San Diego, Wednesday

[nlbarber]

Let's see...weather's still beautiful. Meeting is going smoothly--we almost stopped at 3:30 today when we got through the afternoon's agenda, but went back to revisit a snarled issue from yesterday instead. That remains snarled, though.

Then it was off to the harbor cruise after a quick stop at the hotel. We got the 5:30, 1-hour tour of the south harbor. (Snippets of "a three-hour tour" were sung as we walked...and we wondered if any boat tour operator dares offer a three hour tour anyway.) That was nice--mostly views of Navy ships and installations, this being a huge Navy port. Coronado was pointed out as the very upscale place to live--"the admirals' island"--and the restaurant where Linda and I ate Sunday was pointed out for its interesting split roof. We hadn't noticed that at the time...

After the tour we all headed to The Fish Market restaurant, which had also been pointed out on the tour. (Yes, I imagine there was financial compensation for the advertising.) There we split into two groups, one at "Top of the Market", the upstairs section, and the other at the main level Fish Market. "Top" turned out to be the more upscale, and that's where I ended up in a group of 8. Lovely views of the harbor, and lovely food. I had grilled scallops on garlicky broccoli rabe with grilled tomatoes and roasted potatoes, the scallops and tomatoes sprinkled with a tapenade. Really, really good.

We had a nice stroll back along the water to the cars, as we had misjudged and parked some distance from the boat tour location. That took us by the USS Midway, now a museum, and the Star of India, the HMS Surprise, and more of the SD Maritime Museum's collection. Oh, I could spend a long time being a tourist in SD!

Comments

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

The HMS Surprise? As in the ship from the movie "Master and Commander", or something else?

[nlbarber]

That's the one--former HMS Rose, wasn't she? Now she's part of the San Diego Maritime Museum, and apparently is not currently seaworthy. Oh, for more time to have done a tour.

Now I'm back in hot and sticky Atlanta, and *really* wishing I'd extended the San Diego trip!

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

Yup, it was the Rose. (There was a recruiting drive at Elissa for sailing crew before filming.) She's not seaworthy any more? Did the movie people do something...disrespectful to her? *contemplates an act of piratical vengeance of a rather more literal variety than Hollywood generally associates with the term*

[nlbarber]

I had to Google to remember the phrasing of the little plaque, but it didn't say much anyway:

"The ship underwent extensive modifications for the production of the film in 2002. The museum acquired the ship in October, 2004. Plans include restoring the ship to seaworthy condition, but the timetable for her return to sea is uncertain."

Other web sites seem to indicate that she might be sailing again this year, so perhaps only minor refurbishing is/was needed.

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

Oh, good. I'll disperse the fleet, then. :-)