Dolphin Cruise and Blue Angels all in one

Wednesday was the day we planned to visit the Chasin Fin Dolphin cruises. After a failed year last year, with a competitive Dolphin cruise, the Rollings were anxious to get back to the old reliable Chasin Fin Dolphin Cruises. Our first visit to Pensacola and Beachside II was highlighted by Chasin Fin. And this year it brought back a lot of memories from that first trip. We did the 9am trip and we weren't 10 minutes from the dock and we already spotted a group of Dolphins. Our deckhand Charlie made the trip very enjoyable. Fresh out of Fast Times at Ridgemount High, Charlie reminded me of Spicoli, accent included.

I'm not sure the others in our group were aware, but the middle of our trip would include the Wednesday practice session of the Blue Angels and I'll tell you what, I'm not sure we'll go back the to the Naval Air Museum for the show again. Charlie had everything planned. From the patriotic music to describing each maneuver, on cue, to having a two way radio tuned into the cockpits of the pilots aboard the Blue Angel planes. It was incredibly awesome. While passing the Naval base we also saw a new Destroyer that had just arrived from Mobile, AL for some final additions to the latest ship for the fleet. It's design is something out of James Bond movie. It has a new catamaran style and Charlie indicated that it has the capability of cruising at speeds of 55 MPH. It looks more like a tank than a boat.

After the Dolphin cruise we headed back to the condo for a much needed nap, followed by a trip to Fort Pickens. It is the largest of four forts built to defend Pensacola Bay and its navy yard. It has a great self guided tour and certainly the older I get, brings a new appreciation for the history in our country. Wouldn't it be great to have the ability to time travel back to see these places in their glory. We certainly have it way better than our elders. After our trip to the fort, Andrew wanted to fish off the pier at the fort. There were about 20 people their catching sheepshead fish, which apparently are better tasting than red snapper. They sure are big fish. Probably about 6 pounders on average. Andrew was skunked but I think he enjoyed himself. We even met another kid from Wisconsin trying his hand at fishing too.

Dinner was spent at Shaggy's after Andrews short fishing trip. We even sat at the same table (from last year) out on the deck that overlooks one of Pensacolas bays. Andrew and I split a dozen oysters on the half shell as an appetizer. Funny to see a 15 year old enjoy oysters as much as me. They are slimy you know. We also got a order of the fried pickles. And I had to remind Carsten again that the pickles were for everyone. We had great food from Shaggy's. Erika had commented about the voice of our waiter sounding like someone she knew from the tv show survivor. I made the mistake of asking him if he had been on the show. I told him Erika reminded him of some of the contestants that have been on the show. I don't think he took too kindly about that comment, because he was not very hospitable after that comment. He may have even spit in my food, who knows. I hope I made up for it by giving him a little more of a tip than I normally would have left. Oh well.

After dinner it was back to the condo to watch the original National Treasure movie and off too bed......

Back in the saddle again

After two days of dealing with an advertising virus on my computer, I'm going to attempt an update of the latest chapter in the RollMon family vacation.

Monday, the first official day at the beach was strictly a beach day. Lots of sunscreen and a few missed spots on the bodies. Between a badly burned leg and a missed spot on the face, everyone pretty much learned that its absolutely necessary to lube up as much as possible. The Rollings made it clear to the Harmons that their style of vacationing is to kick back and take things in stride. We were certainly hoping that the Harmons would join in with the kickback style. They certainly rolled with the flow and are very hospitable travelers. Mike and I spent the day trying to get thru they're work that needed to be done despite being on vacation and the spouses took it in stride. Thank You!! Dinner was spent at Red Fish Blue Fish. Was well worth the trip. Finally, I was rewarded for taking a picture of my food, before eating. It's been an ongoing roll of the eyes, by my family, every time I take a picture of my food before eating. RFBF has a contest that if you tweet a picture of your food, you could win a free t-shirt. Well, I was rewarded with a free t-shirt. Drawback was they didn't have my size. So Carsten benefited from that. The t-shirt is exclusive to those that tweet a picture of their food. It cannot be purchased anywhere. After dinner the family took a stroll on the boardwalk. All in all a great first day at the beach.

Tuesday brought us to the Naval Air Museum and the Blue Angel Air Show (practice). We decided to get an early start and arrived at the museum at 9am. The Blue Angel practice began at 11am so it left us with time to kill beforehand. The Naval Air Museum has another building named Hangar One that has more airplanes and helicopters. It even has a shuttle spacecraft from NASA. The Blue Angels started precisely at 11am with the traditional, drive by burn off, that filled the tarmac with smoke. For those that have not seen the Blue Angels "live", if you get a chance, take it. You won't be disappointed. They practice for about 45 minutes with lots of dips, turns and fast flybys. Very cool to see in person. After the Blue Angel show we made our way to Joe Patti restaurant. Another must when visiting Pensacola. We all had various seafood deep fried. What trip to Pensacola wouldn't be complete without a trip to the famous Joe Patti's Seafood market. We made are way after the great lunch to the market to purchase seafood for dinner. Joe Patti was in his usual position behind the counter calling out the number to be served. Always followed up by a thanks for coming to every person after calling their number. Joe must be in his eighties but still sharp as a tack. We decided on 3lbs of shrimp, for dinner, that I ended up seasoning and used skewers for grilling. After dinner everyone watch National Treasure:Book of Secrets. Preparation for our upcoming trip to Washington D.C.

Please check back tomorrow for a catch up on the activities from Wednesday and Thursday.....