7/26/2023 0 Comments Caverns marianna fl clawfish![]() ![]() There's also an autographed picture from former Navy pilot George Herbert Walker Bush, though he has not sat in the odd assortment of bar stools and barber chairs that serve customers. Grinning men in flight suits and dress uniforms squat by military aircraft, smile down from cockpits or the decks of ships, and vow eternal allegiance to Trader Jon, a tiny man who is really Martin Weissman.Ī spry 83, Weissman says he was "traveling through and saw this beautiful city and I was paralyzed by it," so he bought a bar near the waterfront, on Palafox Place in the historic district, and reopened it as Trader Jon's in 1949.Īmong recent visitors pictured chatting with Trader are the past two secretaries of the Navy. John Glenn _ one of the original astronauts _ and Jake Varn _ who flew on a space shuttle mission. Beautifully detailed model planes, with wingspans of up to 5 feet, also hang from the ceiling Trader has more than 100 of them.Īutographed photos picture celebs from Oliver North to Sens. banners, the Union Jack, Maple Leaf, Confederate Stars and Bars, and a Norwegian flag ripple in the air conditioning. Pensacola is loaded with bars, restaurants and tawdry places catering to the military, but you can get all the flyboy flavor you need at Trader Jon's bar, dubbed "the original Naval Aviation Museum."Ī vision for the military buff, every wall and the ceiling of Trader's narrow tavern is covered with armed forces memorabilia. Of special note: a seven-story atrium in which hang four A-4 Skyhawks piloted by the Blue Angels precision flying team. You can sit in cockpit simulators, watch films on aircraft carrier and manned-space operations or just be mesmerized by the shining metal and hard edges. The craft detail manned flight from before World War I to the Skylab. ![]() The free museum has about 200 craft in its collection and displays about half of them at a time. Opened in 1970 and enlarged twice, the museum, on the air station grounds, boasts nearly 250,000 square feet of space but still seems cramped. Just this month the federal government halted regular weekend tours of the storied war veteran, which is to be decommissioned and probably moved late this year.įighter jets roar overhead so often that you stop noticing the noise _ until they scream by, a few hundred feet overhead, as you walk from your car into the National Museum of Naval Aviation. ![]() In Pensacola Bay, hard by the city's gentrified historic district, the mighty aircraft carrier Lexington dominates the view. Hardly a business, a home or a lamp post has not sprouted yellow ribbons, and the city motto seems to be Welcome Back/Job Well Done. The military presence is everywhere, on land, sea and in the air: Just a few miles from the Alabama border, the city is the site of the Pensacola Naval Air Station, the nation's largest. You can experience them all, plus historic buildings and a big dose of patriotism, in and around Pensacola. Formidable chunks of the Panhandle are occupied by military bases, forest preserves, beaches, state parks and wildlife refuges. ![]()
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