There’s nothing like waking up next to a big military base and in San Diego, that’s what you get. We came alongside next to the retired USS Midway, and across the narrow bay from Naval Air Station North Island. There were aircraft carriers and destroyers coming and going, all day. It never gets old!

Team Magee decided to split up for the day; Marshall wanted to get off the ship and visit the Midway. Sharon wanted to stay onboard, continue getting organized and finish packing. The sun was shining and the balcony harkened.

Before we could do anything today, we were required to present ourselves to U.S. Immigration officials on the ship. This was mandatory, whether you were planning to stay onboard or go on shore. The process took longer than anyone expected and as we were in Group 26, it was 11:30 before we had gotten through the line.

Eventually, Marshall made it off the ship and headed to the museum. The USS Midway, commissioned in 1945 as the largest ship in the world, was decommissioned in 1992 and opened as the USS Midway Museum in 2004. As a naval vessel, it weighed 69,000 tons, fully loaded and had 212,000 horsepower. It is 18 decks high and 1,001 feet long, small compared to today’s modern aircraft carriers. When operational, it had 4,500 crew members, who generated 43,000 loads of laundry weekly. 

The USS Midway operated for 47 years, during which time she saw action in the Vietnam War and served as the Persian Gulf flagship in 1991’s Operation Desert Storm. Today, as a museum, the ship provides films, tours, and exhibits in over 5 areas of the ship, including the flight deck.

Back on the ship, Sharon shoved the remaining items into the suitcases and prepared the specialty luggage tags. We’ve been assigned Blue 8 as our departing group, at 8:10am and we’ll hope that the luggage arrives on time in the terminal, and that we can catch a quick cab to LAX for our 11:40am flight to Salt Lake City, and then on to Columbus.

Tonight, will be our last night on the ship, complete with lots of photos, hugs and goodbyes.

Tomorrow: Los Angelas, CA, with final destination of Dublin, OH