just ended. So, while walking at the busy Times Square in New York, he just grabbed and kissed the lady. He got married later on, but not to her. They were just strangers caught in the happiness of an ending world chaos.

We went inside the USS Midway, a warship hero.

 Just read. No need to caption hehe…

Know that San Diego is the gateway to Mexico from the U.S. and is bounded only by high walls. We saw ’em walls and this sign. We planned initially to go to Tijuana, but we were warned not to because of some negative incidents.

A tour of the Midway presents an immense exhibit of war tools and a showroom of warplanes like this. There was even a flight simulator, which my husband and my son enjoyed very much.

A blurry shot of the sleeping decks of WWII sailors of the Midway.

A far shot of the submarine we spotted while on top of Point Loma.

As usual, we had to stop at an outlet store complex! It is so huge that we had to sit and rest occasionally. Scored a bunch of GAP Dream perfumes (my favorite!), a pair of Adidas and an Under Armour bag for my son. The bag was a steal for only PhP 500. It’s so durable and “alive” up to now.