While my husband arranged for us to visit San Diego, where he spent part of his adult life and still has family, he told me to find some locations I’d be interested in touring.
Not having any idea what was available I did a bit of research, and put the Point Loma Tide Pools at the top of the list, along with a few other possibilities.
As I joked about the Top Gun movie sites that might be somewhere in the area, I knew my time would be short, so I carefully crafted a list which I prioritized…not realizing that I had planned a Top Gun Tour.
AIRPORT – SAN DIEGO
Someone forgot to tell me that the airport where we landed is the site where Charles Lindbergh’s custom made plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, was made, so he could be the first to fly across the ocean to Paris.
When I made that connection after we came home, he said there was a model of the plane where we grabbed the baggage. I guess I was busier with the baggage.
At least I’ve seen the real airplane at the Smithsonian, but surely there are also other memorabilia at the airport. Next time…
Since I’m supposed to be writing about another airplane movie, guess what?
Curiosity led me to an internet search which proved we were tracking without realizing it…stay tuned for my discoveries which I’ll update as we go!
LIBERTY STATION – POINT LOMA
After we took our luggage to our nearby Point Loma lodging, it was getting late and we were starving, so I found some nearby eateries that looked great on my phone app, which my husband identified as Liberty Station.
Formerly a navy base to in-process new recruits, it is now a commercial area open to the public for quaint shopping, dining, and lodging.
Having a lot of fun, I wondered specifically where Top Gun was shot, since Liberty Station reminded me of the movie.
Although I was wiped out after umpteen hours on a non-stop flight from Virginia, my hubby insisted on taking me to stunning views of his beloved San Diego.
From a neighborhood atop Point Loma, viewing the city beyond the bay…
Now we are driving along North Harbor Drive along the bay and near the airport and Point Loma…which is seen in a daytime shot of Charlie riding with Maverick on his motorcycle.
Intrigued by Liberty Station, I wanted to return the next day to further explore and take more photos, so we enjoyed a delicious chilaquiles breakfast there!
Well, guess what? Liberty Station was a Top Gun movie site!
Representing the Miramar Top Gun school, similar scenes as the one above are in the movie, where Maverick and Charlie argue…then later in the movie when Charlie drops Maverick off after Goose’s death.
Although I wanted to take more pictures, I opted to see some sites to hopefully give the cloudy skies time to become sunny.
However, I packed our day with sooo much stuff, that we never had time to return.
Unbeknownst to me, the rest of the day totally immersed us in Top Gun site seeing!
Nevertheless, I want a full day at Liberty Station on our next trip!
NORTH ISLAND
Taking me to Cabrillo National Monument at the southernmost end of Point Loma, my hubby again wanted to strategically point out the lay of the land.
From the top of Point Loma, I easily practiced identifying naval vessels! North Island is seen on the left side of the photo.
Established in 1917, Naval Air Station North Island forms a barrier between the Pacific Ocean and San Diego, creating San Diego Bay.
Due to its strategic location, many aircraft carriers call North Island home port.
From our view on Point Loma, we see the San Diego Bay and North Island…
In the Top Gun (1986) credits, producers thank many of the people from the naval sites of San Diego, including North Island.
However, North Island was featured as the Top Gun flight school in the recent sequel, Top Gun: Maverick…btw which we saw at the Udvar-Hazey Smithsonian Air and Space Museum near Washington DC.
Later in the morning, the sun broke through the clouds, turning the grey waters to lovely shades of blue and greens.
About that time we were touring the WWII coast defense area behind the old lighthouse, from which I took a sunnier snap of North Island on the right side of the bay.
US COAST GUARD STATION – POINT LOMA
After viewing the San Diego Bay on the eastern side of Point Loma, we climbed to the highest point to tour the old lighthouse, built in 1855, when California first became a state.
Since it was too often enshrouded by fog, a new lighthouse was built 400 feet below, on the western side of Point Loma facing the Pacific Ocean, in 1891.
