A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what a ship is built for.
Saturday saw me traipsing off to downtown San Diego to go look at ships, at the invitation of A and C, my landlords or do they have a word like “landpersons?” . A works in the Navy which I think is pretty cool what with the uniforms and all and C is this very pretty lady who loves dancing. Could it get any more romantic than that? More on that later.
So here we were, driving around in circles, because we couldn’t find parking. Made me feel right at home because this scene is oft repeated in good old Bendakalooru (Bangalore to the uninitiated).
We walked past sidewalks filled with people enjoying a bright sunny day. We went past a man fashioning things out of palm fronds and wonder of wonders, he threw both me and C a rose each. I was pleased as punch about that!!
There were colorful sculptures on the sidewalk too, which I later discovered, were supposed to be trees. They were in all shapes and sizes and some of them were miles away from what a tree normally looks like (even the most bent and distorted of them) but then to each his own I guess. Makes me wonder if those artists were on something while they were fashioning these trees. There was even one with a snake wrapped around it; I bet that was supposed to represent the infamous apple tree in Eden. (I hope I got that biblical story right!!) But they make for really interesting exhibits on the sidewalk and I loved them!!
We first got into what is called a Stiletto. Before you have visions of gorgeous women in short dresses and sultry come hither looks, it is the name of a boat ship. “A” pointed out the M shaped hull (I think that was the term he used but not too sure about that) which helps it ride higher in the water. Anyways, there were these smartly attired naval officers helping people in and out of the vessel and that added to the charm of it all. You could also get pictures taken with them if you liked. There were seats inside straight out of star trek which you could buckle yourself into to see what it would feel like riding in a Stiletto. I am sure those seats came in handy because a Stiletto travels at speeds higher than 65 miles per hour.
We then got in line to take a guided tour of two battleships. There were also displays of military trucks and a gun (I forget what kind). I did get a picture taken alongside a gun and a cute marine. Wonder how that one will come out. There were two ships anchored there. Most people wanted to get on the bigger ship. The truth of the matter was the bigger ship was considered obsolete and the USS Pinckney, which we got on, was one of the latest battleships commissioned. (It helps to know someone in the know you see!!) A told me that a ship like the USS P could easily take over a small country. Now that was a sobering thought.
The USS Pinckney was named after William Pinckney, a Navy Cook first class, who was awarded the Navy Cross for the rescue of his colleague aboard the USS Enterprise.
We went through narrow alley ways (I wonder what they are called in Navy parlance) and up and down really stairs steep stairs with the naval officer conducting the tour giving us snippets of information about the ship and its capabilities, most of which went about 10 feet over my head. As we walked around the ship there was a tantalizing aroma of what I presumed was warm pizza. The naval officer did allow us to take a peek at their eating area. It seemed cramped as was the rest of the ship but it was bright and cheerful. Another bit of wisdom from our guide was that food that smelt so great would stink when you were actually on your way to say like Hawaii because sea sickness would set in. Yuck!! And do guys in the navy get sea sick???
Officers had separate eating and sleeping areas. Hmm wonder what you would make of that. And there was fire fighting equipment all over the ship. I guess fire is your greatest enemy out in the sea.
We were encouraged to ask questions and then a lady asked a question that had been niggling at me all this while. She asked our guide “Is there a special laundry that gets your uniform this white?” To which the guide replied, “Oh, we just send it to the laundry on this ship.”
So, one of life’s great mysteries still remains unsolved……..
So here we were, driving around in circles, because we couldn’t find parking. Made me feel right at home because this scene is oft repeated in good old Bendakalooru (Bangalore to the uninitiated).
We walked past sidewalks filled with people enjoying a bright sunny day. We went past a man fashioning things out of palm fronds and wonder of wonders, he threw both me and C a rose each. I was pleased as punch about that!!
There were colorful sculptures on the sidewalk too, which I later discovered, were supposed to be trees. They were in all shapes and sizes and some of them were miles away from what a tree normally looks like (even the most bent and distorted of them) but then to each his own I guess. Makes me wonder if those artists were on something while they were fashioning these trees. There was even one with a snake wrapped around it; I bet that was supposed to represent the infamous apple tree in Eden. (I hope I got that biblical story right!!) But they make for really interesting exhibits on the sidewalk and I loved them!!
We first got into what is called a Stiletto. Before you have visions of gorgeous women in short dresses and sultry come hither looks, it is the name of a boat ship. “A” pointed out the M shaped hull (I think that was the term he used but not too sure about that) which helps it ride higher in the water. Anyways, there were these smartly attired naval officers helping people in and out of the vessel and that added to the charm of it all. You could also get pictures taken with them if you liked. There were seats inside straight out of star trek which you could buckle yourself into to see what it would feel like riding in a Stiletto. I am sure those seats came in handy because a Stiletto travels at speeds higher than 65 miles per hour.
We then got in line to take a guided tour of two battleships. There were also displays of military trucks and a gun (I forget what kind). I did get a picture taken alongside a gun and a cute marine. Wonder how that one will come out. There were two ships anchored there. Most people wanted to get on the bigger ship. The truth of the matter was the bigger ship was considered obsolete and the USS Pinckney, which we got on, was one of the latest battleships commissioned. (It helps to know someone in the know you see!!) A told me that a ship like the USS P could easily take over a small country. Now that was a sobering thought.
The USS Pinckney was named after William Pinckney, a Navy Cook first class, who was awarded the Navy Cross for the rescue of his colleague aboard the USS Enterprise.
We went through narrow alley ways (I wonder what they are called in Navy parlance) and up and down really stairs steep stairs with the naval officer conducting the tour giving us snippets of information about the ship and its capabilities, most of which went about 10 feet over my head. As we walked around the ship there was a tantalizing aroma of what I presumed was warm pizza. The naval officer did allow us to take a peek at their eating area. It seemed cramped as was the rest of the ship but it was bright and cheerful. Another bit of wisdom from our guide was that food that smelt so great would stink when you were actually on your way to say like Hawaii because sea sickness would set in. Yuck!! And do guys in the navy get sea sick???
Officers had separate eating and sleeping areas. Hmm wonder what you would make of that. And there was fire fighting equipment all over the ship. I guess fire is your greatest enemy out in the sea.
We were encouraged to ask questions and then a lady asked a question that had been niggling at me all this while. She asked our guide “Is there a special laundry that gets your uniform this white?” To which the guide replied, “Oh, we just send it to the laundry on this ship.”
So, one of life’s great mysteries still remains unsolved……..
posted by newatthis at 12:37 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home