One day during our San Diego trip we had a picnic lunch at this park,
and then did something we've talked about doing for years... toured the USS Midway (that huge aircraft carrier in the background here)!
The whole thing was fascinating. Wearing headsets, you take a self-guided tour (following the signs and map) at your own pace through the immense aircraft carrier. 
Some of the sailors' bunks. The USS Midway was built during WWII and used through the Gulf War (early 90's). After it was decommissioned it came to rest in San Diego and was then remodeled into the museum it is today, which has been open since 2004.You get to see the kitchens, mess halls, infirmary, post office, officers quarters, laundry rooms, engine rooms; there's just so much to see. For many of the stations there's a kid-friendly audio track that makes it more fun for the youngsters. For most of the stations I listened to both the adult and kid-friendly audio track; it was all so interesting.
Throughout the ship are several rooms like this, where pilots used to convene for pre-mission briefings. For the tour, they have TV screens in the front of these rooms with interesting films about missions the Midway was involved in.
These are actual ejection seats, and I'm sure I was saying something really interesting here about how ejection seats work.
On the top level (the flight deck) there are a LOT of restored aircraft; having a very aviation-interested husband, there were a LOT of photos to sort through :)
Some of them you could climb in
The kids inside a huge helicopter
Here we are on the front end of flight deck
Looking up at the bridge & captain's quarters, which we didn't visit because we ran out of time.
Jail
They had tons of cockpits set up inside for the kids to climb in (and some cool flight simulators if you wanted to fork out an extra $10)
One of the massive anchor chains
I highly recommend the USS Midway. There is SO much to see and learn, and my kids were old enough to enjoy it (although the younger girls were getting a little tired of it by the end). If your kids are much younger, it wouldn't be as fun. We spent four hours there and left because it was closing; we could easily have spent five hours. Check it out!
Throughout the ship are several rooms like this, where pilots used to convene for pre-mission briefings. For the tour, they have TV screens in the front of these rooms with interesting films about missions the Midway was involved in. 
These are actual ejection seats, and I'm sure I was saying something really interesting here about how ejection seats work. 
On the top level (the flight deck) there are a LOT of restored aircraft; having a very aviation-interested husband, there were a LOT of photos to sort through :) 
Some of them you could climb in 
The kids inside a huge helicopter 
Here we are on the front end of flight deck 
Looking up at the bridge & captain's quarters, which we didn't visit because we ran out of time. 
Jail 
They had tons of cockpits set up inside for the kids to climb in (and some cool flight simulators if you wanted to fork out an extra $10) 
One of the massive anchor chains 
I highly recommend the USS Midway. There is SO much to see and learn, and my kids were old enough to enjoy it (although the younger girls were getting a little tired of it by the end). If your kids are much younger, it wouldn't be as fun. We spent four hours there and left because it was closing; we could easily have spent five hours. Check it out!
1 comment:
We went to the Midway this summer, too, and loved it!
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