Sand is Sand

 We did go to the National Museum of Naval Aviation on the Naval Air Base in Pensacola.  We got to see our favorite exhibits at the museum, and then the kids went to climb the lighthouse while Sweetie and I went to the forts.  We've seen the Blue Angels practice several times in the past few years, so this time, instead of trying to squeeze in with everyone else, the kids watched from near the lighthouse and we watched from Fort Barrancas.  You don't see the whole thing, but it's enough.

Soon it was time to get lunch, so the kids headed back to the condo.  Since we were in the area and had business to attend, Sweetie and i went to Ever'mans with our local friend.  Sweetie was impressed with how they had completely remodeled and changed the whole property, not just the building.

When we left after lunch to try to find the Wells Fargo Bank so we could get the signatures we need (there aren't any branches in Louisiana, and i hate that our mortgage is with a company that isn't local, but there's nothing we can do about it), there was a police barricade blocking us off.  Thank heaven for the local friend who was with us, and who has a GPS.  We got to come in from the back way, and got the signature we needed.

After that, Sweetie wanted to go see Pensacola Beach.  Yes, in all the years we've come down here, we've only seen the beach at Perdido Key, where we stay.  He was always told that Pensacola Beach is where the action is.  We drove all the way out there, and as far as i am concerned, it's over-commercialized, and the beach itself looks the same as Perdido:  sandy, with dune grass.  He didn't seem as impressed as he thought he'd be, either.  There are a couple of restaurants down there he may want to try someday, but other than that, it's a long drive to a more crowded beach, and that's about it.

The kids spent the rest of the day, after the lighthouse, swimming, bugging Grandma and Grandpa, and going to see a movie in the evening.  We ended the day with plans for Wednesday -- it's off to the zoo!



Today is

Audacity to Hope Day -- to encourage all to have the audacity to keep hope

Clean Air Day -- Canada

Emancipation Day -- Tonga (trad.)

Festival for Hercules Custos -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Hercules the Custodian)

Flag Day -- Estonia

Flag Day -- Finland (Armed Forces observe the birth anniversary of Carl Gustaf Mannerheim)

Hug Your Cat Day -- yet another date for this noted on many sites; if you celebrate all of them, your cat will be well hugged!

International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression -- UN

Jarila's Day -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (Festival of Jarila, god of the sun and fertility)

Lassie Day -- the first dog to play the role of Lassie, in the movie Lassie, Come Home, was born this day in 1940

National Cheese Day -- not to be confused with Cheese Lover's Day earlier in the year

National Cognac Day

National Frozen Yogurt Day -- not to be confused with the Frozen Yogurt Day celebrated on Feb. 6 in Los Angeles, where the temperatures make such a thing possible

National Running Day -- runningday.org

National Unity Day -- Hungary

Old Maid's Day -- supposedly established after WWII, when there were so many eligible young ladies who weren't getting any younger

Plynteria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival in Athens in honor of Athena; date approximate)

Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival -- Sedalia, MO, US (with a variety of free and paid venues, it's a good time for all; through Saturday)

Shavuot -- Judaism (Pentecost, began at sundown yesterday, through sundown tomorrow)

St. Petroc's Day (Patron of Cornwall and Wales, as well as many locations in Cornwall, Wales, and England, and Saint-Meen, France)

Tailor's Day -- the first Wednesday of June is noted on many sites as the day to thank your tailor

The National Tournament -- Spruce Meadows, Calgary, AB, Canada (features the Spruce Meadows Show Jumping Championship and the Nexen Cup, with live entertainment and activities daily; through Sunday)

Turtle Races -- Nisswa, MN, US (Wednesdays through August 10th, go race a turtle, it's only $4 to adopt a turtle for the race and get a participation racing button!)


Birthdays Today:

Evan Lysacek, 1985
Russell Brand, 1975
Angelina Jolie, 1975
Noah Wyle, 1971
James Callis, 1971
Scott Wolf, 1968
Cecilia Bartoli, 1966
Sam Harris, 1961
Eldra DeBarge, 1961
Keith David, 1956
Parker Stevenson, 1953
George Noory, 1950
Bettina Gregory, 1946
Michelle Phillips, 1944
Joyce Meyer, 1943
Freddy Fender, 1937
Bruce Dern, 1936
John Drew Barrymore, 1932
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 1928
Dennis Weaver, 1924
Robert Merrill, 1919
Rosalind Russell, 1907
George III, 1738
Aesop, BCE620 (not certain, but close enough)


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Born in the USA"(Album release), 1984
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan(Film), 1982
"Cavalcade of Stars"(TV), 1949


Today in History:

Chinese astronomers make the first recording of a solar eclipse, BC781
Sir Walter Raleigh establishes the first English colony on Roanoke Island, old Virginia (now North Carolina), 1584
Forces under the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan, 1615
New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada taken from the Acadians, 1760
A transit of Venus is followed five hours later by a total solar eclipse, the shortest such interval in history, 1769
The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon), 1783
Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain, 1792
The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus
to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title, 1878
Henry Ford test drives his first prototype automobile, the Ford Quadricycle, 1896
Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage, 1912
A patent for the ATM is granted to Donald Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain, 1973
The Tiananmen Square protests are violently ended in Beijing by the People's Liberation Army, 1989
Solidarity's victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, 1989
Falcon 9 Flight 1 was the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, 2010