# An engineer's dream vacation - where would you go? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485 "2014-01-22T23:20:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/21 "2014-01-23T18:01:50Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > . . . They’ve still got Babbage’s [Difference Engine No.2](http://vimeo.com/15099329) at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, as far as I know, which I’ve seen in operation. Quite a sight. Not many computers I can think of with an integrated drip pan. The Babbage Difference Engine is demonstrated at 1:00 pm each day. I mention that because I dropped in at about 3:30 a few Fridays ago and missed it. On the up side, coming that late qualified us for half price tickets. Just to clarify, this is a copy of the engine that Babbage designed between 1847 and 1849. It was never built in his lifetime. The first engine was constructed by the Science Museum, London. The project took seventeen years and was completed in 1991. Babbage’s drawings also included an attached printer, which was constructed 2000 - 2002 by SML. The second copy of the engine, the one that’s now in Mountain View, was made at the same time as a requirement attached to the funding for the printer’s construction. I guess if you donate a few million to a museum, you can request these little perks. The second Babbage Engine was originally on loan temporarily to the Computer History Museum from the donor, Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO of Microsoft. That was in 2008. The loan has been extended. * * * The place I want to see is the new [Exploratorium](http://www.exploratorium.edu/) in San Francisco. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/22 "2014-01-23T19:05:11Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Backstage at Disney World. I used to work with the guy that is now the Chief Building inspector (that’s as close as I can think his title is, but it’s not a Gov job) For Disney World. I think that would be fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/23 "2014-01-23T19:11:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Similarly, I’ve heard that cruise ships offer behind-the-scenes tours. They might show the bridge and engine room, of course, but they might also show the kitchens and food storage areas. This might sound prosaic but the amount of food they have to store, prepare and serve is awesome. I’ve seen YouTube videos of such tours. There will be pallet after pallet of vegetables or steak, an assembly line to prepare the desserts and a whole area set up to break down and crush the cardboard packaging. It used to be free, but now they charge. I took a tour of the kitchen of a cruise ship a while ago - definitely interesting. Another one had a hallway which led to a window showing you the bridge - no tour though. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/24 "2014-01-23T19:14:21Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Backstage at Disney World. > > The engineering of the shows has to be incredible, and even more so, the logistics. Every single thing in the park has been placed where it is for a specific reason. A random planter is designed to split the traffic flow just so, the waiting area queues are designed to move people in the most efficient manner, etc. I was involved at an engineering conference held at the Disneyland Hotel, and our first year we had a presentation by one of the chief designers of the Disney water show. Very impressive. They had a class which involved a trip backstage but I couldn’t make that one. In San Francisco there is a free Cable Car Museum, which lets you see where all the cables come together, and has a very nice display of the history of the cable car. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/25 "2014-01-23T23:56:34Z")
Take the Backstage Tour at Disney World. The underground tunnels _alone…_ ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/26 "2014-01-24T00:15:52Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Just to clarify, this is a copy of the engine that Babbage designed between 1847 and 1849. It was never built in his lifetime. The first engine was constructed by the Science Museum, London. The project took seventeen years and was completed in 1991. True enough, and great info, though I have to note that, as they noted at the museum, it’s technically not a _“copy”_—since the “original” was never actually **built** , this is the second _production_ Babbage Difference Engine. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/27 "2014-01-24T01:48:19Z")
The [National Museum of Nuclear Science and History](http://www.nuclearmuseum.org) in Albuquerque is small but quite good. The [Titan Missile Museum](http://www.titanmissilemuseum.org)outside of Tucson is one-of-a-kind (literally). I really want to see the[U of A Mirror lab](http://mirrorlab.as.arizona.edu). ETA: [CERN](http://home.web.cern.ch) has to be on this list! ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/28 "2014-01-24T01:53:11Z")
And speaking of missiles, there’s also the [Minuteman Missile National Historic Site](http://www.nps.gov/mimi/index.htm). You can sign up for a tour of the control center. And I can also recommend the [Strategic Air and Space Museum](http://www.sasmuseum.com/) for a look at a wide variety of planes and combat aircraft (as well as astronomy-related exhibits). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/29 "2014-01-24T02:01:28Z")
> [@FeAudrey](#): > > The dream cruise vacation for geeks is a Panama Canal passage. There are plenty of ships to choose from; even mass market lines do this itinerary, positioning from Alaska to the Caribbean in the spring and fall. The transit day is essentially an inside tour. > [@suranyi](#): > > I was about to say that. I recently did the Panama Canal by cruise ship, and was one of the most fascinating experiences of my life. > [@Tully\_Mars](#): > > I did one last year - the Panama Canal. It lived up to every expectation. My office overlooks the Pacific entrance to the Canal. [This is pretty close to my view.](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l1lYs0TqU7w/T5hgT5UDAsI/AAAAAAAABUk/RC4-KwKJVfU/s1600/Panama%2BCity%2B686.JPG) I’d highly recommend a full or half transit, just to see the locks in operation from the inside. I’ve done a couple. It’s incredible to see what is basically nineteenth century technology still working so well. A couple years ago I had a chance to visit one of the [control houses](http://www.zuschlogin.com/content/blogimages/39/PAN031c.jpg), which was [also very cool.](http://media.lonelyplanet.com/lpi/3648/3648-16/681x454.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/30 "2014-01-24T02:12:52Z")
