Every Mile a Memory: Pensacola and New Orleans

January 18, 2016

Arrived at Fort Pickens at around 1:00. After we set up camp we headed to downtown Pensacola. Walked around to see what has changed since we were stationed here 30 years ago. A lot!! Except for the closing of Trader Jon’s, I guess all for the better. We loved the new Veterans Memorial Park; a beautiful little park with memorials to our nation’s military history from the Revolutionary War to the present. A few things hadn’t changed: Rosie O’Grady’s is still there and so is McGuire’s…although it seemed a lot bigger. Tried to find our dollar on the wall from 30 years ago (LOL) but with a million dollars worth of $1 bills stapled to the wall that would be an impossible feat. After dinner we returned to Fort Pickens and enjoyed a fire in one of the best sites in the campground.

Fort Pickens, Gulf Shores N.P.

Our living room was very private and cozy.

New Veterans Memorial Park...very beautiful.

A Pensacola institution and our favorite neighborhood bar when Dave was stationed here and you can see why below...

Six drinks cost less than one of the entrees!

The end of a great day

January 19, 2016

Went to the base today to see what’s changed there. The BOQ where Dave lived for two years looked the same as did all of the buildings, but the old hangars (rec center) that were located along the water are gone. And the base is no longer an Officer Candidate School. We headed for the Naval Aviation Museum and took a couple of tours given by former pilots. One was of the inside of the museum and the other was on a trolley that takes you past the planes outside. After the museum we went to Fort Barrancas and was treated to a private tour from one of the volunteer rangers. It’s an awesome structure…ingeniously built and beautifully constructed.

Entrance to NAS Pensacola

Barracks where I lived while going through AOCS (Aviation Officer Candidate School)

BOQ (Bachelor Officer Quarters) where I lived once commissioned

Mustin Beach Officers Club

Naval Aviation Museum, I was winged here by my beautiful fiance Wendy in 1986

Twenty nine years later

My squadron patches, VAQ-33 and the (2) VQ-2 (FAIRECONRON Two)

ERA-3 Skywarrior (#75 center) The last whale to fly, flown by Ron Woltman to the museum July 2011.

January 20, 2016

Dave woke early to observe the five visible planets all at the same time in the sky and watch sunrise. He found Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, but Mercury was hiding in the morning haze on the eastern horizon. Later in the morning we walked some of the trails in the campground and ended up on the top of the WW I and II era Langdon Battery. Great views from the top. It was drizzling a little so it was hard to take pictures. After lunch the skies cleared up and we rode our bikes to the Fort. Explored the fort for a few hours and then headed back to the campground.

Our camping friends, Linda and Kit, arrived at Fort Pickens today. They treated us to some wonderful fresh swordfish and crawfish from Joe Patti’s. Delicious!!

Venus shortly before sunrise

Sunrise Fort Pickens

Battery Langdon

View of the Gulf from Battery Langdon

Great Bike and Hiking Trails to explore the Island and Forts

Fort Pickens built in 1834 to protect the port of Pensacola. The clouds were a prelude to the approaching cold front that would become the blizzard of 2016.

Thank you Kit and Linda for the delicious Crawfish from Joe Patti's

One way to shut Dave up!

January 22, 2016

Around 2:30 AM a line of thunderstorms passed over with very strong wind gusts and heavy downpours. We were under a tornado watch so we were both wide awake when it hit. (Place two emoticons with wide open eyes here.) Bounced us around a little but that is all. This is the storm which would become the super blizzard that dumped two plus feet on the Mid-Atlantic 24 hours later.

Todays a travel day. Moving from Pensacola to Waveland, Mississippi…finally leaving Florida! Now we’re making progress. It’s still very windy and very cold! We left Fort Pickens at noon and arrived at Buccaneer State Park at 4:30 (with a stop at Flying J to fill up on gas and propane). Dave had to hold on tight to the steering wheel with the wind gusts. Waveland, MS was ground zero for hurricane Katrina in 2005. Ten years later there are still many lots with only foundation and slab remnants to show how many lost everything. The storm surge water reached 6-12 miles inland from the beaches here. Another reminder Mother Nature does not mess around!

Site 124

January 23, 2016

Did some hiking around the campground this morning and then headed to New Orleans in the afternoon for some Mardi Gras fun. Parked in the French Market parking lot and grabbed a drink at The Corner bar then walked around listening to street musicians and watching parades go by. Also stopped in SoBou for a happy hour drink…didn’t like the inattentive bartender so left there and went to Napolean House for dinner. Had Muffuletas for dinner. The Muffuletta is the quintessential New Orleans sandwich and a Napoleon House signature that pays homage to the Italian immigrants who first opened grocery and deli stores along the riverfront of the French Market in New Orleans. Delicious!! Walked up to Decatur Street to watch the Krewe du Vieux parade. Krewe due Vieux is noted for wild satire, adult themes, and political comedy, as well as for showcasing some of the best brass and jazz bands in New Orleans. This year’s theme was XXX, double entendre as it is the 30^th year for the parade. This is a family friendly blog so we had to edit out most of the photos. Just know It was awesome Fun!