Once the home of the lighthouse keepers, the buildings below are now homes to Coast Guard officers.
However, in the movie Top Gun, one of those buildings at this lovely site was home to Viper, as evidenced in the scene where Maverick goes to his mentor for advice about what to do after Goose’s death…and where he learns the true (top secret) story of his father.
Returning to our lodging to eat a quick lunch of leftovers from Liberty Station and changing clothes, I walked over to the gorgeous view of more of San Diego Bay.
USS MIDWAY – TOP GUN HISTORY
Suddenly I had a need to check out the USS Midway in this gorgeously sunny weather!
Although not directly affiliated with any of the Top Gun movies, the USS Midway has connections to the Top Gun school, itself.
Apparently, fancy aircraft with expensive missiles stole the show of the new means to air wars during the Vietnam War.
After identifying the need to teach long lost dog fighting skills, since missiles weren’t always a ‘one and done’, the US Navy developed the Naval Fighter Weapons School, in 1969, to train the best naval aviators, who would share all they learned with their colleagues upon returning to the fleet.
Soon, the school was nicknamed Top Gun by the organizers, which was much easier to spit out than Naval Fighter Weapons School.
The early Top Gun alumni did not have long to wait before combat returned to the skies. In 1972, the Midway rushed across the Pacific to defend South Vietnam from an invasion from the North. On May 18, Top Gun graduates Lt. Bart Bartholomay and his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), Lt. Oran Brown, flying with Fighter Squadron 161 (VF-161), shot down a MiG-19 supersonic fighter in a twisting aerial battle. Just five days later, fellow squadron mates and Top Gun alums, Lt. Cmdr. Ron McKeown and his RIO, Lt. Jack Ensch, knocked down a pair of MiG-17s after escaping a trap laid by the enemy over its own air base. – USS Midway Museum
Wow! Doesn’t that annecdote read like the Top Gun script?
Today, some of the docents educating guests aboard the USS Midway are Top Gun graduates.
USS MIDWAY MUSEUM – SAN DIEGO
Allowing me to walk in the footsteps of Maverick on the USS Midway, I freely walked around to see which ever display, or take whichever tour, or listen to whichever podcast on or chat with a docent…this was an amazing tour, which surprised me. I had no idea this girly girl would have so much fun.
In fact, I ran out of time listening to the audio tapes I was given for each display, which my husband told me were quite interesting, despite all he already knew about aircraft carriers.
I might need to return… 😉
These are air craft carriers docked at the San Diego side of North Island, with Point Loma in the distance…
Sadly, this F-14 Tomcat wasn’t fully on display…
…nor was this.
But to walk the length and breadth of the massive deck, stepping over the joints, surrounded by aircraft was amazing!
When I learned I could tour the island, I was all in…as long as Maverick does not buzz the tower.
WEST LAUREL STREET
And then it was time to head north to Rancho Bernardo for a few days.
En route from Point Loma on North Harbor Drive, I finally snapped a pic of the low flying commerical planes to the San Diego Airport.
Driving on North Harbor Drive from Point Loma, we veered onto West Laurel Street to Balboa Park, for a quick drive through before heading for Rancho Bernardo.
On the hilly ribbon of West Laurel Street, we passed the Top Gun site of the famous first kiss between Maverick and Charlie, after their speedy drive on the road.
Although Charley’s house is located on Laurel Street (in the movie), the actual site was Oceanside…which we were just talking about for our next stop.
MIRAMAR – SAN DIEGO
As we drove to Rancho Bernardo, we saw all the signs noting the turn off for Miramar…the site of Top Gun.
When the Top Gun movie was made in 1986, this famed home of the Top Gun school was called Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar.
In 1996, the highly successful Top Gun school relocated to Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada.
Lots more to see in Point Loma someday, including another Top Gun site at the Lafayette Hotel in San Diego!
For more details of these many sites, unrelated to Top Gun, stay tuned.
