Subject: Postcard from Pensacola, Florida

Friday, April 30, 2010

It’s Friday morning and today we will visit the Naval Aviation Museum. The weather is now overcast with a prediction of rain. Though the museum is just a few blocks from the lodge, we drive over in the van just in case it rains later. Another nice thing about this museum as well at the one at Wright-Patterson is that they are Free!

Once inside I immediately start taking pictures with my new digital SLR. I purchased this camera for my trips to Europe and India later this year and since it arrived the day before we left for Pensacola I was anxious to try it out to see how well it worked. As I left I told Barb and Dennis I would meet them over by the “A4”. After I had gone Barb asked Dennis “what’s an A4?” and he didn’t have a clue. What the crap?! They come down here with me to this aviation museum and don’t know what an A4 is?!!! I just figured everyone knew that!!

I bet if I told that to John McCain he would know what an A4 was. In 1967, during Vietnam, he was sitting in one on the deck of the carrier USS Forestal all loaded up and ready to go when a misfired rocket from another plane sailed across the deck and set his plane off like a roman candle. Then all Hell broke loose on the Forestal. The museum has a 15 minute video chronicling the Forestal debacle. I didn’t realize they did that (video cameras) on the carriers but they did and that camera was already taping when the first explosion went off as you can see McCain’s plane burning.

The museum is about all things dealing with the U.S. Navy’s aviation history. While there we saw the only surviving plane from the “Battle of Midway” as well as the only remaining piece (a porthole) from the carrier USS Enterprise (CV6) which was sold for scrap in the 1950’s. The Enterprise was the most decorated ship from World War II and was Admiral Halsey’s flagship for the early part of the war.

For lunch we dined in the “Cubi Bar” which is part of the museum. It is the actual bar/restaurant from the naval base in the Philippines, being dismantled and shipped to Pensacola back in the 1990’s.

By late afternoon we were done with the museum and headed back to the Navy Lodge to rest before dinner. The museum was very interesting and a great place to come back to someday. Also, it was a good thing we took the van as it did begin to rain heavily during the afternoon.

That evening the rain had returned and it looked like a monsoon outside when we headed to dinner. We chose a restaurant which was right on a boat dock. Another popular place as the waiting line was again very long. Again, the food was great but they had to have all the windows closed because of the heavy rains. Too bad, because that would’ve added to the nautical theme of the place.