Thursday, December 15, 2016

We left New Orleans this morning, headed to Pensacola Beach. On the way, we stopped in Mobile where Mark and Dad visited the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, which has been home to the battleship since late 1964. It was commissioned in 1942 and served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during WWII. It was decommissioned in 1947, retired in 1962, and scheduled to be scrapped, when the citizens of Alabama raised funds for its preservation as a memorial to the men and women who served in WWII. The ship was awarded to the state, and the museum opened in January, 1965. Five years later, the submarine USS Drum was acquired by the museum.

In 1986, the ship was declared a National Historic Landmark.

Our next stop was at National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. This museum contains over 150 restored aircraft from the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard, displayed in two buildings and on the grounds. The museum is located at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, the oldest naval air station, and the home of the Blue Angels Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron. We spent two hours there, but may return tomorrow since we were able to see only a fraction of the planes and exhibits.

Ed trained in a similar gunner’s pod.

After a delicious dinner at McGuire’s Irish Pub in Pensacola (best Shepherd’s Pie I’ve ever eaten,) we arrived at our hotel ready to put our feet up.