Last week we flew down to Huntsville, AL, to visit David and Daphne and my new niece, Willow! She is a super cute kid and loves to be the center of attention. I think she's going to be very talkative, too; she is quite chatty in her own baby language. It was fun to see them again since we hadn't seen Dave and Daphne since Thanksgiving a couple years ago when they came to our house. We rode in the dirtiest cab I've ever seen on our way to the car rental place and then drove to their apartment. They picked up fried chicken for us and Daphne ordered Dave wings with the "Executioner" hot sauce which made his face melt a little bit. Later, in the afternoon we drove the rest of the way down through Alabama to Pensacola Beach.
Leaving CR!
After we got out of the cab there was some nasty funk on our hands just from touching the door handles... on the INSIDE of the car. They seem to have the "fast" part figured out, but they could probably work on cleaning their cars once in a while.
Willow! She is going to be crawling any day now.
The next morning after arriving in Pensacola Beach we visited the National Naval Aviation Museum. If you don't care about planes, you'll want to skip ahead.
The sky above Cynthia looks unnaturally blue:
Inside the museum...
Planes from WWI and shortly after were constructed with wooden frames and canvas tightly stretched over the frame. You can see light through the wings:
This plane had sheetmetal for the body and was flown a few years before WWII:
The Ford Trimotor, a passenger plane from the 1920s. It looks super rickety with its corrugated metal shell and the gaps in the body that allow air and daylight through. The cables for the control surfaces are on the outside, which seems really sketchy.
This makes our crowded Delta flights seem not quite so bad:
Cool nose:
An early jet turbine engine cutaway:
Cold War-era aircraft with a Soviet MiG-15 suspended from the ceiling:
The Coast Guard still uses Bell Jet Rangers like this one to patrol the coastline several times a day:
The Blue Angels jets from the 1970s:
There was a guided trolley tour of the aircraft behind the museum led by a retired pilot who actually flew one of the Navy planes parked out there. There was a brief shower that passed through and it lent a dramatic effect to the photos:
For lunch we went to McGuire's with the million-dollar ceiling. The ceiling (and most of the walls) throughout the entire restaurant were covered with dollar bills:
The view from the balcony of our hotel room. It wasn't ocean-facing, but it was colorful at least:
We also took a 2-hour dolphin tour while we were down there. It was overcast and rained a little at the beginning of the trip. Typically, it rains at least once every 24-hour period - usually at night. The sun came out once we got out on the water.
This is one of the bridges connecting Gulf Breeze to Santa Rosa island:
Shark!
Nope, it's a dolphin. The difference is easy to spot because dolphins have curved dorsal fins and they swim in an up-down motion. They also have a horizontal rear fin that often flips up as they dive. Sharks have a very geometric-looking triangular dorsal fin and a vertical tail fin that both jut out of the water when they are hunting prey. They don't swim in an up-down pattern like dolphins, but instead they tend to move their tail fin from side to side.
The boat captain said that the tetris hotel is the best one to sneak into. Lots of free stuff to do there. Hmm...
There were a lot of people parasailing along the sound. We didn't try it this time... maybe on our next visit.
The dolphin cruise was a blast and we'll definitely go again the next time we're down there.
At Flounder's for lunch:
We spent most of our time in the water. It still blows my mind how crystal clear the water is along the Florida coastline in the gulf. Even when you are in neck-deep you can still see your feet.
The pure white quartz sand and endless dunes:
Sometimes when we first jumped into the water we'd catch an entire shoal of fish swimming by:
And when we went out onto the pier we could see several small sharks circling the pilings. Can you see 'em?
This pelican was very chill around people. He was watching the fisherman along the pier closely, hoping to catch an easy meal:
Peg Leg Pete's! Probably our favorite place to eat when we're down there:
Ft Pickens! The park has been gradually restoring the fort and there was more to explore this time.
The cannons could lob 30+ lb. explosive shells a distance of a mile around the time of the civil war.
There were a lot of creepy storerooms throughout the fort complex:
Despite the heat outside, the inside of the fort was cool and comfortable. This is another series of gun placements that looks eerie every time I see it:
The moisture has created interesting patterns and calcium deposits on the ceilings throughout:
Lots of archways:
This room also looked spooky. I think it was once an officer's quarters:
The view from the top of the fort:
This is the prison where Geronimo was kept in the 1800s:
The Pensacola lighthouse is visible just across the sound:
Most of the bars and restaurants are open-air. This was at Paradise Island:
The houses along the island are super cool, most of them are painted bright sherbet colors, but a few are really offbeat:
We drove from one end of the island to the other:
...and it looked like this most of the way. Development is limited to only a couple areas, the rest is protected land.
We stopped at Red Fish Blue Fish on our last day before going to the airport:
Goodbye, Pensacola Beach! We'll be back again soon...
