Spring Training 2019 - Day 16

We went to the National Naval Aviation Museum on the Pensacola Naval Air Station today.

The naval air station is the home of the Blue Angel Aerial Demonstration Team and a naval aviator flying training base.  It is the first naval aviation base, formed in 1914 as a sea plane base.  It is now a first class Navy base and arguably the mother ship of naval aviation.

The museum is world class.  It has every type of airplane and helicopter the Navy has ever flown on display.  There are over 150 historic aircraft  on display covering every era from the birth of naval aviation to the present day.  The exhibits are inside and outside covering 350,000 square feet of exhibit space on a 37 acre campus.  Included in the exhibits are life size dioramas , hands-on exhibits, different types of motion simulators, a Blue Angel motion experience and video presentations of different events and experiences related to naval aviation. There is also a very nice library and research center that also features special exhibits.  The current display was about the Flying Tigers, American volunteer pilots who fought in China prior to WW II.  There is also a giant screen theater where you can watch hour-long movies related to naval aviation and activities that were directly involved (e.g. WW II).  There is no way you can experience all of things there in one day but we gave it our best shot.

The museum is on the base but is open to the public.  You have to enter through a special gate (the west gate) and show some sort of identification.  You also have to show an ID to get into the main building.  Interestingly, the people checking ID.s to get into the building are young Navy ensigns waiting for their flying training class to start.  We were told they were "volunteers" for this duty. The docents at the museum appeared to be mostly old white guys, many appearing to be retired naval aviators who were waring their wings and airplane pins on their blazers. There were also some people walking around wearing their flight jackets (e.g. Tom Cruise in Top Gun).  There were also guided tours available and we even saw "Rosie the Riveter" walking around.

We had lunch at the café in the museum, the "Cubi Bar Café".  Cubi Point NAS in the Philippines, adjacent to Subic Bay, was the home for over 40 years to naval aviation units deploying in and out of the area.  A tradition started at some point that each aviation unit that passed through the base presented a plaque to the facility that was posted on the wall of the officers club as gestures of thanks and remembrance.  When the American bases in the Philippines were shut down in 1992 their were literally hundreds of these plaques covering the walls of the club.  The plaques were all returned to the US and stored as historic  memorabilia. When the Cubi Bar Café was established at the museum, it was designed and built to duplicate part of that famous club.  Today, many of those plaques adorn the walls of the café.  The plaques not only capture Naval Aviation history but also the artistry and creativeness of Philippine culture.  The custom also generated a local industry among Filipino woodcarvers whose imaginations and expertise brought the endeavor to the level of fine art.

You can not get on to the main base from the museum portion of the base without military IDs (active duty or retired).  We went out that way and on the way out, we made a short stop at a historic lighthouse on base.

We picked up a few groceries and got gas on the way back to the RV park.  It was a long day but well worth the visit.

We drive down the Florida Peninsula tomorrow to Crystal River, FL for the next stop on the trip.

Day 16 Pictures - National Naval Aviation Museum

Florida Spring Training 2018 - Day 14

We woke up this morning to a little fog in the RV park.  The plan today is head for the beach.

Pictures - RV Park

After breakfast, the fog began to lift and we headed toward Pensacola Beach, just south of downtown Pensacola and Pensacola Naval Air Station. a major league naval aviation training base and home base for the Blue Angels, the Navy's aerial demonstration team.  There is a lot to do around here but we decided to focus on the beach.

Pensacola Beach is actually on Santa Rosa Island, a barrier island along the gulf coast.  Part of the island is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore and other parts have been developed into a typical Gulf Coast barrier island complex of high rise condos, vacation homes, restaurants and associated beach activity businesses.

Our first stop was Fort Pickens at the west end of the island in the national seashore section of the island.  The fort is one of several civil war forts guarding the entrance to Pensacola Bay.  It was briefly occupied by the Confederates when the war started but was abandoned in 1862 then occupied by Union forces until the end of the war.  Like most barrier forts down here they were shut down in the early 1900's.  The fort has been partially restored and it appears further restorations are ongoing.  Also in the national seashore section of the island are excellent beaches all along both sides of the island, hiking/biking trails and a fairly large RV campground (electric and water hook ups).

Pictures - Ft. Pickens

After a tour of the fort, we had lunch at a busy beach bar/restaurant called Peg Leg Pete's.

Pictures - Peg Leg Pete's

After a great lunch we headed east on the island to another section of the national seashore to a nice beach for a short beach walk and getting our feet wet.

Pictures - Pensacola Beach

We then drove back to the RV for dinner.  We will head east to Tallahassee, FL tomorrow then south along the coast to Crystal River, FL for two nights, before the final leg to Oldsmar, FL, our spring training destination.