Queen Mary and Battleship Iowa (Long Beach, CA) – September 2015

 I got to see the Queen Mary on one of my earlier visits, but didn’t get to spend any time there.  I went into the gift shop and got a mug for Mum because I knew how much she liked it.  So on the return visit here, with the parents in tow, I made sure to block off time to visit it.  As most of the ship is now a floating hotel and restaurant, there really wasn’t much one could wander around inside if you weren’t a guest and/or eating there.  But the nearby Battleship Iowa was one we knew we could spend time crawling around checking out (much like when we visited the Battleship Texas).  The Iowa had more preservation done, due to the historical importance the ship has for the signing of the Japanese surrender that officially ended World War Two.  This was a great opportunity to explore a major piece of history, so certainly worth your time if you’re in the area.

https://traveljournalbydave.blogspot.com/2016/01/queen-mary-and-battleship-iowa-long.html

 

Discovery Cube Science Museum (Santa Ana, CA) – September 2015

 When coming to a place, always check in with the chamber of commerce or look at the various brochures for interesting stuff in the area, as you never know what you were going to find.  At the time, I was working with Austin Planetarium trying to get a physical science museum set up, so being able to visit other facilities was good research.  And it was just fun, as this was designed for both adults and children.  You can see from the pictures Mum and I played around with a bunch of stuff, as many of the exhibits were “hands on” (which are the best kind in a science museum).  The life-sized dinosaur which you could walk through the insides we really cool too.  This was a lot of fun, and worth checking out when you’re in the area.

 

https://traveljournalbydave.blogspot.com/2016/01/discovery-cube-santa-ana-ca-september.html