Key West or Bust

[The Bruce]

Mid forties with about and hour of rain coming out of Biloxi. Windy all day with the high in the morning in Pensacola. Not too bad, really.

 

[achesley]

I always love roaming about air craft museums. NAS P'cola is one of my favorite and need to do another run there and Eglan again. Thanks for all the great pictures and sharing your trip with us.

 

[Marc B]

Great Job Bruce, Awesome pics and video, Get home safe, Marc.

 

[The Bruce]

I made it home safely Saturday about 4. I just road home from Baton Rouge without taking a single photo. I do have photos from the museum and some other stops on Friday that I'll upload and post this afternoon. It was a great trip with mileage total at 3220. I also need to get together all my receipts to file for the Iron Butt certificate. No rest for the weary.

 

[The Bruce]

Pensacola, FL National Museum of Naval Aviation

The museum opens at 0900 so I was in no hurry to get there in the morning. Even taking time to eat an omelet at the IHOP I pulled into the parking lot at quarter till and got a prime spot.

I checked in at the front desk to get the scoop. I had stashed most of my gear in the bags on the bike but was still wearing riding over-pants. I was told I could leave them at the counter if I wanted; nice since it was plenty warm inside the huge building. The free guided tour didn't start until 0930 so I had some time to kill in the lobby. Spinning high above was a replica of the first Curtis plane to launch and land on a ship at sea. The Wright Brothers declined the Navy's proposal that was taken on by Curtis Manufacturing. This is a full reproduction built by The Smithsonian.

There was a display in the lobby of the different classes of aircraft carriers so I looked up my Dad's ship, USS Leyte CV32 of the Essex class.

Also in the lobby and A4 Skyhawk and a Marine Cobra.

Our tour began with the early years of naval aviation and WWI. The navy wanted a flying boat so Curtis filled that order.

At the outbreak of WWI the Navy had no fighters that could compete so they used what the Brits had, the Sopwith Camel. This one actually flew from the catapult of the battleship USS Texas. Yes, it was rigged with pontoons for landing at sea. Note Snoopy on the stick.

Curtis eventually got up to speed with this model.

This was a model flown by The Great Waldo Pepper. The Jenny

I can't recall what model this was.

This one was designed for anti sub warfare. There were four built and this one made the first trans atlantic flight in 1919, way before Lindy. Of course it had a crew of 6-8 where Lindy did it solo. Curtis D4. Powered by 4 400 HP engines. It was restored by the Smithsonian and was loaned to this museum. The building was actually built around the plane so the loan is now kind of permanent.

After WWI the navy went with Grumman Manufacturing. The Grumman FF1, first carrier plan with retractable landing gear. This one was found is a scrap heap in South America by an American working as a crop duster. He bought it and shipped it home. He worked with Grumman to restore her and they realized this was the only one of the 29 planes built left in existence. They offered to purchase it but he refused wanting more than anyone wanted to pay. He finally agreed to donate it to the museum as long as his name would be displayed with the plane. His name was Schwinddler. He got his wish.

A really nice Ford Tri-motor that had been assigned to NAS Pensacola.

An atrium in the rear of the building has a cool Blue Angel display.

Then Pearl Harbor happened. The Navy fighter of the day was the Grumman Hellcat.

Going up against the Mitsubishi Zero.

The trainer of the era was the Texan. Most well known for it's portrayal of the Zero in movies such as Tora, Tora, Tora.

The P40 Warhawk. Flown by the Flying Tigers in China/Southeast Asia against the Japanese. The only Army plane flown by Navy aviators.

One of the displays was a full scale reproduction of an Essex class flight deck. Including a Dauntless and an Avenger.

They know the history of these planes from the military records attached to the chassis numbers. This Dauntless survived the Battle of Midway when it's pilot made an emergency landing on Midway with only one operating landing gear. The plane had over 200 holes from enemy ordinance. She was patched back together and continued to fight. Here are some of the riveted patches.

The Avenger

The Wildcat

Probably my personal favorite of WWII is the Corsair.

The above photo demonstrates how many aircraft the have in this building. Hard to get one isolated for a good photo.

Another example of the Hellcat.

Around the mezzanine level they had numerous displays showing life in the navy during WWII including aboard the carriers and on island bases for the marines.

