Blue Angels Air Show

Blue Angels Air Show Practices

The world-famous Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron is based at the Pensacola Naval Air Station adjacent to the National Naval Aviation Museum. While the Blue Angels perform air shows all across the country their practice sessions for these shows occur most Tuesday and Wednesday mornings (March to November) at the Naval Air Station and the public can watch these practices at the Museum Flight Line north of the Museum. Admission is free.

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Fat Albert, the C130 Hercules Transport, provides transport of support crew and materials for the Blue Angels shows.
Fat Albert, the C130 Hercules Transport, provides transport of support crew and materials for the Blue Angels shows.
The Mitchell B-25 fighter-bomber was my favorite WWII aircraft when I was a kid.
The Mitchell B-25 fighter-bomber was my favorite WWII aircraft when I was a kid.

We caught one of these practice sessions in March. It was a great show. I wish that we had arrived early enough to get a seat in the bleachers (room for 1000) as they had the best views of the action plus could better hear the announcer who provided “background color” for the demonstrations. Practices typically begin at 11:30 a.m.(Central Time), and last about 55 minutes. But if you’d like to catch one of those bleacher seats, consider arriving at least an hour earlier.

Backpacks are not allowed, nor are daypacks or luggage items. Small purses, small bags for medication or diaper bags are allowed, however they are subject to search at the entrance. Visitors over the age of 16 also need some identification. If you aren’t in the bleachers you can bring your own folding chairs or can rent one for $3 at the concession area. Concessions also offer bottled water, sport drinks, light food/treats and souvenir merchandise. I don’t recall seeing any porta-potties in the exhibition area so take care of your “bathroom needs” before you arrive.

One surprise bonus of attending the Blue Angels practice was seeing a number of other vintage aircraft located on the Flight Line field.

The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet flown by the Blue Angels has served them since 1987. It is a naval strike fighter introduced in the mid-1980s. “Equally at home in air-to-air or air-to-ground missions, the aircraft is highly maneuverable and instrumented to optimize single pilot control of numerous weapons systems.” Although the F/A-18 can reach speeds of 1400 mph, the fastest speed flown during an air show is about 700 mph and the slowest is about 120 mph.

Attending the Air Show practice is neat experience, one I’d recommend to any visitor to Pensacola. On our next visit, I’ll plan to arrive early in the hope of getting a bleacher seat. If I do get one I can take some better pictures and video than I have here.
 



 
Video from the Air Show Practice

Links:

Our article with photos and links on the National Naval Air Museum

Information on the Blue Angels Practice Sessions

Our article with photos and links on visiting Pensacola

Our article with photos and links on visiting Pensacola Beach

Our series of articles on the Gulf Scenic Drive

Ross
January 2017

Best Pensacola Beach Restaurants

Peg Leg Pete's Oyster Bar Pensacola Beach

According to Trip Advisor, the Grand Marlin is the number 1 rated restaurant in Pensacola Beach. But as it is also listed as the most expensive restaurant in Pensacola Beach we’ve not dined there. But considering its good rating, perhaps we ought to find out “how expensive” it is! 🙂

But we have had a chance to sample some of the Beach’s other top rated restaurants.

Our Reviews of Best Restaurants in Pensacola Beach

Below are reviews of:

  • Flounder’s Chowder House
  • Red Fish-Blue Fish Restaurant
  • Native Cafe.

Review – Flounders Chowder House

Flounders is a beach front casual, seafood dining and entertainment emporium that has been in Pensacola Beach since 1979. It is full of nautical paraphernalia, antiques, and fanciful creations. A former world record 980 lb Blue Marlin hangs from the ceiling of the Marlin Bar. Adjacent to the street-side entrance is the 55 foot former shrimp boat, the M/V Flounder named after its owner Captain Frank Flounder. Frank’s three sons opened Flounders Chowder House after serving their tours shrimping.

Diners have a choice of seating: an open-air outdoor deck adjacent to their beach, a covered outdoor deck, and inside seating. There’s also a separate, cafeteria style Sushi Bar. The stand-up Tiki Bar is out on beach and the more spacious Marlin Bar is in the open-air covered area.

