This review is sponsored by Ryan of 14Giants.com - a site of mass-distraction. This site is digital backpacker certified as a great time-waster for random readings throughout the week. He even recently did a feature on me!

“The COOLEST MUSEUM in San Diego!” I was touting, loudly, matter-of-factly around the hostel.

I had just returned from a five-hour journey through the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California and was genuinely excited about hearing the reaction of others after recommending them to do the same.

The USS Midway is a decommissioned aircraft carrier which served as a major military tool for over 47 years. It was a crown-jewel of the US Navy, capable of porting an entire military division overseas and into enemy waters.

The museum’s entrance is straightforward. Tickets are purchased and the guest is directed to walk up the ramp to the museum’s lobby. Once aboard, FREE audio-tour devices are hung around the guest’s neck, and earphones placed on their ears.

For those traveling to this museum alone, an audio tour can be both relieving and entertaining: Walking through catacombs of museum displays can be ruthlessly boring without some backstory, and those who are attending alone tend to rush through.

For those visiting the museum with a friend, I recommend synchronising your audio-playback at each checkpoint: “Hmm”s and “Wow!”s are then experienced together, and each person can comment on what they just heard. Do not pass up this audio tour, it is amazingly useful and informative. If something is boring you, move on and press “pause”, your bound to find something you like.

Sharp-turning hallways create an authentic experience inside the ship. It takes only minutes to sink into an understanding of the systems used on and how they felt to be a part of.

As your electronic friend guides you through the sleeping quarters of the officers. Take a moment and have a lie-down (if your bodily condition will allow) in a typical navy bed. Staring up at the top of the next bunk just three inches from your nose is, for some, a humilitous experience. The scent of sweat is still poignant in the air of these dorms. Take it in.

What I found to be most interesting in the museum was the laundry system. Not being a particularly war-oriented person, I found solace for my conscience in focusing on the systems: How they worked, how they were assembled, how many pieces needed to be in check in order for the system to succeed and be effective.

Countless audio-clips and displays are available to pause at and fully experience in this floating city of nearly three miles length. The three minutes of flight simulation in the lobby costs over $20 and is not worth the price, considering similar graphics can be experienced on a typical home videogame-system. I would avoid these attractions at all cost.

While walking around the ship, take care to save some energy for the “flight deck” the huge deck forming the top of the ship. This deck creates an enormous, spacious staging ground for the takeoff and landing of warplanes. The affixed “aircraft elevator” can lift a plane from the hanger to the flight deck in under 15 seconds. Considering this is at least 100 feet in distance, I was impressed. Unfortunately, the elevators operation is not on display on the museum…no matter how much you beg to see it!

The USS Midway costs only $12 for an adult ticket, and $9 for a student ticket. Considering the expansive and well-prepared displays, as well as the included top-notch audio tour, any guest to this museum should consider admission quite a deal.

Definitely recommended. I should add: Each of the people I recommended to see the ship and actually did so reported very highly on the quality of the museum. Trust me on this one.

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