A Golden Day

Saturday was a special treat for me! It was Fleet Week in the Bay, and Mike's alma mater was having a Fleet Week Festival, so we decided to check it out. Now, don't judge me, but Mike went to college one town over from where we live, ahem, a 7 minute drive, and I had never been to his campus! Embarrassed wifey moment. So today was the perfect opportunity for him to show me around! We met up with his old friend Brian and his girlfriend, and we were off!

We're so lucky to live near the gorgeous SF Bay

Mike went to California Maritime Academy, and their claim to fame is the Golden Bear. It's a huge boat that goes out to sea every summer for 2 months and the students are the crew. They run the ship. They traveled to the Philippines, Shanghai, Japan, then back to California. I mean how cool is that?! So my hubby played tour guide for the day and showed us all around…Join me as we come aboard the Golden Bear!

Aerial view of the Golden Bear

Our handsome captn!

View from The Golden Bear-those buildings are the school's dorms

Peeking in to see if we can sneak into the Engine Room…

Ok this is where I became super impressed…Those are the sleeping quarters! Could you imagine bunking in that for 2 months after working 8 hours plus class, plus watch?! Mad props

At least they had a gym! This was technically underwater, pretty cool

The Engine Control Room where the hubs used to work

One part of the engine room

How gorgeous is that view?!

After we disembarked, (land!!!), this chica needed some fresh air, water, and some food. Stat. Not one of my proudest moments, but I was becoming a tad closterphobic and started to ~~sweat my booty off~~ get a bit hot, and needed a breather. The short time we spent on the ship made me have so much respect for those who spend most of their lives on the water, whether it be Cal Maritime Students, fisherman, or our wonderful Navy who risks their lives for ours. It was a really cool experience to get to walk in Mike's college shoes.

My husband (still so weird to say 'husband!') knows me well and took me straight to the taco truck that was on campus. So after grubbing on some amazing carnitas burritos (no photo available because I was too busy stuffing my face), Mike wanted to show me one more thing before we headed home.

The school has a bunch of different simulators, and I have to say, they were soooo cool! They are simulators that basically make you feel as if you are aboard a ship. This particular simulator took us aboard a ship that was on the SF Bay near the Bay Bridge, and there was another ship on fire. In this particular simulation, we would have to act accordingly in how to proceed. The boat started 'rocking' (it really didn't, it just felt so real!), and it felt like we were really aboard a huge ship! How cool that these students have these amazing resources at their fingertips?!