The sand beach fronts on Pensacola Bay and includes a long pier with boat docking facilities for guests arriving by water. The large beach area also hosts a volleyball court and a kids playground area within view of the restaurant so Mom and Dad can keep an eye on the kids while they dine. The entertainment stage looks out over the the deck, but no one was performing the day we were there. But Jamaican music played in the background on their PA system.

flounders bar and grill
The former Flounder’s Shrimp Boat welcomes visitors to the restaurant.
Beach Volleyball at Pensacola Beach
Beach volleyball in front of Flounders Chowder House
Founders Restaurant Pensacola Beach
Dining on the deck at Flounders Chowder House.

Rating Flounders Food & Service

I had the Grilled Mahi Taco Salad and Jo chose her favorite burger basket, a Mushroom & Swiss Burger w fries. The food portion size was large and the quality good, but not outstanding. We’ll give it Four stars. The wait service was prompt and friendly. A fun, family friendly, entertaining place to spend an afternoon or evening. Next time I’ll have to try their signature Floyd Flounder’s Phenomenal Chowder, a past winner of the Great Florida Chowder Cook-off.


Red Fish, Blue Fish Restaurant

Red Fish Blue Fish is another funky beach front dining and entertainment also located on the Pensacola Bay side of the island. Like Flounders it has an extensive white sand swimming and lounging beach, in fact maybe a little larger than Flounders. As with Flounders you can be in the open-air patio, the covered deck, or inside away from all the elements. There’s no volleyball court but there are corn-hole game sets on the patio and on the beach.

The day we were there a country-pop trio was performing on the outdoor stage. They had a Simon & Garfunkel style of close harmony and a wild electric fiddle that I loved. It was an idyllic afternoon, good food, good music, sun, beach, ocean breezes, and a very tasty Bloody Mary.

Our lunch was Grilled & Blackened Mahi on a bed of steamed asparagas, rice & spinach. Excellently prepared and decent wait service. We’ve had and enjoyed Grilled Mahi at other Gulf Coast eateries and the dish served up by Red Fish Blue Fish didn’t disappoint us.

Red Fish Blue Fish Pensacola Restaurant
Relax on this funky bench outside the entrance to Red Fish Blue Fish
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The Patio of Red Fish Blue Fish Restaurant in Pensacola Beach is where everyone wants to be.
Red Fish Blue Fish Seafood Grill
Some great tunes out on the Patio of Red Fish Blue Fish

Native Café

Also a bit away from the hustle and crowds is the best breakfast spot in Pensacola Beach (also serves lunch until 3pm). Nestled in a plain jane strip mall east of Pensacola Beach’s entertainment center, Native Café is easy to miss unless you know about their reputation. We found out about them on Trip Advisor where they are rated the #2 Restaurant in Pensacola Beach behind the Grand Marlin, which is the top rated place to eat in the Beach – but is also the most expensive.

Their artsy marquee was matched with a funky, artsy and intimate interior. Some light jazz played in the background adding to the unique café atmosphere.

Native Café is family run, operated by fifth generation Pensacolians, Joyce and Charles Brown and their children, Josef Wiggins, Jesse Brown and Arin Brown. Their commitment to good food, a fun atmosphere and good service has people like us going to an effort to find them.

Native Cafe Pensacola Beach
Native Cafe’s South Western Motif
Native Cafe Fish Sandwiches
Delicious Mahi-Mahi Tacos in the foreground, Mahi-Mahi PoBoy background.

Rating the Native Cafe

We were there for a late lunch. Jo had their signature PoBoy Mahi-Mahi sandwich basket that included a side of fresh veggies. I had their famous Florida Fish Tacos, which contains sautéed Mahi which chopped cabbage, tomato, and bell peppers and 2 kinds of sauce. Excellent taste, large portions left us stuffed. Great food coupled with fast, friendly service stands up to their #2 rating. Love the artsy coffee shop atmosphere and their choice of music. 5 stars. We look forward to returning the next time we are in Pensacola Beach.


Other Top Rated Pensacola Beach Restaurants.

Peg Leg Petes Pensacola Beach (pictured at the top of the page)
Bustling, pirate-themed seafood restaurant featuring a children’s play area & raw bar

We’ve driven by Peg Leg Pete’s several times on the way to and from Fort Pickens. The parking lot was always full so we never stopped as we figured there would be a long wait for a table. They get good reviews on Google and Trip Advisor so one of these days we have to give them a try. (We finally did in 2020 – see our review)

Grand Marlin
The Grand Marlin is at the tip of peninsula that juts out into Santa Rosa Sound with a terrific panoramic view of the cove between the island and the Gulf Breeze peninsula. Highly rated by Trip Advisor for the quality of their food and service. But warning you also pay top dollar for that four star rating. With extensive docking facilities it is a popular dining and entertainment spot for boaters. One of these days we’ll dig into the Piggy Bank and stop there for dinner or lunch.

