Fire and Ice : A photo travelogue from Alaska thru the canal to the Caribbean and beyond

[scubacruiserx2]

We walked down to the store for some personal items

 

 

 

 

 

This house was a house boat moved to the land

 

 

 

 

A selfie booth

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Getting ready to leave the island

 

 

 

 

 

And room service . The new French Onion soup is a round piece of toast with cheese on it that you drop on the soup 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

San Diego Saturday October 8 , 2022 0700 . We came in under the cover of darkness and watched the Noordam behind us . Our guide had to cancel but I'm fairly comfortable here as I spent 6 months stationed here in the Vietnam Era .

 

 

 

Full English Breakfast

 

 

 

 

The queue for a cab

 

 

Not our cab

 

Edited December 8, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

The Day's revised plan was a trip to Balboa Park to visit the San Diego Air and Space Museum and lunch . I had dreamed of being a Pilot and an Astronaut when I was a kid . My father flew as a radioman in a PBY during WWII and I looked up to him when I was a kid . Like him I joined the Navy but I was a Corpsman instead and had hoped to take a cruise or two on a ship but ended up on the Marine Base in Camp Lejeune ( where I did drink the water ) .

 

The Auto Museum but was closed to a private group

 

 

 

 

If you asked people what kind of plane this is and they would probably say the SR 21 Blackbird

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_A-12

 

But is in fact a Lockheed A 12 Oxcart - the precursor .

 

 

In the shadow of the Oxcart

 

 

Edited December 8, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Men are from Mars

 

 

And rovers

 

 

The Eagle guitar has landed

 

 

 

 

The eye in the sky 👁️

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

Fokker E 111 Eindecker

 

 

Fokker DR1

 

 

Like the Red Baron flew

 

 

Against Snoopy

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen

Edited December 8, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

More planes from WW II

 

 

 

 

 

This is a copy of the US's leading Ace Eddie Rickbacker 's Spad XIII . He later became the General Manager of Eastern Air Lines and the causeway from Miami to Key Biscayne .

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Rickenbacker

Edited December 9, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

This is a model of the boat plane that my father was a radioman in during the war . Notice the pontoons on the ends of the wings that are not shown on the plane .

 

 

 

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/consolidated-pby-5a-catalina

 

 

 

This plane is in the largest hall in the museum - The Pavillion of Flight

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

4 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

This is a model of the boat plane that my father was a radioman in during the war . Notice the pontoons on the ends of the wings that are not shown on the plane .

 

 

 

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/consolidated-pby-5a-catalina

 

 

 

This plane is in the largest hall in the museum - The Pavillion of Flight

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Also in the Pavillion were 

 

 

F-4 J/S Phantom II

 

 

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/mcdonnell-douglas-f-4j-s-phantom-ii

 

MIG 17

 

 

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/mikoyan-gurevich-mig-17

 

And the Bell AH - 1E Helicopter

 

 

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/bell-ah-1e-cobra-helicopter

[scubacruiserx2]

The ME 262 the first jet plane of the war

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Me_262

 

 

Horten 229 V3 - The first flying wing powered by jet engines

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horten_Ho_229

 

 

The ME 109

 

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/messerschmitt-bf-109g-14-mock-up

 

 

The B 24 Liberator 

My wife's uncle died in one of these over Europe and is buried in Arlington

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/b-24d-liberator-the-eager-beaver-1-4-scale

 

 

 

The P 51 D Mustang

 

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/north-american-p-51d-mustang

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Our last visit was something old and something new

 

The Spirit of St. Louis with Charles Lindbergh flew non stop from New York to Paris in 1927

 

 

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/nyp-3-spirit-of-st.-louis-flying-replica

 

Bell X-1 Broke the speed of sound in level flight

 

 

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/bell-x-1-mock-up

 

A-4 B Skyhawk - A carrier based bomber that can carry nuclear weapons

 

 

 

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/douglas-a-4b-skyhawk

 

F/A - 18 A Hornet Blue Angel

 

 

 

https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/f-a-18-a-hornet-blue-angel-1

 

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Our next stop was at the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages

 

 

 Our concierge Alina is from the Ukraine and her parents still live in Russia . She told us that she can speak with them on the phone but has to be mindful when talking . We do support HAL 's on Deck for Cause ( for Ukraine ) and we wanted to get her a couple of small gifts from the Ukraine at the cottage . We also visited our ancestors cottages of Ireland and Poland . In the Irish cottage we bought a small snack of scones and soda bread .

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We were quite hungry but didn't see much street food but wandered into the Mingei International Museum .

 

 

 

 

 

They had a place to eat here and it wasn't overcrowded

 

 

We ordered the Albacore Ceviche , Potato and Pea Samosa and Lamb Kibbeh . It was very fresh and refreshing and a welcome change from the ship .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

After lunch we went to the Panama Plaza to call our cab . The driver who brought us in the morning said that he and all the cabs were busy and that none were available . There was a Ukrainian protest going on there .

 

 

 

There was a steady parade there

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat asked a couple of young ladies to help us with a uber and I tried to flag down a cab but only saw 2 both busy . After about 45 minutes we finally caught a cab as he emptied and we were off to the port

Edited December 11, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We didn't have much time left at San Diego and we did want to visit the USS Midway . It was completed 10 after the Japanese surrender and used in Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm . It became a museum in the 11th of April , 2011 .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Midway_(CV-41)

 

 

 

 

In the ship's store they have a lot for sale ( but the pin case was closed ) .

 

 

Men could take some target practice .

 

 

And because of 4 sore knees we took the elevator down

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We only had time for a quick walk around on the flight deck . I have the names of some of the planes . Maybe someone who knows aircraft can help us with the others .

 

A-1 Skyraider

 

 

F9F Panther

 

 

S3 Viking

 

 

 

SH 2 Seasprite

 

 

F/A 18 Hornet

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The walkabout continues

EA-6B Prowler

 

 

 

 

 

F 8 Crusader

 

 

This is a T 2 Buckeye

 

 

It's only about 2 blocks to our ship

 

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We were thrilled that we had good light for our 1630 sail away . This is what it looked like sailing in .

 

 

Aft of the Noordam

 

 

Bow of the Midway

 

 

The Star of India

 

 

The Noordam and the Port of San Diego

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

The NA from the Midway

 

 

The Midway from the NA

 

 

 

The Noordam  from the NA

 

 

The Noordam's Terminal under construction

 

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Sailing away from San Diego

 

 

 

 

This fishing boat with the birds following reminds me of the old Fleetwood Mac song Mission Bell

 

 

 

 

USS Carl Vinson

 

 

Point Loma and out to sea

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

Dinner was in the Pinnacle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sea42]

I love the port area photos. I really enjoy sailing in and out of working/industrial ports versus dedicated cruise ports. The activity is so much more interesting to me.

[clochette]

what a wonderful review, thank you so much for taking the time to post all of your pictures.

[scubacruiserx2]

43 minutes ago, Sea42 said:

I love the port area photos. I really enjoy sailing in and out of working/industrial ports versus dedicated cruise ports. The activity is so much more interesting to me.

 

Thank you . We had 3 unscheduled bonus sail in and out due to medical and or weather related . Cabo for a medical and Freeport for a medical . The 3rd was in  Colón , Panama for a cruise ship tour group that got stranded on their tour .