Another Adventure Part 7

February 11

Beautiful sunshiny morning for a walk. Showering under the trees, well I could see the trees from inside the shower and it was pretty cool. After a nourishing breakfast, we biked down to the beach and then along the trail. Unfortunately the boardwalk had washed away so we could not go out over the marsh. Some really nice big oak trees and lots of trees covered with air moss. A really nice place to stay.

Back on the road we drove through Mississippi and through Alabama reaching Florida by around four. We stopped in at the visitor information and picked up many brochures for our stay in this state. Our plan is to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum tomorrow so we found the closest Walmart to park the RV and ate the remainder of our Pizza Hut pizza and wings that we had enjoyed at lunch and then we perused the pamphlets. After a while you just have to stop as it becomes information overload.

February 12

We made the short drive from Walmart to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola Florida, 12th on the list of the top 25 museums in the United States. Admission is FREE! Pretty sweet deal. We walked around the second floor taking in the exhibits while waiting for our 10:30 tour to begin with Col. Terry Bryan, who told us that he has flown over 65 planes and gone to space twice. (Terry Bryan, is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel). We spent the next two and and half hours following him around the museum while he shared with us information about almost every plane and the models of the aircraft carriers. He was so knowledgeable that is was a delight to be a part of his group. He is currently 74 years old and still climbing mountains. In one area we were actually standing on the boards from a real aircraft carrier. They had been cut thinner to fit in the museum and they were laid out to the width of the carrier from which they came. On the side of the flight deck was painted the number of "kills" (planes and boats) that this carrier had claimed while in service during the Second World War and the same man who had painted the markings on the carrier during the war was the same man who repainted the markings for the museum. Quite remarkable.

This museum is special in that you can reach up and touch the planes, they are not behind ropes and they have been meticulously restored both inside and out and they are the original planes and not copies (except for the 1912? one hanging at the entrance). After our tour with Col Terry we hopped on a tram for a tour of the 'graveyard' with Hank. We were lucky to see three fighter planes take off and several small jets. The one was very loud.

After our tram ride we grabbed a bite to eat inside the museum at the Cubi Bar Cafe. Inside the Cafe are memorabilia from an officers club from a closed Naval base. After lunch we checked out a few more planes that we had missed during our tour before saying goodbye to this place.

Here in Florida we are planning to take the scenic roads to hopefully see some new things. Our first detour off the 98 led us to Pensacola Beach and the other beaches that continue in the easterly direction. We stopped along the beach (in a park area where there were no homes) and went for a walk along the beach. Putting on a warmer jacket and my sandals, which I soon took off, we went walking. It felt good to feel the sand beneath my feet and the hear and feel the water. Not to my liking is the salt spray covered sunglasses that we needed to clean before we continued on.

We found a place to eat supper before finding a Walmart to spend the night. Oops, only we can't stay at this one and will have to drive back to a different one.