Reunion '11
San Diego, CA - 10-13 October 20
SAN DIEGO CITY TOUR
The city tour got off to a late start due to the bus company fouling up the scheduled departure.
The first stop was the old Navy Training Center where many of us attended and boot camp and others attended one of the "C" schools located there. Sadly the base is gone but the old Navy buildings are not, businesses, motels, apartment houses, and other enterprises use the old buildings. The buildings are still the sand color with the classic red tile roofs. Thankfully one one real monument is left, the USS Recruit, which was a land-based replica of a Navy ship about the size of a destroyer. She was used during boot camp as a training tool to acquaint us with Naval procedures.
Next we took a harbor cruise on the MV Lord Hornblower. The boat took us close to North Island where the USS Reagan and the USS Abraham Lincoln were moored. We steamed down the harbor to Navy Base San Diego (the old DesBase (destroyer base or 32nd street landing)). The mothballed fleet is no longer there but the facility is used by the Navy and various ship construction and maintenance companies.
After the cruise, we were bussed over to Coronado by the Coronado Bridge.
We enjoyed an outdoor luncheon at the Bali Hai on Point Loma.
Ernie Tafoya, Joe Tafoya, and watashi
The USS Recruit
MV Hornblower --- Coronado Brdge
USS Gary (FFG-51) and USNS Mercy (Hospital ship) --- ships under modification
Ship in drydock ---- USNS Bob Hope
