Celebrate Memorial Day in San Diego With a Stay at the Sofia Hotel
Celebrate Memorial Day in San Diego With a Stay at the Sofia Hotel
Here’s inviting you to spend your Memorial Day weekend at one of Downtown San Diego’s most auspiciously situated and historically rich hotels, the Sofia, where you’ll have multiple great options for marking the holiday.
Here are some of the Memorial Day ceremonies and relevant destinations that’ll be within your easy reach during your holiday getaway to the Sofia Hotel!
Legacy Week at the USS Midway Museum
One of the dominant threads of San Diego’s Memorial Day celebrations is the USS Midway Museum’s Legacy Week, a series of events held on the venerable aircraft carrier that served longer than any other in the Navy and now hosts one of Southern California’s best-known museums.
Legacy Week commences on Saturday, May 26th with a Veterans Wreath Ceremony at 9 AM on the Midway flight deck. From that day through Memorial Day, you can add a photo and a message to the museum’s Remembrance Wall, paying tribute to those who’ve fallen in the line of duty.
On Sunday, May 27th, you’ll have the rare opportunity to hear stories directly from veteran pilots who’ll be stationed next to the aircraft they flew in active duty.
Legacy Week includes a number of Memorial Day concerts: the annual Freedom Benefit Concert on Saturday evening at 6 PM, which features Gin Blossoms and raises money for local military non-profits; two US Coast Guard Auxiliary Band Arizona shows on Memorial Day proper at 11 AM and 2 PM on the flight deck; and, the same day, a performance by the San Diego show choir Bonita Vista Music Machine at 12:30 PM.
May 28th also comes marked by a National Moment of Remembrance at 3 PM, followed by a special and heartfelt rendition of Echo Taps. Over on Navy Pier, the San Diego Blood Bank will be running a blood drive that day from 10 AM to 4 PM.
The Veterans Museum & Memorial Center at Balboa Park
Housed in the former chapel of the Naval Hospital on Inspiration Point, the Veterans Museum & Memorial Center in gorgeous Balboa Park serves as a wonderful place to visit on Memorial Day weekend. Its extensive array of exhibits and artwork focuses on servicemen and women of all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, with fascinating artifacts dating back as old as the Civil War.
Adjoining the museum is the San Diego Vietnam Peace memorial and the Veterans Memorial Garden, which includes a striking statue of a B-24 Liberator whose nose points toward the site where Consolidated Aircraft once built most of those hugely important bombers used during the Second World War.
While the Veterans Museum is normally only open Tuesday through Saturday, it will host a Healing Drum Circle at 5:30 PM on Memorial Day Monday.
Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial
The nearly 830-foot summit of Mount Soledad not only offers some of the best views in all of San Diego County, but also hosts a Veterans Memorial commemorating those who’ve served in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and World War II Merchant Marines. Backdropped by the gorgeous Pacific-coast panorama, the memorial includes thousands of granite plaques honoring veterans of conflicts going all the way back to the Revolutionary War.
The Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial’s annual Memorial Day ceremony this year includes the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to Ulysses S. Grant, general of the Union Army during the Civil War and 18th President of the United States. Brigadier General Jeffery Broadwater, commanding general of the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California, will deliver the keynote address.
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Make your Memorial Day reservations at the Sofia Hotel today, and honor the men and women who’ve served the country while enjoying the finest in San Diego hospitality!