Saturday, June 30, 2012

Spring Break - Day 5

Today we started our day by going to the Maritime Museum of San Diego. I had found this on a travel website in January and thought this looked fun. I really had no idea just how much fun it would be. I did learn that since we had a group of 8 or more (9 and an infant) that we could get a group discount and a free docent to give us a tour. Then for $5 more, we could get a 45 minute ride in a 1914 pilot boat. OH man, was it worth calling ahead!!!! Our docent was so great. He reminded us of another friend of ours that is very friendly, so that might have helped, but he also kept the kids' attention the whole time. Even Kelsey. He was really quick to learn their names and asked them questions to keep them involved. Sydney stayed up front with the guide. She has decided she wants to come back as a guide during her summer breaks in high school.


We started with the HMS Surprise which was used to film the movie Master and Commander. It was so fun walking around all the riggings.








The next ship we went on was the Steam Ferry Berkeley. This ferry sailed from Oakland to San Francisco 20 hours a day for the Southern Pacific Railroad in the early 1900s before the Bay Bridge existed.


 Then we went on a 45 minute ride on the SD Harbor Pilot Boat . That was so fun. We didn't leave the harbor, but they showed us the beautiful houses along Coronado Beach and the Hotel Del Coronado, where they filmed Somewhere in Time. (We only saw it from a distance, it would be fun to go walk around.)



After the pilot boat, we toured the Steam Yacht Medea. If I were a sailor, this would be a cozy boat to have. After the Medea, we toured the Star of Inda.


Then we toured two submarines, the USS Dolphin and the Russian B-39 Submarine. The submarines were really fun and not as small as I thought they would be. There were a few other boats we saw that were in dry dock on a barge that we could just look at.





and the Russian B-39 Submarine. The submarines were really fun and not as small as I thought they would be. There were a few other boats we saw that were in dry dock on a barge that we could just look at.


 
  
  





We started our tour at 10:30 am and finished at 2:30 pm. It was well worth our time and our money. So fun.

From there we went to another location where we could see the San Salvador being built. And there were some barrels with ropes where we could practice tying different knots. Sydney seemed to really like that. (She is ready for girls camp.)






We found natives while we were there and decided to join them.




 And do a couple of crazy tricks.





After that we drove up to Cabrillo National Park and saw the lighthouse. We didn't realized it closed at 5 pm and we got up there at 4. So we hurried around, took pictures, and got back into the car.









 
Tormorrow so far does not have any plans. I am looking forward to moving slower.