San Diego, California - Nov. 17th to 19th

Tuesday, November 17th

We arrived on time and with luggage in San Diego. Unfortunalty our friends from Harlingen, TX were unable to leave Harlingen due to weather.  They are supposed to arrive on Wednesday, keeping our fingers crossed!!

Wednesday, November 18th
San Diego is a very interesting city with many different architectural styles blended with the old, new, spanish and american (a real melting pot of designs and cultures).

We stayed at a small hotel called the Urban Boutique.  The rooms were on the old side but clean and comfortable.  This hotel is conveniently located so that walking to almost anything is very easy.

The War is Over!

We (Carole, Marcel and Diane and I) started the day with a walk down to the waterfront.  This is where the cruise ships dock as well as some old replicas of sailing ships/galleons. There are also two submarines (one U.S. and one Russian) that a person can tour, we did not.  The USS Midway (WW II aircraft carrier) is also permanently tied up here.

We took a walk past the Midway, we were there too early for any tours so had to kill some time.  We strolled to a statue depicting the famous picture of a sailor kissing a nurse in New York City when it was announced that WW II was over.  This is an iconic shot.

Bob Hope Memorial with U.S.S. Midway in Background

Beside this is a memorial to Bob Hope honouring his days/years spent entertaining the troops during WW II, Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Diane and Carole decided the Midway was not their thing and went walking around the waterfront to view the little shops that the area had.

Marcel and I made a beeline for the Midway as soon as it opened. What a fantastic visit, yes it does look big from the outside and it is even bigger when you get on board!  We spent almost 4 hours on board, there were very few places that we could not go.  Lots of stairs, steps and aircraft - cool!!! Most of the volunteer tour guides were past Midway or U.S. Navy veterans.  Lots of information and even more stories and first hand experiences.

The flight deck was awesome, just a huge expanse.  One can imagine the controlled chaos that went on during aircraft launches and recoveries.

In the afternoon it was off to find the Ghirardelli Chocolate Store, Success!!  It was quite the hike but we believe the chocolate we purchased will make it well worth the stroll. And yes, we did have to try the Ice Cream as well :).

Back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and out for a burger at the "Burger Lounge" in Little Italy! And yes the (Harlingen Two) made it in time for dinner!



Thursday, November 19th
Last full day before we board the Celebrity Infinity.  We decided we would tour around town on the "Hop On/Hop Off" bus.  Unfortunately the speaker system on the bus was terrible and was very difficult to understand.  We did get the gist of what he was saying though.  We decided to go to Coronado Island to have a look about.  We "Hopped Off" the bus for lunch at "Mc P's" Irish Pub for a wonderful lunch, Time for a beer and an excellent burger!!

We then headed back to the hotel as the plans were to head out for dinner with the entire group.

Back to the Hotel just in time to prepare for a BBQ rib dinner at The Princess Pub and Grill which was just around the corner from our hotel.  It should have been further away so we could have walked off those BBQ ribs - good meal but ate too much.  We did walk the long way home!

Well time for bed as we will have a full day tomorrow.  We learned that our boarding time has been delayed slightly due to an outbreak of stomach flu on board our cruise ship and they want to do an extra special clean job between cruises.  OK by us, just do a good job!!