Naval Aviation Museum and more, February 10

If you like airplanes, the National Museum of Naval  Aviation is one museum that is a must see and it is FREE except for the IMAX movies. There are airplanes from every era and in every size and shape.  The museum is located at the Pensacola, Naval Air Station.  Docent led tours are available, but we chose to wander through the hangers on our own schedule and also take in one of the three IMAX movies.  There is also a trolley car tour which takes you out to the field.  All of the restoration work is performed on site. Some my favorite pictures are :

 The aircraft below specialized in detecting submarines.

Below are conflict ribbons flown from Coast Guard Ships for every conflict they participated in.

 The Pensacola Lighthouse was just around the corner from the aviation museum.

 Fort Barrancas is also located on base but is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.  Unfortunately we didn't get to see the inside because it closes early during the winter season.  It is the most finished and in the best shape of the forts in the area.

 This gives you an idea of where the various forts were located to protect the Pensacola Bay

On another day we did visit the Naval Live Oaks district visitor center for the Gulf Islands located in Gulf Breeze. Its a small section of the national seashore but is unique in that it is considered the first tree farm in the US.  It was developed for the purpose of supplying live oak timber for shipbuilding in the 1800's.  Live oak is renowned for resistance to disease, incredible density, and durable wood for ship building.  Below is a section of the park, but a lot of the live oaks are missing and only pine trees can be seen.

We have a few more days left to explore the beaches, but the weather is starting to turn cold.