When Los Angeleans want to get away for a weekend, they’ll often head south to a place that’s just small enough in atmosphere to be relaxing and big enough to retain all the amenities one might expect in a world-class city. With such sights as the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, and the Maritime Museum, visitors are never at a loss for something to do, even when Comic Con , San Diego’s largest annual convention isn’t in town.
In the Maritime Museum of San Diego , travelers will see one of the finest collections of historic ships in the world. Two of the vessels here are national historic landmarks. Each ship contains on-board exhibits, with original artwork, photography, and a fascinating collection of ship models. The permanent collection is contained in five galleries, each representing a theme of maritime history and how they relate to San Diego, the harbor and its position on the Pacific Ocean.
In the “Age of Sail,” guests will board the Star of India, an 1863 sailing vessel, with examples on board of how these ships sailed and how the crew worked and lived at sea. The “Age of Steam” is represented by the ferryboat, Berkeley. Ships using steam power were no longer dependent upon the wind to move, and so goods and people could arrive on specific time tables and schedules. Guests will find steam engines on exhibit here, next to historic photography of the era.
In an exhibit known as “Charting the Sea,” two histories are explored, educating guests in exploration and science — how San Diego became first an object of interest for European discoveries, and then centuries later, became a center for expeditions out into the world’s oceans.
“Harvesting the Ocean” examines the life of commercial fishing out of San Diego, how it grew and fell, and how San Diego was once the tuna capital of the world.
The final gallery examines the U.S. Navy and its role in San Diego. “San Diego’s Navy” is the only exhibit of its kind in the city, and explores over a hundred years of the U.S. Navy history in San Diego, from a time when the harbor was too shallow to allow the Navy’s ships, to a time when the harbor became the biggest naval base in the Pacific.
Unless you’re traveling during the time of Comic Con, you should be able to find a hotel in San Diego that’s right for you. Unless you’re headed for the international convention that draws in thousands of film and comic book aficionados, you may wish to schedule your trip to the Maritime Museum for any time other than the last week in July.
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