I feel the need, the need for speed!... and shopping!

Today we are heading to our last stop on this trip. How crazy that it is nearly done!

A slow start to pack our things for the train this afternoon. After some bagels and coffee for breakfast, really American! We headed into downtown to put our bags in storage for the day before heading our separate ways. Jo to the shops and Crom to the USS Midway Naval Museum!

The USS Midway is an aircraft carrier that was in service from late 1945 until the early 2000s. At it’s peak it was home to 4,500 men and it saw action in the Korean, Vietnam and First Gulf Wars and is named after the greatest American naval victory, against the Japanese at Midway Island in 1942. There was a movie on the boat about the battle, centered on the only survivor of one of the torpedo battalions who were the first to find and engage the Japanese. An amazing story. After the boat was retired it was parked on the San Diego waterfront to be used as a museum. It’s as amazing as it sounds. You walk into the parking garage below the main deck, which has the movie, a display on Operation Frequent Wind where the US military helped evacuate thousands of people from South Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam war, cockpits of planes you can sit in and interactive rides that show you what it’s like to fly Navy aircraft. There are also walks around the crew quarters, squad

rooms, the hospital, officers, captains’ quarters and the control rooms. It really was a floating city and shows the massive budget that the US military enjoy.

Probably the most impressive part of the museum is the flight deck, which now houses countless navy planes and helicopters. There are also numerous yellow hats, volunteers who are all retired servicemen who lived and worked on the ship. It’s amazing hearing them talk about what life was like and describing how planes took off, landed and what each person’s job was. It was incredible to see and hear the veterans' perspectives and after four hours I still hadn’t seen the entire place, but it was time to go meet Jo and catch our train.

Meanwhile, I had a brilliant time exploring an old outdoor mall. Still home to a few shops but unfortunately it has run into some hard times and recently been bought out by a big tech firm so may not be there for much longer. It is next to a beautiful square which draws a lot of homeless people to the downtown area as there is public seating, shade and a fountain. I also found a great coffee shop called Spill the Beans where I treated myself to a pumpkin bagel. Fall flavours are really coming out quickly here! Still a whole month until Halloween!

We were able to check our bags for the train after a quick repack to make sure nothing melted in the non-air-conditioned baggage compartment, and then popped down the road for one last San Diego brew at Stones Tap House before the train.

The Amtrak Surfliner runs up and down the coast a few times a day and gives a beautiful outlook over the Pacific Coast. Much better than sitting on a freeway so we're grateful that Mike let us in on that tip!

A smooth ride up to LA and then a view into public transport to get to our airbnb in Hollywood. Not quite the Tinsel Town it seems in the movies but a pretty central spot for our time here.