The Pensacola News Journal recently posted some announcements of new Pensacola Beach Restaurants recently opened that included The Drift Casino Beach Bar & Grille.

Pensacola Beach Links

shotgun house
Pensacola’s historic district is loaded with beautifully restored homes from the 1800s.

Pensacola Visitor Links

See More Florida Gulf Coast Restuarant Reviews

What are your favorite Pensacola Beach Restaurants & Bars? Let us know in the comments below.

Your Gulf Coast Travel Guide, Ross Reinhold

Pensacola Beach Florida

Pensacola Beach by Red Fish Blue Fish Restaurant

Visitor Attractions Pensacola Beach on Santa Rosa Island Pensacola Beach is a beach community located near the western end of  Santa Rosa Island, a thirty mile long, narrow barrier island strip of dunes and grass lands that protects Pensacola Florida from the hurricanes and storms that roll across the Gulf of Mexico. To the east … Read more

Wisconsin Lake Superior Ice Caves

The Bayfield Ice Caves

Touring the ice sculptures of the Bayfield Lake Superior Ice Caves was easily the most popular 2014 & 2015 winter event around Lake Superior. In 2016 and since that time, the Lake Superior Ice was not safe enough to allow travel to the Ice Caves and Formations.

But the winter Lake Superior Region Weather Forecast provides hope that travel to the Sea Cave formations will be possible, perhaps as early as Feb 1.

Bayfield Ice Caves
Ty Daniels tool this shot in 2014 from the inside of one of the ice caves
Bayfield Lake Superior Ice Caves
Jo in front of one of the many ice cave sculptures done by Mother Nature

In 2014, For the first time in 5 years the ice on Lake Superior around the Bayfield Peninsula and the Apostle Islands was thick enough for people to safely hike out to the unique ice sculptures that form in the caves formed in lake shore bluffs the Apostle Islands National Park mainland. See some photos and directions to the Ice Caves from our last visit – Wisconsin Lake Superior Ice Caves.

Tips on Visiting the Ice Caves

If you go up to Bayfield to see this display of Mother Nature sculptures, here’s a few tips for you.

While at times snowshoes would be helpful to travel to the caves, it is likely when you go thousands of people have already trekked out across the ice and snow to the see the caves. So expect the trail to be quite tamped down. (However if it snows heavily just before you go, this may change.) So if you have ice cleats that clamp on your boots, bring them along. Or wear whatever boots you have that will give you decent traction on ice or snow. If you’ve got some ski poles or hiking sticks, bring them.

Also pack a beverage and some energy or granola bars. I figure the hike across the ice to the caves is about a mile and the hike along the caves could be almost a mile. So figure at least four miles round trip and extra time to explore the caves means you’ll be out there a few hours. And this amount of time also means a bathroom break prior to your trek wouldn’t hurt either (Because of the high bluffs the caves are formed in, you can’t sneak off into the woods for a pottie stop!).

Directions to the Ice Caves

The Ice Caves are accessed from the Meyers Beach unit of the Apostle Islands National Park. The road to the beach is off Highway 13 four miles east of Cornucopia, Wisconsin or 17 miles Northwest of Bayfield, Wisconsin. There are places to eat and get grocery items at both locations. Here is a link to our  Lake Superior Region Snow & Weather Reports page for information on traveling.

Lodging. You’ll want to Google for motel accommodations in Bayfield, Washburn, and Ashland as your best bets for finding a place to stay. If all what is available is booked, it is feasible to get lodging in Superior, Wisconsin as via Hwy 13 it is about 60 miles to the Ice Caves from Superior. There are spots between Ashland and Superior that are closer – like Iron River and Brule – but my guess is if Ashland – Bayfield motels are filled for your desired dates, these would be filled as well. Make your reservations as early as you can.

We hope to see the caves again this year. Maybe we’ll see you there.

More Ice Cave Photos and Directions on Visiting the Ice Caves

Ross