~~~ A Fort with an Angel ~~~

I always love being in the Gulf Islands National Seashore area... There is so much to see & do here or nearby here.  Today we took our friends over to Pensacola to see Fort Pickens.  Fort Pickens has guarded the entrance of Florida's Pensacola Bay for more then 175 years and it is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore - a fascinating old fort from the Civil War era.

Fort Pickens is a historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and remained in use until 1947. Fort Pickens is included within the Gulf Islands National Seashore, and as such, is administered by the National Park Service.

We have been over to the Pensacola Navel Station several times to watch the Blue Angels practice.  There had recently been an accident and one of the Blue Angels, U.S. Marine Corps captain Jeff Kuss loss his life so I thought we would not get to see them this time.  What a wonderful surprise for us and our friends when they flew over the fort and continued to do there practice air show.


It was a great day and what a thrill for us to not only visit Fort Pickens again but to see the Blue Angels flying in the sky was the icing on the cake.  Cone to Pensacola and visit there is so much to see & do.  Visit the National Naval Aviation Museum and try to catch the Blue Angels practice show on the base.  Also Fort Pickens has a great campground for those of you who camp...

Until Later

Have FUN & Travel Safe

~ On Our Way to the Gulf Shores ~

Got up this morning and decided we could stay at our campground until noon since we have such a long road to ride today.  Actually it is a whooping 81 miles to Gulf Shores, Alabama where we'll be staying for the next 4 days.  Blackwater River State Park was a really nice park especially for families.  Click here for a complete review of the campground.

We finally pulled out at 12:30 and are on our way... the first thing we saw along the way was the Historic State Route 1 aka Old Spanish Trail...

U.S. Highway 90 - Old Spanish Trail - Historic State Route 1

This roadway parallels current U.S. 90 to the north from Milton east to at least Florida 87.  For the most part the road is in good shape for being almost 80 years old.  It is open for bikers and pedestrians.  Throughout the Florida panhandle, the Old Spanish Trail follows either U.S. Route 90 or local streets that used to be part of US 90, many of which are designated as State Road 10A. 

The Old Spanish Trail was an auto trail that once spanned the United States with a full 3,000 miles of roadway from ocean to ocean.  It crossed eight states and 67 counties along the southern border of the United States.  Work on the auto highway began in 1915 at a meeting held at the Battle House Hotel in Mobile, Alabama: and, by the 1920s, the trail linked St. Augustine, Florida to San Diego, California, with its center and headquarters in San Antonio, Texas.

We headed west on Interstate 10 and the weather was perfect - well HOT but no rain...  We came up to Pensacola, Florida and first thing we saw was the rest station with a full size F/A-18 Hornet Blue Angel Jet.  We've seen it many times and it never fails to get me excited.  Even the underpass has Blue Angel Jets on the pilings.  I love this area and we have stayed in many campgrounds in the area.  If you have not ever been to Pensacola you should put it on your bucket list - there is so much to see & do in this city.

We took exit 5 in Pensacola and proceeded on the back roads into Foley Alabama and then  onto Gulf Shores.  I adore the beaches of Florida and Alabama - I feel at peace when I am there.  Just look at the beauty ...

Finally checked into the campground, Gulf State Park and all set up for our 4 nights here. 

CiCi all snug in her site - View from our site - Our friends all set up in their site

Life is Good

Have Fun & Travel Safe

Angels in Flight

We have been to Pensacola many times and have always wanted to see the Blue Angels practice show. The Pensacola Naval Base is their home base and they are here a lot but we always seem to miss them. You can look up their show & practice schedule here.



The show is at 8:30 so we got up early and headed out because we wanted to get there early enough to get a good seat in the bleachers. You can also bring your lawn chairs if you want to. There are volunteers there that narrate the show and answer any questions you might have.



The show is about an hour long so be prepared ~ bring hats and a drink! We haven't seen the Blue Angels performed in about 10 years. The last time we saw them we were having lunch in the Seattle Space Needle and ended up having a birds eye view of the show! I will never forget that!



The Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola has a viewing area for visitors to watch the team practice. The team visits the museum to answer questions and sign autographs after Wednesday practices.



We really enjoyed our time at the show and if you're ever in the area go see them and don't forget to visit the Museum of Naval Aviation too!

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

✈Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum ✈

We visited the Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum , located inside the Pensacola Naval base, with my daughter, Son-in-Law and grandsons. What a great day we had looking at all the types of aircraft on display from Presidential helicopters to fighter jets to space mission history. If you're fortunate enough to be there on the days that the Blue Angels practice it is a GREAT show. Sadly they were not there the day that we visited. Check the Blue Angels site for details and days they practice.

This is our third visit to the is fabulous museum and we still enjoyed it as much as the first time. We wanted to take our family to the museum and them all the hundreds of aircraft on display. Our little grandsons really enjoyed looking at all the different planes and helicopters.




This museum has it all and will entertain and educate aviation enthusiasts, history buffs and even those interested in space exploration history. This isn't your typical museum with the exhibits behind velvet ropes. You can walk up to and around all the aircraft. There is also a recreation of "main street" during WWII showing a slice of how life may have been on the homefront. A recreation of an aircraft carrier and blimp.

There are even aircraft that are cut away so you can see the interiors. There are a couple of the simulators rides and also an IMAX theater. We really enjoyed the IMAX featuring the Blue Angels tremendously.





Also there is a bus tour that will take you out to the flight line. On this tour you'll see additional aircraft and also hear how they find them and rebuild them to the condition they are in the museum. You can view the guys working on the old planes.



All of this is absolutely free and the only extras are the IMAX theater and simulators. There is even a restaurant inside which is pretty good for a bite to eat. We enjoyed a sandwich. We spent the entire day here as there was so much to see & do.



There are enough hands-on things for younger kids that you may have to drag them out at the end of the day. Bring a camera because you will have the opportunity to get in cockpits of several aircraft. If this picture looks like a duplicate...you're not seeing doubles ~ it's the twins...lol lol

Hope you have enjoyed this ~ sorry it's so long but I took over 300 pictures so you can imagine my trouble choosing photos.

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!