Moving on past WWII, the last prop fighter and one of the least known and most capable of the fighters. The A1 Sky Raider. It could carry heavier payloads of more varying types of ordinance including nukes. Sky Raiders even logged several kills against the Mig15 during the Korean War.

From the mezzanine looking over the display floor.

Many of the early jet models including the Banshee and the Cougar. Unfortunately the flight line was closed the day I was there so I didn't get to see the many newer planes on display outside. The good news was that the museum is opening a new display hanger and many of the planes will be moved inside on more permanent display, so I have a reason to go back one day. I still had lots to do this day so I left around 1200 to get on down the road.

 

[The Bruce]

Fort Morgan and Mobile Bay

I made my way down the coast road toward Gulf Shores, Al. I wanted to catch the Mobile Bay Ferry and cross over to Dauphin Island. I like a boat ride when I get the chance. Along the way I stopped at a house we had rented with a group several years ago. The Wheel House. It had been badly damaged by Katrina but survived and is once again available to rent.

I got to the ferry about 5 minutes late and watched to boat pull away from shore. The next departure was an hour and a half so I had some time to kill. Next to the ferry landing is Fort Morgan. I had been before but with time to kill I didn't mind visiting again.

Time for a little history lesson. Fort Morgan is one of the coastal defense forts planned after the War of 1812. Since it was so isolated it was also designed for defense against a land attack and for the ability to withstand a siege. It was completed in 1834 and garrisoned for 7 years before being put in mothballs. It was seized by the Alabama Militia at the outbreak of the Civil War and fully garrisoned. August 5, 1864, Union forces ran the gap into Mobile Bay and landed six miles east of the fort and began a siege that lasted 2 weeks before the militia surrendered. The fort was inactive after the Civil War until the Spanish-American War when it was updated with hardened concrete gun emplacements. It served as a training base during WWI and staffed as a coastal battery during WWII.

The first bit of the fort you see is the glacis; a sloped grassy hill that hides the fort from approaching forces from a distance. That's the glacis of the fort behind the big gun.

You enter the fort through the postern. A tunnel that goes through the glacis.

Once through the postern you must cross the ditch, a dry moat that exposed any attackers to racking fire from gun ports in the inner wall and from cannon on top of the wall. The fort is in a five pointed star configuration to that there are no blind spots from protective fire. The pickup truck gives an idea of size.

Finally you enter through the fortified gate. Notice the firing ports in the wall to great any attackers.

Inside are the powder/munitions bunkers.

One side was under some renovation work.

At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war the concrete battery Duportail was constructed across the southern end of the fort.

This battery had two 12 inch breach loaded rifled guns that could fire a 1,080 lb shell 8 1/2 miles. The guns were mounted on disappearing carriages that lowered the guns behind the wall through a counterbalance mechanism once the gun was fired. Each gun took a crew of 84 to work the gun. Here is the remains of the mount below the wall.

Here you can see where the brick fort wall remained in front of the new battery.

The walls were bristling with gun mounts.

These originally held 32 pounders. The fort originally had 74 of these but by the time of the siege only 14 were still in use.

The yellow bouy in the center marks the resting place of the USS Tecumseh sunk during the battle of Mobile Bay. During the confusion caused by the Tecumseh hitting a submerged mine, called a torpedo at the time, Admiral Farragut gave his famous order, "**** the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"

 

[The Bruce]

Mobile Bay

I was done with the fort so I walked down to the shoreline and found these folks toiling away. One of the BP clean-up crews.

I had a nice conversation with the safety guy. I wanted to see how bad it was and asked him about what they were picking up. He pointed to the ground next to my foot and there was a tarball. Those three lines are my finger prints to give an idea of size.

This was the collection for the day at 2 pm.

Time to go catch the ferry. I was first in line and had to wait about 20 minutes for the boat to show. Gave me some time to get a drink and some snacks from the trunk.

Fairly windy out of the north.

I got a spot in the center on the port side, left that is.

Once we got underway I was shielded by the pilot house so it really wasn't too bad. A little bit of chop and some rolling but not bad. Watch the horizon compared to the rail on the boat for an idea of how it was out there.



