I took 2 hours for a sight seeing trip while in San Diego to walk through
USS Midway Museum, which was just a short walk from my hotel. I took a few
photos of the flight deck, control tower and views around the harbor. Hope you
enjoy this brief tour.
I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to see how our Navy crews lived through
WWII, Vietnam, and Desert Storm.
In the Vietnam War, I flew Helicopters for the 155th Army Air Corps. The Vietnam
workhorse Huey helicopter, one very similar to what I flew back in 1970 was on
the flight deck. During the Vietnam War, I'm sure the USS Midway provided air
cover for several of the Missions I was involved in while serving.
The runway and conning tower of the United States' longest
serving carrier in the 20th century.
It was fascinating to learn that this ship burned 260 gallons of oil for every mile
and carried a 3.4 million gallon fuel capacity. The new carriers are powered by a
Nuclear reactor, so refueling isn't a problem anymore.
Another trivia tidbit that awed me - the USS Midway served 10 tons of food daily
to the crew of 4500. 3000 potatoes and 1000 loaves of bread served daily.
And 500 pies were served when offered.
A Slide show of all my USS Midway photos can be seen here.
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The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate,
the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in
West Michigan. We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!
Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate
Contact Terry 616-292-7263
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Hello The Westbrooks:
I love living in San Diego, and thank you for paying us a complement. This weekend the first 200 individuals that bring an unwrapped toy and board the ship can tour for free. Again, thanks.
Thanks for sharing. My father served on the Midway, many years ago.
Terry
Amazing the idea in thinking these are and were virtually floating cities.
I love that you were able to share your own experiences along with these photos. You gave us a tiny glimpse into pieces of our history. =)
Terry... Wasn't that an incredible tour? We were just there at the beginning of October with our children on fall break. The weather was absolutely incredible! Thanks for sharing, I'm sure you enjoyed it as much as we did.
Cheron Lange
Very nice post, Terry. I will tell my husband. He is a big Navy fan.
Terry - In the mid 1990s, my son took me on a four day guest cruise on the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, from Seattle to San Diego. I was amazed at the size of that aircraft carrier. Three football fields long, and 18 stories tall. You don't realize how many stories they have, because half of them are below water. The carrier is actually a floating city with 5200 Navy men and women + Marines that take care of ordinance. My son is U.S. Navy Retired. . .So you understand that I am a Navy fan.
Loraine: I have been before and every time the weather is great must be boring. How about 10 inches of snow and 30 mile an hour winds.
Edward' It was an amazing tour and I can only imagine the stories he told.
Tom ' Serving 10 tons of food every day I saw the galley and it must have been going 24 hours a day.
Lisa, my photos of the inside didn't turn out very well but if you are ever in San Diego put it on you list.
Cheron' The conference was great but what a wonderful area to enjoy your free time.
Cheron' The conference was great but what a wonderful area to enjoy your free time.
Sharon, The web site is very interesting I know I just scratched the surface of the information that is available.
Myrl, What a gift one that you will remember forever.
Terrie, that is great information, I had no idea just how much fuel they burned! Great photos!
We are trying to bring one of these ships to the Portland area for the use of a museum, but I'm afraid that with the political climate we have here it may never happen.
Terry, thanks for sharing this information. I was glad that this historical ship was saved from the breakers torches!
Hi Terri and Bonnie, I am sorry we did not catch up to each other as you were in my home town. I do hope you enjoyed the cities hospitality and had a wonderful time at the conference. Glad you got to see the Midway Museum as well. Lots to do here and I hope you also enjoyed some of the fine foods from Gas Lamp District.
Tony: It is very impressive to see a ship that size and now the newer carriers are twice the size.
Todd: It sure seems to be quite a tourist attraction. Good Luck.
Bruce: It would have been a shame to have it scrapped.
William: I did eat at a couple of the restaurants in the area Mortons was a very nice meal.
It's a good thing you found something worthwhile to do in San Diego and weren't running wild in the streets, Terry. LOL.
Very interesting post, Terry - I saw the Midway when I was in SD in August - didn't take the tour tho. Looks like I should have!
Debi
Elizabeth: Too tired to run anywhere so many things to do and classes I'm afraid I didn't have time to enjoy the weather.
Debi: I was in the army and lived in some Spartan locations. I don't think I could have survived in such tight quarters. If you get a chance again I highly recommend it.
Terry and Bonnie, now this is a museum I'm going to put on my To-Visit list!
Terry, Years ago we were at San Diego and were able to take a tour on the aircraft carrier the kittyhawk as it was in port. It was very cool. Thanks for your service to our country.