The beaches have sugar-white sands, composed of 99% quartz, and they "sing" when walked upon, by emitting a somewhat musical tone with each shuffled footstep. The beauty of this sand can be deadly. Each tiny bit of quartz magnifies and reflects the various wavelengths of sunlight. Careless tourists who spend a day at the beach without sunblock often spend the night at the emergency room with burns so severe they qualify as radiation poisoning.Seafood is pristinely fresh and widely available even as fast food, and at the hundreds of fine dining establishments frequented by tourists and locals alike.
History can be seen everywhere, from the enormous cannons dredged up from the bays from the wrecks of Spanish and French sailing ships, to the filigree wrought-iron balconies on downtown buildings, to historic Victorian and antebellum homes in the Old East Hill district. Giant oaks draped with Spanish moss completes the ambiance of a time gone by.Pensacola has always been a navy town. The Naval Air Station, Corry Field, and Saufley Field train all manner of sailors and Marines. Navy and Marine pilots have all rotated through "mainside," learning to fly in their orange and white trainers. One of the largest military aircraft museums in the world, The Museum of Naval Aviation, is open and free to the public aboard the Naval Air Station. Visitors are treated to an I-Max theater, and displays which include an entire aircraft carrier deck and static displays of famous aircraft, including a diamond formation of four A-4 Skyhawk jets in Blue Angel blue and gold, suspended from the atrium ceiling.
Being the home-port of the Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Team means that when they are home, residents are treated to the sights and sounds of the famous FA-18 jets. On Wednesday mornings you can set your clock by the first sounds of jet-wash overhead precisely at nine a.m. In our house, we have gotten in the habit of saying, "Good morning, angels!" It's our own Pensacola tradition. Twice a year, in summer and at Thanksgiving, the Angels do shows for the tourists and locals alike. The uber-popular summer beach show on Pensacola Beach, a barrier island just off Gulf Breeze, is amazing. Standing on the beach as an FA-18 streaks past so low that you feel the heat of its engines is a unique experience. Sitting on the flightline at the homecoming show as the expert pilots do "touch and go" passes gives one respect for these war machines and the dedicated young men who command them. Meeting the pilots and crew makes hearts swell with pride, and they are never to busy or tired to stay and chat or sign autographs.Tradition, history and pride comprise a way of life down here. I like that about the South.
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 12
Besides all the Navy stuff, Pensacola also figures prominently in the capture of the notorious Texas killer, John Wesley hardin.