First Visit to Mare Island

[I am taking a one-week break from Israel posting.]

Mare Island (Naval Shipyard) is one of those places nearby that seemed to be overlooked by us in terms of where to go for a weekend spot. Oftentimes we'd just drive past it on the way to either Sonoma or Napa.

However, a couple of weeks ago, just days before Halloween, we finally made it to Mare Island.

Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California is a 5,000-acre island that was the first Navy base on the West Coast. During WWII, it became one of the busiest naval shipyards in the world. Over 500 naval vessels were built and thousands overhauled before the shipyard closed in 1996, including battleship USS California in 1919, the cruisers Chicago in 1930, San Francisco in 1933, and dozens of destroyers, destroyer escorts, submarines, and various auxiliary ships. On 19 October 1957, Mare Island built its first nuclear submarine, USS Sargo (SSN 583). It was the first nuclear submarine built on the West Coast.

The naval base closed in 1996. Now, the city of Vallejo manages all granted all trust lands on or near Mare Island. Touro University leases space in Mare Island as well as other commercial and industrial businesses.

I just read that they do have guided tour of some of the historic spots in the island, which I will best avail of next time I visit.

Nothing is more exciting to me than discovering a new place, whether near or far, and the anticipation of a return visit, which we already have. This place is not only a short drive away from us and a lovely spot for taking leisurely walks, like we saw many locals do.

We got a bit hungry and stopped for a bite. Actually, we were more interested in the distillery tour of Savage and Cooke, but when we found out that the tour did not accept walk-ins, only online reservations, we decided to get a bite and a tasting flight.

From left to right: rye, bourbon, and American whiskey. I prefered the rye.

For bites, we had fried pickles (my first time) and their Southern fried chicken, which I find lacking in flavor, not their fault. I just preferred my fried chicken spicy.

I will be back here soon and will avail of the tour. My friends have voiced interest in coming, especially about the distillery tour. They, too, have not been to Mare Island and are quite excited to see what it's all about. I'll make a part 2 of this post. That's a promise.

By the way, Happy Veteran's Day to all the men and women of the military. My departed dad was in the Army and my nephew was in the Navy.