Heimblog

(Okay, definitely not caught up anymore!)

Two days ago I arrived in Pensacola in the evening, after having spent the morning in Montgomery. I was just a little bit too late to do anything… the sun was setting at 5pm and all the museums and entertainment options were shutting down. So I wandered around the beachy areas a bit.

That’s a nice-looking seafood restaurant on the edge of the little marina. But I don’t like seafood enough to bother, so after a bit of walking around and looking at things, I got some fast food and went to bed.

In the morning I discovered that the most popular museums were STILL closed, because they close on Mondays! I went with my third choice, the Naval Aviation Museum. I’m not big on planes or wars or stuff… I mean, sure I used to write submarine training software, but submarines are used to PREVENT wars amirite? Well anyway. I wasn’t expecting too much. The museum is on a naval base and I figured it was a modest collection of planes.

Actually, it’s a HUGE collection of planes, with very knowledgeable guides who clearly love what they do.

Just tons and tons of things to see, with lots of plaques and interactive displays. They also have a driving tour to see “the rest of the planes”, but I didn’t go on it.

The planes cover the gamut from WW1, to WW2, Vietnam-era, and modern. I’m sure that someone who actually likes planes would have enjoyed the place more, but I still had a pretty good time.

This little cubby area is actually nestled under a giant plane — the first plane to cross the Atlantic. Or the Pacific? Could have been any number of oceans. But it was the first.

This is a WW1-era plane that saw a lot of use. The plaque explains that it had a minor design flaw in that it used canola oil as an engine lubricant — which seems like a win to me — and that it spewed canola all over the pilot when in flight, which is probably the flaw part.

Upstairs they have a bunch of “aviation art”, which turns out to mean paintings of various quality levels, all of which have airplane themes. Some of the pieces are really quite good. It could use some thematic variety, though — more focus on the pilots instead of the planes, for instance.

All told I spent longer here than at the zoo, and I didn’t even catch any IMAX movies or take the bus tour. For a free museum it definitely rocks.

Then I headed off to Tallahassee, on my way home. But I stopped by Florida Caverns state park, and had to take the tour.