Of course, while you’re in San Francisco, take time to enjoy the Golden Gate Bridge itself, as well as the other bridges in the area. And speaking of things that go boom in the night and any other time of day, they’ve got a small missle park open to the public at the White Sands Test Range in New Mexico - including a sample of the casing used for Little Boy. And stop at the White Sands National Monument itself - nothing engineering about it, really, but pretty strange and awsome. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/31 "2014-01-24T02:31:53Z")
Yes to the Strategic Air and Space Museum, and while you’re in Nebraska, check out the [Edgerton Explorit Center](http://www.edgerton.org/). ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/32 "2014-01-24T03:26:32Z")
A few years ago I got to see the [Arecibo radio telescope](http://www.naic.edu/). It’s worth it if you find yourself in the Caribbean and don’t mind driving up into the mountains through ye olde rural Latin America where livestock hang out in the middle of the road. This is the telescope that sent the famous SETI “Arecibo message” and also appeared in the movies Contact and GoldenEye. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/33 "2014-01-24T03:32:08Z")
Forgot: [USS Midway, in San Diego.](http://www.midway.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/34 "2014-01-24T03:44:57Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > London. Specifically, Maritime Greenwich… > [Maritime Greenwich](http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/795) is an unique ensemble of buildings and landscape of exceptional artistic value, the work of a number of outstanding architects and designers. At the same time, it is of considerable scientific significance by virtue of the **contributions to astronomy and to navigation**. The public and private buildings and the Royal Park at Greenwich form an exceptional ensemble bearing witness to **human artistic and scientific endeavour** of the highest quality, to European architecture at an important stage of British design evolution, and to the creation of a landscape that integrates nature and culture in a harmonious whole. > Highlights: > > [ul] > [li]The Cutty Sark[/li][li]National Maritime Museum[/li][li]Royal Observatory[/li][li]The Prime Meridian[/li][li]Harrison (longitude) clocks[/li][/ul] I was born in Greenwich and yes it is definitely worth a visit. Also not too faraway are the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/35 "2014-01-24T05:44:37Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > I liked the Boeing tour, although I’ve also enjoyed some objectively quite boring industrial tours in my day. I just thought I’d add that at the same airport, there’s the [Flying Heritage](http://www.flyingheritage.com/) museum which is Paul Allen’s world-class collection of vintage fighter planes. It’s not as big as the MofF but there’s some seriously cool stuff there. I’m going to check out the flying heritage museum. Thanks. Just adding that I think all factories are pretty interesting. I’ve been in tons in China including BMW, Bosch, Siemens, Foxconn, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota, Compal, Sony, etc. There is some fascinating stuff in Japan from a wooden architectural perspective. China’s got a lot of architecture such as the Potala Palace, monasteries, river towns, forbidden palace, the grand canal, etc. ---
**Author:** ![compositejoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/compositejoe/32/7232_2.png) [@compositejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/compositejoe)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/36 "2014-01-24T08:51:45Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > How about a walking/climbing tour of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House? I was going to suggest something like that or maybe a trip to Tokyo. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/37 "2014-01-24T14:40:12Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > My office overlooks the Pacific entrance to the Canal. [This is pretty close to my view.](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l1lYs0TqU7w/T5hgT5UDAsI/AAAAAAAABUk/RC4-KwKJVfU/s1600/Panama%2BCity%2B686.JPG) > > I’d highly recommend a full or half transit, just to see the locks in operation from the inside. I’ve done a couple. It’s incredible to see what is basically nineteenth century technology still working so well. > > A couple years ago I had a chance to visit one of the [control houses](http://www.zuschlogin.com/content/blogimages/39/PAN031c.jpg), which was [also very cool.](http://media.lonelyplanet.com/lpi/3648/3648-16/681x454.jpg) [I should have waved as we passed.](http://www.flickr.com/photos/tully_mars/8490310917/in/set-72157632806065715) We did a partial transit. You’re right, it made quite an impression to be inside a lock while it was operating. Especially in a small boat. The other two lasting impressions were 1) seeing the expansion project and 2) sitting on the tour boat on the Pacific side, waiting our turn, and watching the “express ticket” ships go by, one-by-one. The amount to coordination it takes to make that happen amazed me. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/38 "2014-01-24T16:01:13Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > I was born in Greenwich and yes it is definitely worth a visit. Also not too faraway are the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum. I’d been to London before on business but the first time I had any time to myself I hopped on the tube and made a beeline to Greenwich. A person could spend days there exploring all the exhibits and museums. Another engineering/nautical attraction I discovered in London is the museum ship [HMS Belfast](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Belfast_%28C35%29). Unlike many museum ships I’ve toured, the Belfast is surprisingly “open” and one can explore all nine decks including the engine room and a rather spectacular machine shop. When I returned home, I immediately reread Alistair MacLean’s [HMS Ulysses](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ulysses_%28novel%29). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/39 "2014-01-24T16:25:52Z")
If I ever get back to the UK, and get to Scotland (which I haven’t visited yet), I want to see the [Falkirk Wheel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel). It’s a very cool device for lifting boat between two canals. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485/40 "2014-01-24T18:44:40Z")
I would take the underground tour of Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley. [http://www.nps.gov/deva/historyculture/underground-tour.htm](http://www.nps.gov/deva/historyculture/underground-tour.htm) Scotty’s Castle is a fascinating historic home with the best backstory ever. The underground tour includes both the original technologies used in the home which were very advanced for the time and the technologies in use today that help maintain the home. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-engineers-dream-vacation-where-would-you-go/679485.md?page=3)