What an absolutely perfect day!

The weather was so nice, we didn’t need jackets-and, I was able to wear capris and sandals for the first time since we’ve been here!

We started the day at MCRD where Dave went to basic training. Once a Marine Always a Marine!

I took so many pictures, I’d bore you to death with all of them.

I know this place brought back lots of memories for Dave, some good, some bad. He spent many an hour on this huge grinder, learning things like drills, marching and more.

The museum was sad and interesting (to us anyway) and I took way too many pictures.

I think that first gun was a Tommy gun, the second is an M-16 (same as we carried), and there were swords and bayonets. Lots of history here, and the rooms were separated by conflicts. Vietnam, WW1, WW2, and Afganistán. The generals, Pendleton, Lejuene, and more, plus every medal you could think of. A section devoted to the women of the Marines too.

From there we headed to the Maritime Museum at Bay Harbor. That submarine (USS Dolphin) is included in the tour. I could have totally been in the Navy! I fit perfectly! This submarine goes deeper than any in the fleet. She has the honor of many “firsts” including the deepest torpedo launch and the first two-way laser communication between sub and aircraft. I meant to put the pic of the periscope in the middle, but I’m still having trouble with the gallery. It was so cool to tour that submarine! Somehow the last ship we toured, The Star of India, got squeezed in between the pictures. Ugh!

The next ship was the steam yacht Medea, which started life as a gentleman’s hunting yacht and served in both World Wars. She was presented to the Maritime Museum after serving time in Sweden and sailing to San Diego. She still steams around the harbor a few times a year for special occasions.

After that, we toured the Steam Ferry Berkeley, an elegant, beautiful ship who was the first steel-hulled, double-ended, propeller-driven ferry boat to operate on San Francisco Bay. She helped San Francisco evacuate after the 1906 earthquake. 😂

The next ship to tour was the HMS Surprise. This was sort of a guided tour, making it even more interesting. We also toured the San Salvador and after a delicious lunch at Miguel’s, we finished with The Star of India. So much walking and climbing up and down decks! I closed all my circles today!

There goes that dumb gallery again, putting a lunch picture at the end. I don’t know how to move them, or remove them. So frustrating! After the ship tours -which were only $15 per person with our military discount- we drove around the embargadero to take a picture of the famous statue showing a sailor kissing a nurse. We had been away from the dogs for 4 hours and had to go check on them.

I also took a picture of downtown San Diego and Dave looking quite comfortable at the wheel of the Californian.

See all the ropes? That is where the saying (learning the ropes) comes from, because the first thing you have to learn when serving on a sailing ship is what each one does and how to tie the knots. That’s a lot of ropes! I just love standing under the mast head and looking up at where they all converge and dreaming of being a pirate, haha!

Once we’d checked on the girls and rested a little while, we took them to an off-leash dog park at Fiesta Park outside Seaworld San Diego.