If you're heading to San Diego, make sure to include a visit to the USS Midway Museum. First launched in 1945 and decommissioned in 1992, the USS Midway is one of America's longest running aircraft carriers, and it opened to the public as a museum in 2004.

We started our day by arriving nearly an hour before the museum opened. We weren't the only ones. The crowds began to build and we were glad to have been at the front of the line when the USS Midway opened at 10am. Our tickets were a bargain, $20.00 for adults and $17.00 for seniors, not a bad deal for an attraction that could easily fill an entire day. Admission included a self-guided audio tour.

The USS Midway Museum is filled with helpful volunteers. One of the volunteers at the entrance, gave us the best tip of the day; to immediately head to the top of the carrier for a guided tour of The Bridge. Access to The Bridge includes climbing a series of narrow ladders with low ceilings, and the tours are broken into small groups of 10-15 visitors. The tours are first come/first serve and can close early due to capacity issues on busy days. If you are physically able to make the climb, this is a must-see, and should be done at the beginning of the day. We were in the first tour group and by the time we finished, fifteen minutes later, the line was curling around the ship.

Pictures from The Bridge- Note the pane of glass with writing, this was one of the most stressful jobs on the carrier. They had to learn to write backwards, quickly and accurately. Mistakes and second chances were not an option.

The Flight Deck was amazing! This was the best part of the audio tour, with each aircraft having a personal story told by a pilot who flew the plane. I could have spent hours here, but unfortunately it was baking hot. Scrambling eggs on asphalt hot. The heat and crowds shaved a few hours off of our visit.

Inside the carrier, we explored "Life at Sea", checking out the dining rooms, laundry, living quarters, chapel, barber, medical, et...

Our last stop was the boiler room, where a docent was on hand to answer questions. I was impressed with the large number of docents on the ship. They were all very knowledgable and welcoming.

Exhausted from the heat, we left around 1pm, having spent approximately three hours on the USS Midway. Did I see it all? Not even close. The audio tour was such a treasure of personal accounts and information, that I could have spent all day enjoying it. If you visit with children, they have an audio tour specifically for younger visitors, and they have tons of kid-centric educational activities. We saw all ages engaged and enjoying their visit. This is a first class museum.

Most, if not all, of the volunteers are retired military, but they also have a very special "Meet WW2 Veterans" on certain days. Although I didn't visit a WW2 Veteran during our Midway visit, I did it at Pearl Harbor many years ago and it was a memorable experience. Unfortunately, the veterans will not be around for much longer, so make sure to stop by the table and visit with them, thank them for their service.

One last shot as we left the USS Midway Museum. See Dan's parents waiting for us below? They found a shady spot, while we went in the gift shop.

During their visit, we went with Dan's parents to San Diego and stayed on Shelter Island at Humphreys Half Moon Inn & Suites. Our stay was for three nights and the pictures in this review were taken over the course of our trip, during different times of the day.

Humphreys Half Moon Inn & Suites was built in the early 1960's and it still looks it. A visit to Humphreys is like stepping back in time. I expected to see Don Draper having a cocktail poolside. The resort is completely decked out in a Hawaiian theme, from the plumeria trees perfuming the parking lot, to the longhouse style architecture in the lobby.

The lobby

My first impression of the resort was positive. Yes, it's an older hotel, but the theming is fun and it actually does feel like being in Hawaii, especially with the amazing weather that we experienced during our stay. The porter who took our luggage to our rooms was exceptionally friendly and helpful, giving us tips for local restaurants. Shortly after settling in our room, he saw us struggling with the pool gate and he jumped-in to resolve the issue, going to reception and making new keys.

The room was dated, but large and comfortable. Again, it very much looks like something that I've visited in Hawaii. The primary problem with the room was lack of lighting. The light was so dim, that I could only read on my backlit Kindle. Shades outside of the window, prevented natural light from touching the room. My in-laws also complained of the light issue.

Humphreys Half Moon Inn & Suites is a popular place for events. We saw a wedding take place on the lawn. Here are before and after pics of the wedding set-up.

Humphreys has a summer concert series, located on a different lawn area. On the weekend that we visited, they had a UB40 concert that was sold out. We could hear the music from the pool and Dan's parents said that they found a spot in the pool area, where they had a good view of the stage.

I'd recommend checking the concert schedule prior to booking a stay. Our visit was in the early fall and although the concert was full, the pool area was busy, but not packed. The pool is a good size, but there are not very many lounge chairs, and I can imagine that it's a nightmare on a busy summer day. Also, I think the crowd could be dramatically different depending on the band. The pool was filled with middle-aged ( slightly older than us) adults, some with kids. There was a lot of drinking going on and skimpy swim-suits. It had a bit of a Las Vegas vibe and although I wouldn't say "Don't Bring Your Kids", there are probably better family resorts.

Parrots on property

Twice, we ate breakfast at Humphrey's main restaurant. Excellent food and stunning views of the marina.

My cantaloupe wearing a hat was a delightful surprise.

One of the biggest reasons to stay at Humphreys, is it's a short walk to many excellent restaurants. On our first night, we ate at the Brigantine Seafood Restaurant. The swordfish was outstanding.

We also dined at Bali Hai (song stuck in your head?), another tropical throwback to the 50's/60's. The food was very good, but beware of the ridiculously strong Mai Tais, made with only alcohol. Apparently this is authentic, but I say bring on the fruit juice! It's a good thing that we were a five minute walk down the road.

I was having a mostly positive experience at Humphreys, until our final day. We spent Sunday morning/early afternoon at the USS Midway and returned to find that our room had not been made-up. No big deal, it was still early in the day. We called down to housekeeping, to let them know that we would be spending a few hours by the pool, and to request that it be made during our absence. No problem, they would send someone right up.

After the pool, it was still a mess and we didn't have dry towels. We noticed that they were near our room, so we took a walk around Shelter Island to give them a little more time. We returned and it was still a mess. It was five o'clock. We took turns showering and used the wet towels.

After showering, still no peep from housekeeping, so we gave them another call. We told them that we would head to the mall for an hour or so, again, we got reassurances that someone would be right over.

We returned at six-thirty and still nothing. This time we went to the lobby to complain. We had dinner reservations and needed to get ready. We told the front desk clerk, David, that we would sit in reception until he verified that it had been cleaned. We heard nothing from him. He ignored us and as we could see our room from reception, we noticed that housekeeping went inside about 7:20 and came out fifteen minutes later.

What bothered me most, was the lack of customer service. We never received an apology for the inconvienance and we were never given a reason for the delay/ mix-up. If they had told us that they were short on staff or would be late, that would have been much better than giving us the run-around. I think that they forgot to clean our room and that the staff had left for the day, sending them scrambling.

The room looked okay, but then we found some passive-aggressive stunts. They didn't move anything, except for my medication, which I always leave in the same spot. After hunting for ten minutes, I found it wedged near the coffee maker and hidden behind tea/coffee packets. The shower nozzle had been moved to point directly up at the ceiling. These seemed like deliberate moves.

Dan complained at check-out to David, who had been at reception to deal with our problems the evening prior, was very rude. Our experience took a nose-dive with that experience at check-out. I doubt that we would give Humphreys Half Moon Inn & Suites a second chance.