Making Memories: Let’s Go Fast!
The Blue Angels are the ace performance team of the Navy’s pilots. They call Pensacola home and Pensacola is proud to claim them. We got the insiders version of their Wednesday morning practice run. Come along for the fun!
Soaring with the Blue Angels
My friend lives about 10 minutes from the air base where the Blue Angels fly, but she never gets tired of watching them. When I told her we were coming, she immediately suggested we go. I was concerned she was tired of seeing them, because everyone who visits must want to go. I had the same situation living close to Hearst Castle, but whereas I got very tired of seeing the same thing over and over again, my friend relishes the opportunity to spend a morning with the Blue Angels and she knows all the tricks.
She got us there in time to get a front row seat. We perched on the edge of the runway and enjoyed the antics of the volunteers as they provided pre-show entertainment. They probably wouldn’t call it that, but they’re so excited about their angels and have so much good information that waiting for the show is no burden. We did take turns going to the souvenir shop and viewing the many planes on display around the air field, but nothing was as entertaining as the volunteer in our section as she shared with us what to expect and how to watch her angels.
Then the jets took off, but there is no describing the show. You are so close to the jets. They make such a roar. The pilots do such amazing things you’d think the jets were merely toys in the hands of a playful god, but these are human beings driving humongous vehicles through the sky and they seem to come within a hair’s breadth of one another time and time again. We were awestruck from beginning to end.
Naval Air Museum
As if we hadn’t been wowed enough, after the show my friend ushered us into Naval Air Museum. A year before we’d spent a whole day at The Museum of Flight and in some ways it was more spectacular, but in comparison, the Naval Air Museum is no less interesting. We wandered through the space awestruck, looking at the wide variety of airplanes and jets. I was particularly interested in some displays they had concerning the training Navy pilots undergo. It’s not a job for the light of heart.
As interesting as it was, we finally had to give in to our growling stomachs. We’d had a nice breakfast spread at my friend’s home, but sitting out in the sun, enduring the power and excitement of the show and then wandering around the museum had used up all our calories. We made our way to the nearest Mickey D’s where I got a milkshake I’d been craving for days. The others celebrated their lack of aversion to gluten and ate Big Macs. Ah, I remember Big Macs.
There was more sightseeing to come, but join us next week for our tour of Pensacola and the Flora-Bama!
jane sadek 