nrc
11-19-19, 02:55 AM
We're home again. Did you miss us? Of course not, the interwebs are everywheres.
When Missy and I got married we moved down to Orlando, Florida for my first job helping AT&T launch their brand new semiconductor plant. It was 1984 and high tech manufacturing was America's future!
It didn't take us long to decide that we weren't Florida people so five years later we moved back to Columbus. We hadn't really been back for a visit since, other than some travel connections and trade events. So we decided this year we would go back.
Since we were going to drive, a big part of it for me was the opportunity to stop in Pensacola and finally visit the Naval Aviation Museum. I've been to the U.S. Air Force Museum many times and love it. But many of my favorite aircraft and much of my favorite history are with the Navy.
It didn't disappoint. While it's not nearly as large or polished as the Air Force Museum, I loved the fact that almost all of the planes are right out where you can walk around, see them from all angles, and even touch them. A lot of them look like they were just taken out of service. This compared to the Air Force Museum where many of their greatest planes are cordoned off and sometimes look a little too pristine.
The F6F Hellcat has always been my favorite fighter plane so it was a real Empire of the Sun "Cadillac of the skies!" moment to get such a close up look at all the details of the plane that I so meticulously glued together as a kid.
1013
The bonus was that we were there on a Blue Angels practice day. On scheduled dates through the summer the Blue Angels do practice shows and the public can get free access front and center. Unfortunately they didn't have the flight line open that week because they were prepping for their season ending air show, but we still got a great view of most of the show from the Naval Museum parking lot.
We were in Pensacola a couple of days and got a cheap rate on a very nice resort hotel since it's off season there now. The beaches were beautiful and I love catching a resort area at just the right time when everything is still open but the crowds have cleared out. :D
In Orlando we visited all our old haunts and discovered that yes, it was possible for traffic to get even worse than it was when we lived there. The least changed thing was actually our first apartment building. Still looked like a reasonably well kept but inexpensive complex. Strangely all our favorite old shops and restaurants are now occupied by strangers. But we did manage to find the successor to our favorite gaming shop to finally buy a copy of the latest edition Players Handbook (even though we haven't played in decades).
Meanwhile the brand new, high tech semiconductor manufacturing plant that we opened in 1985 is now a vacant field waiting on another office park to be built. High tech manufacturing is no longer America's future. We're a "service economy" and we're all going to make a living delivering each other food.
The only attraction we bothered to visit in Orlando was our favorite - Medieval Times. Still a reasonably priced night of good food and entertainment for D&D nerds young (then) and old (now).
From there it was Tampa for a couple of days for a dance event that Missy attends and then home. The only snag of the whole trip was hitting a winter storm on the way back into Ohio. I guess Ohio was welcoming us home. :D
When Missy and I got married we moved down to Orlando, Florida for my first job helping AT&T launch their brand new semiconductor plant. It was 1984 and high tech manufacturing was America's future!
It didn't take us long to decide that we weren't Florida people so five years later we moved back to Columbus. We hadn't really been back for a visit since, other than some travel connections and trade events. So we decided this year we would go back.
Since we were going to drive, a big part of it for me was the opportunity to stop in Pensacola and finally visit the Naval Aviation Museum. I've been to the U.S. Air Force Museum many times and love it. But many of my favorite aircraft and much of my favorite history are with the Navy.
It didn't disappoint. While it's not nearly as large or polished as the Air Force Museum, I loved the fact that almost all of the planes are right out where you can walk around, see them from all angles, and even touch them. A lot of them look like they were just taken out of service. This compared to the Air Force Museum where many of their greatest planes are cordoned off and sometimes look a little too pristine.
The F6F Hellcat has always been my favorite fighter plane so it was a real Empire of the Sun "Cadillac of the skies!" moment to get such a close up look at all the details of the plane that I so meticulously glued together as a kid.
1013
The bonus was that we were there on a Blue Angels practice day. On scheduled dates through the summer the Blue Angels do practice shows and the public can get free access front and center. Unfortunately they didn't have the flight line open that week because they were prepping for their season ending air show, but we still got a great view of most of the show from the Naval Museum parking lot.
We were in Pensacola a couple of days and got a cheap rate on a very nice resort hotel since it's off season there now. The beaches were beautiful and I love catching a resort area at just the right time when everything is still open but the crowds have cleared out. :D
In Orlando we visited all our old haunts and discovered that yes, it was possible for traffic to get even worse than it was when we lived there. The least changed thing was actually our first apartment building. Still looked like a reasonably well kept but inexpensive complex. Strangely all our favorite old shops and restaurants are now occupied by strangers. But we did manage to find the successor to our favorite gaming shop to finally buy a copy of the latest edition Players Handbook (even though we haven't played in decades).
Meanwhile the brand new, high tech semiconductor manufacturing plant that we opened in 1985 is now a vacant field waiting on another office park to be built. High tech manufacturing is no longer America's future. We're a "service economy" and we're all going to make a living delivering each other food.
The only attraction we bothered to visit in Orlando was our favorite - Medieval Times. Still a reasonably priced night of good food and entertainment for D&D nerds young (then) and old (now).
From there it was Tampa for a couple of days for a dance event that Missy attends and then home. The only snag of the whole trip was hitting a winter storm on the way back into Ohio. I guess Ohio was welcoming us home. :D