Tag 41 - USS Midway & Ocean Beach

Day of Contrasts - Military and Hippies.

The USS Midway is an aircraft carrier that has often saved the US in about 40 years of service (including deployment in Vietnam, Gulf War) - the pride of a nation.

You can already see the combat planes on the deck from the shore, and as a Top Gun fan, I can't resist. As I enter, a family dad hums the Top Gun theme song - so I'm not the only one here :D (Tom Cruise was unfortunately not there - I'll probably meet him again in LA..).

Veterans proudly tell how an aircraft carrier works. The thing is so huge that you don't feel like you're on the water. There are a total of 3 decks and it takes about 2-3 hours.

You can now be pro or contra military, military is part of the USA like monasteries in Germany.

For lunch, I go to the San Diego Old Town, another tourist district.

I'm switching to another hostel that's closer to the beach and checking out the beach and surroundings - Ocean Beach!

Here are the hippies and crazy alternatives. Here California Dreaming fits - surfboards everywhere (and stoners - it's legal here).

I stop at a bar with live music - Woodstock Revival - from the first-class guitar sounds to the audience, who could have been there at the first Woodstock and has been partying hard ever since..

The contrasts between northern (e.g. SF Bay Area) and southern California could not be clearer here.

Here you can see again the land of contrasts: within a 15-minute drive, there are conservative military personnel and presumably protesters against war.

I'll visit the three surf spots where I'll be catching waves the next day.