San Diego - USS Midway

I can't promise the USS Midway would run anymore efficiently with this crew on board, but I can promise

there would be even more unscheduled excitement!

The USS Midway was a must-see for most of our crew.  Even the less enthusiastic among us were reasonably enthusiastic about see this maritime masterpiece.

The visit exists on two levels.  The first is sheer wonder of the accomplishment; creating a landing strip and small city on water.  The second is the tour itself.

To the first, there can be no detraction.  The USS Midway is enormous, more than 3 footballs field long and over 20 stories high.  It served as an airport and hangar to more than 80 aircraft at a time and relied on the work of 4,500 servicemen at a time to run it efficiently.  It housed enormous elevators to move machinery weighing up to 110,000 pounds up and down.  Throughout its service, the USS Midway was involved in both war efforts and humanitarian aid.

For the kids, the sheer size of the ship, the size of anchor and simply the links of the chain were stunning and fairly unfathomable.   Every single one of them enjoyed sitting in the various planes available for a quick sit and a fly through fantasy land.

What I especially enjoyed was the talks that former pilots were giving on the flight deck.  Through his words, I was able to learn and set the seeds for imagination about what it would be to take off from -- or even more incredibly -- land on this small floating air strip.

I could have listened to this guy talk for hours about his experiences.  We learned from him about the importance of 'keeping the meatball' lined up for landing.  I have no idea if that still applies to today's aircraft carriers.  I am interested in hearing from pilots out there, especially those who have experience on an aircraft carrier.

In a hat tip to the rigorous and ever-evolving nature of this job, I heard this studly crew of retired fighter pilots subtly, but surely make a distinction having been a pilot and being a pilot.  It made their stories all the more interesting.

We learned bunches.  One enduring question is what the small downward sloping ramps at the end of the flight deck are for; take-off or landing?  If anyone knows the answer to that, I'll pass it on to the boys.

I will say the audio tour was extremely long.  Our patience and stamina ran out long before the end of the tour.  The ship itself is huge, and it seems like the committed could take the audio tour through every inch of it.  We actually enjoyed taking a break from it, taking time to get in the airplanes, and talk to the various experienced docents -- especially those on the flight deck.

If you are in San Diego, it is definitely worth a stop.  Tickets are available at a slight discount when you buy them from the official USS Midway webiste.