Travelling Worm

This is the blog of Mark Wordsworm, the travelling worm. I’m a 25-year-old bookmark and can proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC).

Today’s travel notes

Me and the TC spent a few days in San Diego last week, taking a well-earned rest after our hard work in Long Beach. San Diego is bigger and more vibrant than this worm expected. It’s very like the other bits of California that we’ve seen, in that the air is bright and the roads are wide. There’s some Mexican influence, but not as much as this worm was expecting. The city centre (“downtown”) is quite flat and is right on the sea shore. There are lovely little hills all round, housing Balboa Park, the zoo and La Jolla.

My impressions? Seaside prettiness, big-city architecture, high tech industry and a bit of military action combine to make San Diego an interesting place to visit.

Travel tip

Take a coach and harbour tour to get the big picture, then pick the areas that you want to see more closely. The TC decided that she’d seen enough of La Jolla from the bus. This worm concurred.

Recommended accommodation

The Bristol Hotel in downtown San Diego. It’s close to the harbour, the restaurants and the trolley buses. Service is very warm and friendly, and the rooms are spacious and comfortable.

Recommended restaurant

O’Brothers in the Gaslamp district of San Diego. It’s on the second floor of Horton Plaza. Three of the staff members welcomed the TC, one by one, as she walked in. Even from the depths of my book in her bag, I could feel her heart go pitty-pat! She declared her meal (a Cobb’s salad) to be delicious, and there was a lot of it. Fast food, yes, but of good quality. The TC made a point of finding and complimenting the manager.

The book I’m in

The ELI Event, by Dave Gash. I’m at the beginning of chapter 18, and wishing the TC would hurry up and move me on. This is a great read! You may think my opinion is swayed by the fact that Dave Gash is a friend of mine and the TC’s. But no. This worm is unbending and unbendable when it comes to matters of literary review. Are you looking for science fiction, time travel, artificial intelligence, great characters and action packaged as a good solid yarn? Then this is the book for you!

The photos

Me, Peg and Hugs at the entrance to the Old Town State Historic Park in San Diego:

Who’s that with me and Peg, I hear you gasp? That’s Hugs the Koala. She’s a cuddly sort and a true blue Ozzie, although, funnily enough, she joined us in Long Beach. This worm has grown quite attached to her, and she to me. I’m guessing she’s a keeper in the TC’s little clan of hangers-on.

The Old Town Market in the State Historic Park, complete with bell tower, cactus and pointy succulent:

The San Diego Old Town was established in 1769, the birthplace of California, our coach driver informed us.

The TC was quite taken with the blue sky peeking through the tower of the Immaculate Conception church:

El Campo Santo, an old graveyard in the Old Town, now happy with children running through it. In 1993, the city used ground-penetrating radar to discover these old graves under Linwood Street:

The tourist section of the Old Town:

The Coronado Bridge, spanning the gap between the mainland and Coronado Island. The coach driver told us that 277 people have committed suicide by jumping off this bridge:

The Hotel Del Coronado, 1887, built in 11 months!

A fighter aircraft over the hotel, providing poetic contrast in this idyllic setting:

Coronado beach:

Another guardian looming out of the gloom:

Me and the TC took a boat tour of North Harbour. Lo and behold, there was Jonathan, gliding over the city:

North Harbour is awash with naval activity:

A navy boat with a dolphin on board, heading out for a training session:

The dolphin in training with the navy personnel:

A fighter jet taking off on North Island:

Me and Peg, about to board the USS Midway. This aircraft carrier is the longest commissioned in the US navy. It is now a museum:

On the flight deck, a jet attached to the launching mechanism:

A tale of woe follows. After an hour or so on board, the TC decided she wanted to get off.

Off the ship. Leave the boat. Go to the mainland. Disembark. She uttered all of those phrases, and more, to one of the official guides on the boat. He was standing at a spot near one of the planes, looking uninterested. And instead of showing us the quick exit, he sent us on a round-the-corridors trip into the ship’s innards.

When the TC emerged pink and flustered at the exact some spot, let’s call it spot A, the same dude professed not to have understood her the first time, and sent her to the end of a queue of people waiting to do the “Island Tour”. When she protested, he assured her that this was the only way off. “Just go all the way down there,” he said.

So we did, bypassing irate queue-hoggers, only to be told we were in the wrong place. A second dude took us through a cordonned-off door, up some stairs and through some corridors, and ushered us out with a flourish – right back at spot A, where Dude 1 was still to be seen!

At this point, the TC bless her cotton socks burst into tears. Amidst the floods, she remonstrated that there must be a way off, there should be a big “EXIT” sign, this is ridiculous, the only available sign says “EXIT, DO NOT ENTER” … and so on.

At last, Dude 2 got the general flow of things and took us to an unmarked lift, which took us down into the bowels of the monster and after a few more corridors led to the gangplank. It took us more than half an hour to get off that boat.

So, here’s another travel tip for free: If you’re ever on the USS Midway, plot your exit route at each level and don’t believe anything the official guides tell you.

A corridor on the USS Midway:

Pointing the way to the battle dressing station, a sober reminder of the crew’s activities of yore:

Me peering through a porthole:

Phew, back on dry land and in the open air at last. The Santa Fe Amstrak station, right near the harbour:

Inside Santa Fe station:

The San Diego trolleys are made by Siemens in Düsseldorf, West Germany:

Looking up Broadway from the docks towards downtown San Diego:

Now, this is how to design an interesting, attractive shopping mall. Horton Plaza:

Inside Horton Plaza:

Some people have big feet and some people have huge feet. A polar bear at San Diego Zoo:

And some people know how to pose for a pretty picture:

That’s all for today dudes.