History Lessons

On Tuesday we drove back into Florida to tour the National Naval Aviation Museum at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. This museum is the largest Naval Aviation museum in the world and its history is given to you by retired military volunteers, via free tours, that have been there and done it. They explained to us the heritage and the story of challenge, ingenuity and courage by those that flew these planes. We were impressed by the hands-on history of Naval Aviation and that we were able to view more than 150 beautifully restored aircraft and over 4,000 artifacts. The wars and conflicts our nation has be involved in, is detailed in this museum from the view point of those that flew, fought from and landed the aircraft. We came away with a new understanding and respect for these pilots.

Of course at some point we did need to eat, and were able to enjoy a delicious lunch at the authentic Cubi Bar Café, decorated with over 1,000 squadron and unit plaques reassembled from the historic Officers' Club at Cubi Point in the Philippines. This is not only a restaurant, but a Museum exhibit. The Cafe's décor and layout duplicates the bar area of the famous Cubi Point Officers' Club that was a major source of enjoyment for almost 40 years, for Navy and Marine Corps squadrons, ships and units as they passed into the Western Pacific.