Where all did we go during the Mini? Check out this 2-page set of maps.

It was 4 days of Chamber-of-Commerce weather:
Never too hot, never too cold … barely a cloud in the sky (definitely NO rain).
It was a perfect time for a Mini Reunion!

After the reception, we wandered down the hall to the hotel’s “New York West” restaurant where we were given a custom menu of 5 choices.

L to R: Emily & Dan Baker, Judy Calhoun, Jacki & Joe Schluchter, Tom Norris, Karen & Craig Kennedy, Phil Wright, Edie and Doug Neumann
(Of course, John Davis [the photographer] conveniently left himself and Betsy out of the picture)

The morning kicked off with more made-to-order omelets from the hotel’s complimentary breakfast buffet.

We then trekked over to the Broadway pier area to start our two-hour cruise of the north and south parts of San Diego harbor on the Flagship Lines’ Spirit of San Diego ship.

Below is a sampling of the people and sights seen during the cruise.

Phil Wright taking a picture of John Davis

John Davis taking a picture of Phil Wright …
…much to the puzzlement of Emily and Dan Baker

Judy Calhoun … sporting her well-worn Culver visor

Approaching the USS Midway on the way back to the dock

Sailing under the Coronado Bridge
Click on the image for a video of the passage

On the other hand, John & Betsy Davis, Craig & Karen Kennedy, Judy Calhoun, and Tom Norris opted for a later departure and to do a self-guided excursion through the park.

Betsy & John Davis, Craig Kennedy, Tom Norris, Karen Kennedy, Judy Calhoun
(Thanks to our Uber Driver, Nelson, for posing us and snapping pictures)

Rather than wandering aimlessly, we elected to start our time at the Zoo with the included Guided Tour by double-decker bus. Of course, before we could board the bus, a staff member had to take our picture and superimpose it on a fake background and guilt us into to buying a copy at the end of the tour.

John & Betsy Davis, Judy Calhoun, Tom Norris, Craig & Karen Kennedy

As luck would have it, we were at the head of the line for the front row on the upper deck.

After Happy Hour, the group meandered over to Mike Hess Brewing in Seaport Village, advertised as a “bayside biergarten”. The opinions on the quality of the food were very widely split … but the ice cream sundaes at the nearby Ben & Jerry’s that followed met with universal high levels of approval.

The Hangar Deck

Our guide Barry describing features of the Engine Room

Joe Schluchter and Pete Salvador
on the Flight Deck

After the Bus Tour, we took the Skyfari Aerial Tram from the lowest level of the park to near its highest … and proceeded to wind our way down to the exit. By then, we were getting HUNGRY and decided to walk into the central part of Balboa Park (San Diego’s ever-changing, always amazing, 1,200-acre backyard) and have an outstanding lunch at the highly-recommended Prado Restaurant in the park.

While most of us were visiting the Zoo and Balboa Park, Doug and Edie Neumann chose to explore the nearby Seaport Village.

Doug, of course, had to take a few spins on the vintage carousel located there!

Following the reception, we headed across the street under a bright full moon to the Puesto at The Headquarters restaurant for some “trophy tacos” and “perfect margaritas”. (Well, that’s what their website advertised … and the after-meal consensus was that the restaurant’s bragging was not far from the truth.)

We then headed back to the hotel. It had been quite a full day … with 2 more to follow!

Doug Neumann, Jacki & Joe Schluchter, Betsy Davis, Edie Neumann

While there were still many sights to see and activities to be experienced in the Zoo and Balboa Park, most everyone headed back to the hotel to rest up for the evening reception that was scheduled to start at 5:30 PM.

Judy Calhoun, Betsy & John Davis, Phil Wright, Dan Baker, Pete Salvador

Following the ice cream, our very exhausted group of old codgers slogged back to the hotel to prepare for another early morning activity: A tour of the USS Midway.

The San Salvador … a replica of the first European vessel to reach the West Coast of America

While Peohe’s food was excellent, there was a large wedding party nearby which was competing for the attention of the restaurant’s servers, resulting in an unexpectedly VERY LONG lunch. Consequently, we were not able to head back to the “mainland” until the 4:30 PM ferry … leaving little time to recoup and get ready for Happy Hour. But we did!

As serendipity would have it, Mini-attendee Joe Schluchter has a very good friend (Barry Sterett, also a Navy vet) who is a docent for the Museum. Normally, Barry is just stationed at various places on the ship to answer visitors’ questions. However, for our group (for Joe), he most graciously volunteered to lead a private tour over basically the entire ship.

The tour included quite a few very steep steps and a few head bangings, and lasted close to 3 hours … but it was absolutely fantastic!

THANKS, Barry!!!

Here are some photographic memories from the tour.

Jacki Schluchter in the
Commanding Officer’s Seat
(with just Joe standing by…)

The Ship’s Island

Flight Deck
(with USS Abraham Lincoln carrier in background)

Judy Calhoun
in the “Mini Air Boss” seat

Our guide Barry describing features of the Officers’ Mess

Helicopters on the Flight Deck

One of the highlights of the tour was a briefing given to us by Gil Rud (CAPT USN, Ret.). Gil was a naval aviator with 789 carrier/ship landings. His explanations, descriptions, and videos of carrier takeoffs and landings were captivating.

We were further fascinated to learn that he had been a member of the Navy’s Blue Angels and later leader of the squadron. He went on to be the Commanding Officer of the USS Constellation super carrier (CV-64).

We also learned that during the pandemic, he had documented that career (and that of his naval aviator daughter) in a book. Many of us made plans to get a copy. (Gil recommended the audio version; he truly enjoyed providing the voice for it.)

What with all the exercise during the tour, a number of us decided it was time to eat (again!) and headed to the Kansas City BBQ restaurant. Self-proclaimed as the “Top Gun Bar”, it is known for being the filming location for scenes used in the original “Top Gun” film.

Judy Calhoun
… standing by the piano used in the film

For our “last night in the wilderness”, Dan chose the high-end Brigantine Seafood & Oyster Bar — Portside Pier for dinner.

And last, but not least, a picture that did not fit into the day-by-day timeline, but could not be left out.
(Credit to Doug Neumann for wanting the picture to be created.)

The Class Rings of Judy Calhoun, Doug Neumann, and Phil Wright
At the next gathering, we need to get a picture with EVERYONE’s ring!

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all the attendees who supplied all the pictures that are included on this web page.

Your webmaster's apologies to those who feel they were under (or over) represented in the images included, or whose images may not be as flattering as they might wish. But I could only work with what I had. Next time, we collectively need to remember to take more posed shots (vice candid ones) to be sure more high quality pictures of everyone are captured.

This choice of restaurant had the desired effect of having one evening devoted to excellent seafood … and a monstrous dessert. Neumann and Baker restrained themselves by consuming only six oysters.  Two of our more adventuresome classmates even had a new dish for them: Sand dabs (they are fish).

Emily & Dan Baker, Doug & Edie Neumann, Karen Kennedy

Edie Neumann, Karen & Craig Kennedy, Judy Calhoun, Phil Wright,
John & Betsy Davis, Emily Baker

Shortly after the end the Harbor Cruise, we boarded the Coronado Ferry …

… to Coronado Island for lunch, shopping, and site seeing at the Coronado Ferry Landing. The original idea was to find transportation to the Hotel del Coronado (“Hotel Del”) on the other side of the island for lunch, but the majority wanted to eat sooner rather than later. Hence, they chose to lunch at the Peohe Restaurant in the Ferry Landing. (That is the Peohe restaurant in background.)