Geeky Museum Trip

Ards sent out an Evite to go to the San Diego Air & Space Museum because the Star Trek Exhibit was being housed there right now.

So Dave, Sat & I drove down in one car; Sasami & Will drove down in another car; and Dennis went on his own.

We were going to meet at 11am in San Diego, so Dave team left at 8:30am. The plan was to leave 30 minutes early than the 2 hours it'll take to drive there, so we can stop by Mitsuwa in Costa Mesa on the way down. Our plan was perfect. We got there right at 11am.

Sasami team left a bit earlier, around 8:15am from Torrance. Since they had 15 minutes + 30 minutes head start, they got there way early.

Ards & Dennis on the other hand... showed up late!
Dennis got to the museum, but he wandered over to the front of the museum & was hanging out there w/o calling the rest of the group to see where we were.

Ards?
She was just late. Then had to run and get food for the picnic.

Anyway, we ate in front of the Sports Museum's statue.


I brought turkey sandwich (for myself) and salad. Dave & Sat bought bento at Mitsuwa. Ards bought fried chicken for the rest of the group. Will brought lots of drinks & Dennis brought lots of fruits.

After eating, we headed over to the Air & Space Museum.
You can hear the Star Trek theme from a distance...


They didn't allow any photography inside the Star Trek exhibit, so this is all we were able to take


We will soon learn why we're not allowed to take pictures inside.

First part of the exhibit was a big model of one of the ships (A).
And a showcase of all ships called "Enterprise" starting w/ carrier ships, space shuttle... and then all the Star Trek ships. I couldn't tell them apart.

Then we go up the ramp into the bridge of the Enterprise (original one).
The staff told us they'll take photos of us & we can purchase them at the gift shop.

Ah ha!
That's why we can't take photos inside the exhibit.
They want us to buy souvenir photos instead.

We took three photos, and moved on.

The next part was a display of Picard's private chambers.
And then lots of costumes on display... and the Borg cube.

Then the third room in the hall was a transporter room.
The staff said we can also take pictures there, but we opted to just see ourselves on screen. They even did the special effect where you disappear. Cool.

Too bad we didn't take photos here, because they offered lenticular cards at the gift shop where you appear & disappear on the card. It was expensive though. $27 for a 5x7 card.

Beyond the transporter room was some rocky planet display from one of the movies. It looks like Star Gate, said Ards (OK, I agreed... and I'm ashamed to know what she was talking about).

Then the final room was a time line of the entire Star Trek universe.
It was pretty interesting to follow.


Then we walk out to the normal part of the Air & Space Museum.
And take photos of old looking war planes.


We head towards the exit of the museum, where they have a Star Trek ride thingie. We had to pay $5 in addition to the $24 admission ticket we paid to get in... I was too sleepy to ride it, but everyone else rode it.


It's like Star Tours ride.
Star Tours minus, said Dennis.

We bought 2 of the photos we took.
$32 for two, put inside a leather frame.
And also paid an additional $5 for each photo to get a digital file.
Total of $42. Split among 7 of us, so $6 each.

We left the museum and posed dumb geeky pictures.
Like this


We went to the restroom at the Sports Museum & rested in their cafe for a while.
Then we walked over to the rest of Balboa Park, which was invaded by brides & grooms taking wedding photos.

We saw about 7 groups, but I'm sure there were more.

And then we walked back to our cars & headed home.

It was a long day w/ lots of walking, but it was fun.
But I might have gotten sun burnt in the little bit of time we spent walking around outside. I'm burning up & will use all day tomorrow to rest up.