|
|
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Space places to visit in/near San Diego
|
Ade74
Member Posts: 47
From: Peterborough, England
Registered: Nov 2009
|
posted 07-30-2010 12:00 PM
   
Well my wife and I are putting the finishing touches to our West Coast holiday in September (San Fran to San Diego).I am visiting (note "I", doubt my space suffering wife probably will be!!) the San Diego Space museum obviously but are there any other space museums etc along the way that are worth a visit? Also, roughly how long does it take to view the SD museum? Any help gratefully received! |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 07-30-2010 12:24 PM
I hope you enjoy your visit to the San Diego Air & Space Museum. There are certainly plenty of other interesting places along the way between the two cities, and it would depend on the way you are going. For example, are you driving down the coast, or flying between cities? Based on that, I could make some suggestions for you.How much time you spend at the museum depends on your interest level in the exhibitions. Some people spend a couple of hours, others have come back for multiple days. The museum is situated in Balboa Park, home of 18 or more museums and cultural institutions in a beautiful setting (frequently called "The Smithsonian of the West"), so your wife would certainly not be spoiled for choice if she didn't wish to spend as much time as you at the Air & Space Museum. |
Ade74
Member Posts: 47
From: Peterborough, England
Registered: Nov 2009
|
posted 07-30-2010 01:40 PM
We are driving down the west coast (after Yosemite), taking about 7 days to do so.I'd like to head out to Edwards AFB but our schedule is starting to fill up!! Very much looking forward to the space museum and thank you for the suggestion of the other institutions in the area. |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 07-30-2010 02:16 PM
If you were coming down the 5 freeway from Yosemite towards LA, it would only be a relatively short detour east to drive through the Lancaster-Palmdale area and at least get a sense of the scenery - desert and dry lakes - around Edwards. A slightly longer detour, turning off earlier, would take you through Tehachapi pass and down to Mojave, where you'd drive past where some wonderful aviation events have taken place, from Voyager to SpaceShipOne. Even if you didn't stop, you'd certainly see some real desert (a little different to Peterborough!) and get a sense of the place where these things happened. You could swing past Vasquez Rocks, geologically amazing, and also the site of many Star Trek and other movie shoots.Los Angeles has the California Science Center, the only place I know of outside of DC where you can see a flown Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft all in the same room (ASTP celebrating its anniversary, Gemini 11, and Ham's Mercury spacecraft). The Griffith Park Observatory would appeal highly to a family with one space-interested person and one not, because of the classic, outstanding view over LA and Hollywood. Downey, in the LA area, has the new Columbia Memorial Space Center, right next to the old Downey plant where the Apollo command modules were built. Continuing south, the Discovery Science Center is right off the freeway and has a brand new rocket experience exhibition I have yet to see, but it sounds great. Also down here in Balboa Park is our neighbor the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, with an IMAX theater (currently showing the Hubble movie), a Challenger Center, some flown space items on display, along with a lot of other hands-on science fun. There are plenty of other smaller, quirkier, enjoyable stops along your general direction. As you firm up your route, let me know and I can try and make other suggestions. | |
Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts
Copyright 2020 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.
Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a
|
|
|
 advertisement
|
