Air and Space

On the trip over here, as we were being buffeted by the winds, we noticed that although the road appeared to be smooth, there was some bumping around in the back. Jim inspected the back tires while we were parked here for the week and found that the outer right back one was weather checked and appeared to be in poorer condition that the rest of the tires. We thought of just changing it with the brand new spare tire but found that no one could come out to change it until Monday (a job that Jim didn't want to take on unless he was in dire circumstances). Finally we decided to just get a new tire, but where? With an RV nothing is simple; most garages don't have high enough stalls for us. We called Sam's Club--no luck, but the fellow there gave us the name of a garage that could accommodate us. After Jim checked and found good references, we packed her up and took off for that north location with me following in the rental car. As I was driving behind Jim on the way up, I could see a decided wobble in the bad tire. Indeed, it was on its last legs and could easily have gone flat or blown out to make for a very uncomfortable experience. Feeling lucky to have dodged that disaster, we paid up for the new tire and proceeded with our day.

The Naval Air Station in Pensacola is the home base for the Blue Angels. It also is home to a historic lighthouse/museum and a magnificent Naval AviationMuseum. Those sites were in our sights for visiting on our last full day in this area.

For some reason, it seemed the thing to do to climb to the top of the lighthouse. After all, it only has 177 steps and didn't I make it up the 400 steps at Notre Dame? It had to be a piece of cake. Jim was game so up we went. Oh, I did have to leave my open-back shoes at the bottom. Those wrought iron steps are a little hard on the feet so it's lucky that I spent my childhood going barefoot on the farm and my feet are tough. You are in tight quarters at the top of the lighthouse, especially in the outside ring. I took photos and got back inside because it made my stomach jingle. Probably it is just as well that I didn't see the dire warning poster until we came down.

Then it was on to the Air and Space Museum. So many beautiful early planes and , of course, planes of warfare inhabit this huge and airy space. Planes that were large parts of history or played a tiny part in history are scattered and stacked from floor to high ceiling. We only explored the first building in the complex but that kept us occupied for some hours. The IMAX shows a history of flight movie with lots of footage of the Blue Angels in training and in performance, and I never pass up an IMAX. This museum is a must-see for anyone visiting Pensacola.

For dinner I checked my Yelp and found that there was a restaurant just over the bridge, about a mile away from us, with excellent reviews. Off we went. It was a little hard to find, hidden away on a backroad. We were early, about 5:00, and it looked like a very simple little place. Little did we know that it is an extremely popular spot, and reservations are the order of the day. It is also very small with no bar. Your choices for waiting are 1) in your car 2) on the outside deck which happened to be about 40 degrees and windy last night. Nevertheless, being South Dakotans, we thought we could tough that one out --we are in Florida, after all--and we froze our buns off for the half hour wait (the hostess brought our wine out to us so we couldn't leave). I thought the wait was worthwhile; Jim wasn't so sure. We were told that the chef trained under Wolfgang Puck, and the specials of the day (handwritten on a little piece of notebook paper) were the best bet. I bit on that one and had a most delicious fish--don't ask me what kind--while Jim had something on the regular menu including fried okra. Mixed reviews on that one. What this place lacks in a polished atmosphere, it makes up for in price. At any rate, we would highly recommend. . .that you have reservations before dining here!

We have decided to forgo our planned stay at the campground at Ft. Pickens and head a little further down the coast today. We have reservations for a state park on a sand bar at Port St. Joe. Apparently the temperature dropped below freezing last night here (our trusty little heater is going as I write) and we are sure hoping sometime to get into a little warmer weather. We are going to do our friends the Vollmers and Larsons a big favor and drive on down the peninsula; generally the cold moves with us and the warm weather should drop in here as soon as we move out.