29 Dec 2018 - Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola Pelicans in Paradise, Crystal Ice House

29 Dec 2018
Rain has let up but is not gone.  One of the folks camping here walked by this morning and commented that we no longer live on a 'lake front property'! The pond out our front door has gone down, thankfully.  Later I will get the hose out and wash the junk off our concrete so it does not get tracked in the RV. 

The good news is the temps are up.  Lows in the 50's and highs in the 60's. 

This morning we headed out to the Naval Aviation Museum again.  This time we will tour the inside
since rain is still predicted for today. A few thoughts and observations: The older we grow, the more we appreciate history and the more we appreciate those who preserve history for generations to come. George Orwell said, “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”  Also, writer and philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it."  The second quote is the reason I am totally against tearing down and destroying monuments.  Sorry, I am digressing here. 

Back to the subject at hand - I am very, very thankful the US Navy has preserved their history and heritage in the form of this museum.  The artifacts, many are aircraft, are absolutely beautiful.  It takes funds to maintain museums like this, and they are proud to say they receive their support not from tax dollars but from donations to the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, Inc, a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational and fundraising organization.

A few days ago we entered the museum and watched the Blue Angels IMAX movie and then did the driving tour of the ramp.  Today we entered and made our way through the inside, which is divided into first and second floor areas and a separate building called 'Hangar Bay One'.

The museum is full of immaculate, old aircraft, each with it's own story.  There are also unique areas such as a POW exhibit, an Apollo space exhibit, women aviators exhibit, enlisted aviator exhibit, and the list goes on and on and on...  They even have a Cubi Bar Cafe which was a bar that was 'uprooted from a base at the Philippines' and transplanted into the museum, with all the artifacts that were in place in PI.  There was also an exhibit that highlighted the aviation training they did during World War II in Lake Michigan to practice carrier take-offs and landings.  And of course there is a focus on the Blue Angels aerial demonstration team.  Wow!!

I took a ton of pictures but will try to limit the number here. This is just a fraction of the aircraft and exhibits in the museum.

 The NAS Cubi Point Officer's Club bar and the plaques and memorabilia that decorated the walls. 

NAS Cubi Point Officer's Club bar, fully functional here!

Jenny

Snoopy's airplane, the Sopwith Camel!

The type of aircraft Amelia Earhart flew, the Electra

A tribute to the late President Georage H.W. Bush

Full motion simulators you can ride

Skylab exhibit

Mercury spacecraft

A look from the second floor 

Lighter Than Air vehicles

The optical landing system used on aircraft carriers

A large model of the USS Enterprise

The Raft.  A story involving enlisted aviators that were shot down and survived in a raft

 

The Blue Angels

P40-B Tomahawk

Presidential Helicopter, Marine One

Luner Rover

Lunar Landing Module

A-7D Corsair

POW exhibit

POW exhibit focusing on Vietnam

Women in Naval Aviation exhibit

George W. Bush's aircraft. TBM Avenger

Trainer aircraft recovered from Lake Michigam

Another aircraft from Lake Michigan

After the museum we stopped by the lighthouse again so Doreen could pick up a long sleeved shirt she saw there in the gift shop.

We then headed to the Pensacola Pelicans.  No, not their minor league base, although if it was the season and they were in town we would go to a game.  Similar to the Des Moines concrete pigs, the Pelicans in Paradise is a public art project started in 2004.  There have been 41 Pelicans since it started and they have been placed in various places in downtown Pensacola.  They are reinforced Fiberglas, brightly painted and sit on heavy 'perches'!  Each has a designer and sponsor.  Here are a few:

After visiting the pelicans we drove to the Crystal Ice House. This historic building is one of four original ice houses in Pensacola. It was built in 1932, before the days of refrigeration. Customers would drive or walk under the overhang and signal with a certain number of fingers how much ice they needed.  The building is white stucco mixed with mica so it glistens in the sun.  You can see from the picture it is locked behind a chain link fence and in need of  repairs.  It is nice that old and unique buildings like this are being preserved.  

 We headed back to the RV for a late lunch, the Iowa vs Bryant basketball game and some relaxing.  Tomorrow we will have lunch with Mike and Cheryl Horstman at Lulu's, owned by Lucy Buffett, the sister of Jimmy Buffett.