Vacation Adventures

On non-rainy summer mornings, at the Pensacola Naval Air Base, the Blue Angels take to the air to practice their upcoming season's air show moves. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays they allow the general public to come watch them practice for free.

We try to always go on the Tuesday. My thinking is, if we plan something else on Tuesday, and Wednesday is rainy, we will miss out. If Tuesday gets rained out, we can always try again.

The day was hot and sunny and perfect for watching these amazing aerial stunts. They had the full compliment of 6 planes in the air, four in formation, the others weaving around them doing other moves.

My brother took his 9 year old daughter and 5 year old son for the first time. She was very thrilled, but A.J. was more interested in the plane that you could walk through. It is an old transport plane of some sort that is parked out there, and any time the Angels were out of sight, he would wander over and climb in. I followed him and missed some of the stunts, but I wanted my brother to enjoy it with my niece. A.J. and I saw every inch of the inside of that plane that they let you get to, more than once. There is one piece of equipment in there, to show how they used it to move such stuff, and we climbed all over that, too. He had a ball.

After the show, we spent a pleasant couple of hours in the welcome cool of the Naval Aviation Museum. Plane cockpits to climb in for the younger set, amazing displays for the grownups to ooh and aah over, and fun simulators for the ones in the middle. Lunch in the Cobi Cafe, and my brother even managed to snap a picture of the kids with a couple of the pilots.

The group separated after lunch. My brother took his kids, along with Little Girl and #2 Son, to take a tour of the haunted lighthouse. They came back with some crazy stories, and some rather strange footage. My brother had his video camera on the whole time they were climbing the 177 steps to the top. The camera worked great, except when he stuck the camera out of the windows. He could see trees, grass, sky, etc., and the sun was on the other side of the building, but the only thing the camera showed was an eerie fog. When he pulled it back in, it showed the inside of the lighthouse, then went to the next window, up several steps. Same result. He could see out, but the camera screen that you use to monitor what you are filming showed fog.

Meanwhile, Sweetie, Bigger Girl and I went to a flea market. We came back well flea-ed.


Today is

A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed Day

Farmer's Day, Korea

Flag Day, Denmark

Fly A Kite Day

Magna Carta Day, UK

Native American Citizenship Day

Nature Photography Day

Own Your Share of America Day

Rumor Sunday -- Fairy Calendar, usually held on a weekday

Separation Day, Delaware

Smile Power Day

St. Alice's Day

St. Orsisius' Day

St. Vitus' Day(patron of dancers, actors, comedians, epilepsy sufferers, oversleepers, lightning, wild animals, Sicily)

Valdemar's Day, Denmark


Anniversaries Today:

Arkansas becomes the 25th US State, 1836


Birthdays Today:

William Dean Martin, 1981
Neil Patrick Harris, 1973
Ice Cube, 1969
Lisa McCall, 1969
Dina Meyer, 1969
Courteney Cox, 1964
Helen Hunt, 1963
Jim Belushi, 1954
Waylon Jennings, 1937
Mario Cuomo, 1932
Erroll Garner, 1921
Muzaffer Tema, 1919
Bob Wian, 1914
Henry FitzRoy, illegitimate son of Henry VIII, 1519
Edward the Black Prince, 1330


Anniversaries Today:

Gustaf, Crown Prince of Sweden marries Princess Margaret of Connaught, 1905
King Hussein of Jordan marries Lisa Halaby (Queen Noor), 1978


Today in History:

The Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history, BC763
King John of England puts his seal to the Magna Carta, 1215
The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, 1667
Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity, 1752
Delaware votes to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania, 1776
Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, co-pilot of the first-ever manned flight (1783), and his companion, Pierre Romain, become the first-ever casualties of an air crash when their hot air balloon explodes during their attempt to cross the English Channel, 1785
Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber, 1844
The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 1846
Crown Prince Wilhelm becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II and is the last emperor of the German Empire, 1888
The most destructive tsunami in Japan's history kills more than 22,000 people, 1896
A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City's East River kills 1000, 1904
Tabulating Computing Recording Corporation (IBM) is incorporated, 1911
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America, making them the only American youth organization with a federal charter, 1916
A German expedition led by Karl Wien lost sixteen members in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat (9th highest mountain), the largest single day loss of life on an 8,000m peak, 1937
In the Saskatchewan general election, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government of North America, 1944
Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations, 1994
Near earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon, 2002