Today we spent several hours wandering around Liberty Station, a large piece of  property in San Diego, adjacent to the inlet to San Diego Bay, that was once the U.S. Navy Training Center – a place where I spent nearly a year and a quarter of my life back in 1953, 54.

The Navy closed the training center in 1997 and turned the property over to the city of San Diego which started developing it in 2000. Several of the original buildings have renovated and converted to commercial use – including a Stone Brewery restaurant. (Of course that was a first priority on our visit list.) Much of the facility has been replaced with residential properties including condominiums, row houses and detached homes. (All very expensive.)

I searched for places that I could remember but the place is so different from the time I was there that there wasn’t that much I recognized. The old barracks where I spent boot camp was gone, but the barracks where I lived during my specialty training was still there. Other facilities I recognized were the parade ground, the theater, the administration buildings and the Navy Exchange building.

Following our visit to Liberty Station, we went to Balboa Park where we had a delightful dinner outdoors. Unfortunately, it started to rain and, since it was getting cold, windy and late, we packed it in and returned to our “home away from home” to watch TV, read and tuck in for the night.