LA

Two days in a row we have landfall.  It's a minor miracle.  We are in Los Angeles, City of Angels.  Perhaps the angels are watching over us.  In order to facilitate filling up a ship on a world cruise, the trip is broken into "legs."  The legs can then be sold individually to fill cabins not filled for the entire trip.  We have now finished leg one, Miami to LA.  Many of the passengers for just this leg have been sorely disappointed because of the major changes to the itinerary from the original plan.  Grand Cayman was changed to Key West.  The cruise company removed San Diego and Cabo San Lucas as they added an overnight in LA for completion of an electrical update which allows the ship to plug in at ports so they don't have to run their engines for electricity while in port which is better for the environment.  San Diego was reinstated a day earlier than originally planned because we got on the ship and learned that Mexico was not going to let us in for Acapulco.  We had lost San Juan Del Sur as a port stop several weeks before sailing.  We lost Puerto Quetzal because they would not let us land.  A lot of unhappy people, mostly about the LA change because that was in the cruise company's control while most of the rest was not.  The people doing the first leg only--which is the majority of the passengers-- are getting off this morning.  Second leggers and new ATW passengers will board later this morning and this afternoon.  Because this is a new leg we had to be retested for Covid.  That happened yesterday morning.  Quick, relatively painless, and comforting when you finally get the message that you tested negative.  We both got that particular message.

After tests and breakfast we headed out on a walk of discovery.  The ship now uses a facial recognition system which takes your face picture on exit, and then checks it on return.  The camera would not take our picture for some reason.  Not sure.  Worried that it might be we tested positive, (a constant concern as results were pending) but they let us off the old way by scanning our ship pass which looks somewhat like a credit card and is the key to the room as well.  We walked out of the terminal and followed the promenade along the port.  The Battleship Iowa is just down the way from where we are parked.  We decided it would be a good first stop for us as we walked past the city workers who were raking up the leaves on the promenade.  Sorry about that reference to those living in the Midwest.  We found our way through a huge parking lot and discovered a long line.  A gentleman poked his head out of a small booth and asked if we were going to the battleship.  We said yes.  He said go around the line to the entry of the battleship.  Our blank looks got this further response, "You don't want to get in that line, it's Covid testing."  And thus it was that we walked past the line in our masks giving it a wide berth and found the ramp up to the ship empty of people.  

I was wearing an Iowa Hawkeye shirt, Jen was wearing her Hawkeye visor, and when we reached the ticket booth the man asked where we were from.  I said Iowa.  He asked if we had ID and I pulled out my driver's license.  Turns out getting on the Battleship Iowa is free for Iowans because the state provided 3 million dollars for the resurrection of the battleship into a museum.  In return Iowans get free entrance into perpetuity.  When Iowa last played in the Rose Bowl in 2016 the University event planners made a big deal about it being free but it seemed like they thought it was being done especially for that event.  Nope.  Every day of every year.  The Rose Bowl visitors did make their mark with an estimated 7000 fans becoming the most visitors in a single day, the previous record being approximately 2000.  The museum has only been open since 2012.  Like the aircraft carrier Midway from yesterday's visit, the ingenuity and technological achievement of these massive machines is amazing.  The thing I noticed in both ships is the incredible amount of wire which is all visible in the ceilings, I assume so you can get to it if there is a problem.  I have one picture which will be in today's pics to show an example.  The numbers are staggering, the gallons of fuel, the number of people, the size and distance and power of the projectiles and the speed with which the massive guns could be reloaded.  The same thought comes:  Why do we spend so much time and effort on destruction?  Is it a shock that a country that does this has citizens that see violence as the way to solving problems?  I so wish we could offer a different model for our own citizens and the rest of the world.

Finishing our tour of the ship we set off to see what else the town of San Pedro had to offer.  A sign pointed to the historic downtown of San Pedro.  Checking our phones the walk looked to be ten minutes or so and we decided to see what was on offer.  The answer:  Not much.  We walked past the few buildings that looked like they retained some semblance of historic significance.  There were a few facades that looked sort of Spanish, not much was open, and only about a block square.  Unimpressed we returned to the ship, took a nap, and prepared ourselves for another marvelous dinner with spectacular attention to detail and service.  The most difficult part of dinner for me is keeping the stupid cloth napkin on my lap.  I don't usually put it on my lap at home for that very reason, but here they put it on your lap for you.  They must watch in wonder as I lean my head below the table five or six times during a single meal to get the fallen napkin.  My life is so challenging.