Today we’ve finished school early and took a field trip to the Naval Aviation Museum. The exhibition is just across the bay from Fort Pickins, on the premises of the military complex. The base is so close, that every morning we hear the soldiers’ reveille and yet it takes about 40 minutes to get there by car. At the entrance to the Naval Air Station Pensacola, or the cradle of naval aviation, we are greeted by a cop asking for my driver license and whether we have any weapons. The entrance to the museum, the lighthouse and few other places in the base is free, but they need to know who are they letting in.
Even though we had about four hours to see the exposition, it was not enough. Even though it is smaller than the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum we have visited last year, it seems more interesting. There are things to touch and play with, not just boring exhibits. The kids mostly appreciated the loony tunes played in a 1940’s theater. We walked down a WWII american street, saw a few typical stores, examined food stamps and food items from that era. There is a lot of interesting stories about pilots and sailors. Walking aboard replica aircraft carrier, we were able to imagine life on the ocean with 2796 other crew members. Well, to a point at least…
