Touristing with younger brother - San Diego fun

MONDAY
As Memorial Day is approaching, my older brother is again participating in Run For The Wall, I took my younger brother, Marty, to the National Veterans Memorial on Mt Soledad. 

(pictures from Marty)

Afterwards we did one of the things I enjoy, taking a ferry to Coronado and biking around the island.  The Hotel Del, the OZ House, main beach and the great architecture continue to impress every time.  I have blogged this ride before HERE.



TUESDAY
Each Tuesday Balboa Park has  a selection of museums free for residents.  Although Marty still has to pay, we do not, so it’s half-price day as we take in some culture.  This is the forth Tuesday and offers Air and Space, Automotive and Hall of Champions – all nice offerings.  And for culture the Timken Museum of Art is always free and I’m buying lunch at the Prado.

The San Diego Hall of Champions was closed for a private event, I have not been to the Air and Space before making it an ideal place to start.  It is no surprise that Lindbergh has a prime spot, the Spirit of St. Louis was built here.


Amelia Earhart is well displayed in a separate building.


The luxury of flying Pan Am, they were flying jets the one time I flew with them.


The Apollo IX module is on prominent display.  The moon rock was actually returned by Apollo XVII. 


Also on display is Wally Schirra’s Mercury spacecraft Sigma 7.


Pacific Southwest Airlines was the defacto standard airline for California.  I was offered a job there in the early 70s, but declined.  I still remember standing in line to donate blood after PSA182 crashed in North Park in 1978.   The donation went to other purposes, there were no survivors.  PSA was eventually taken over by what is now US Airways.


I did not take many pictures of the military aircraft on display.  Certainly San Diego is a military town, and nearly half the floor space is taken over by military exhibits.

Adjacent is the Automotive Museum.  It’s pretty small, I’m sure many personal collections may have more exhibits.  But it does have the original Louie Matter’s 1947 Cadillac that holds the endurance record.  That alone is totally worth the price of admission.  The Cadillac was driven on a 7,484 mile "good will tour," from Alaska to Mexico City, without stopping.  It contained a small fridge, cooktop, oven, shower all the makings of a small RV.  Fuel could be pumped from the support trailer without stopping.  The oil changed itself and even a flat tire could be changed without stopping.


Marty is a retired postal worker.


Evel Knievel’s Stratocycle will remain on display until June 30.


Another famous bike is Fonzie’s 1949 Triumph, this is one of 3 bikes used in filming Happy Days.  You can watch the Fonz jump the bike on YouTube HERE.


WEDNESDAY
This is a travel day for Marty, although 7 years my junior he is past the age where he should have purchased his National Parks ‘Geezer’ Pass.  Note the pass will go up from $10 to $80 soon, per this article in Time. 

The Cabrillo National Monument is on the way to the airport and we have time.


We had sufficient time to check out the trails along the tide pools, but at mid-tide the fun lower levels are not yet exposed.



The pelicans fly so effortlessly on the air currents.  The gooseneck barnacles are a common sight.


Lots of marine life in the sandstone, like these Chitons and Limpets.  The rock is interesting in that it has the high-tide life, which spends half its life out of water, on top; mid-tide at the water level and low tide grasses still in the water.


To get the most out of a visit to the tide pools try to arrive near low tide, University of California San Diego (UCSD) provides tide charts for 2017, 2018, 2019.

There is a lot diversity of life in the tidepools, downloading a cheat sheet will help identify the flora and fauna.

After nearly 3 weeks of guests, I’m surprised we miss them already!