Across the bay on Dauphin Island is Fort Gaines, a much smaller battery. You can barely make out a single gun on top of the masonry structure.

Once ashore I made my way through Bayou La Batre, didn't see any Gumps but saw quite a few boats. I stayed on HWY 90 into Biloxi, MS. I wanted to see how it was recovering. The big casinos were there in force along the waterfront but many of the majestic home that used to line the shore drive were gone. Where they used to be looked like parkland with trees and grass, nothing else. No trace of any houses. A shame really. It was getting dark so I went five miles north to IH10 with rain starting to fall. I rode through rain for about 45 minutes and two hours later I was in Baton Rouge where I stopped for the last night on the road.

It was a great trip overall. No real problems with the bike other than the radio back-light issue. Only a couple instances of rain. It was cold but my new electric jacket liner worked well and was worth every penny. I'm seriously considering the matching gloves as my hands did get pretty cool a couple times. I'm glad I got the Iron Butt done, I can cross that of the list and probably won't be tempted again. Thanks for all the good comments. Til next time.........

 

[Dail]

Re: A gale was blowing;

Brings back fond memories of my trip that direction back in 2008.

Ditto on the memories to Key West on a KLR

 

[RedPill]

Re: Pensacola, FL National Museum of Naval Aviation

. . .Then Pearl Harbor happened. The Navy fighter of the day was the Grumman Hellcat.

Actually, it was the Wildcat, and that's what this pic is. The easiest way to tell the two apart is the landing gear. The Wildcat's gear extended from the fuselage. The Hellcat's gear were from the wings, giving a much wider track.

The Avenger

That's a Hellcat

The Wildcat

That's a Bearcat

It's easy to get the pics mixed up. Great pics, and great ride report.

 

[humanrace]

I love this kind of ride report. They give me traveling ideas. I was in Key West in 1969. A marine on a navy base making $21.00 a week. Did a lot of snorkeling and not much else. I know I'm going back.

 

[achesley]

Thanks for all the pictures and write up on the Gulf Coast. I'm glad to see that the old forts survived the storms. WoW! NAS P'Cola has added some stuff. I didn't take time to go by last May. ;-(. Now, I see I want to get back there soon.

 

[The Bruce]

Re: Pensacola, FL National Museum of Naval Aviation

Actually, it was the Wildcat, and that's what this pic is. The easiest way to tell the two apart is the landing gear. The Wildcat's gear extended from the fuselage. The Hellcat's gear were from the wings, giving a much wider track.



That's a Hellcat



That's a Bearcat

It's easy to get the pics mixed up. Great pics, and great ride report.

I knew this was going to happen. I took zero notes and was going of top of my head. Thanks for the corrections. I blame Grumman, to many cats in the bag.

 

[The Bruce]

Thanks for all the pictures and write up on the Gulf Coast. I'm glad to see that the old forts survived the storms. WoW! NAS P'Cola has added some stuff. I didn't take time to go by last May. ;-(. Now, I see I want to get back there soon.

It's good that you waited since the new display hanger will be open very soon. Now I need to go to Wright-Patterson in Ohio. My disorder has not been cured, only treated for temporary relief.

 

[The Bruce]

Re: A gale was blowing;

Ditto on the memories to Key West on a KLR

Well done! I saw one KLR while down there. It had huge boxes bolted on the sides that stuck out at least 18 inches. The rider had on a leather jacket with a scarf wrapped around his head, no helmet. A strange sight indeed.

 

[RedPill]

Re: Pensacola, FL National Museum of Naval Aviation

I knew this was going to happen. I took zero notes and was going of top of my head. Thanks for the corrections. I blame Grumman, to many cats in the bag.

It doesn't detract at all from the awesome pics in this report. I need to get to Pensacola and to Wright-Patterson one of these days.

 

[BeemerlessBob]

Bruce,

I can imagine the amount of effort you invested in this trip report and I wanted to thank you. This was a great report and a great history lesson. I felt like I was there with my own personal tour guide. Thanks.

I’m planning to make the same trip in the next month or so and your report has me very excited and looking forward to the adventure.

Bruce, as you reflect on your trip would you mind highlighting some of the “must see” spots along the way and also some of those spots that you thought were a waste of time. The B&B’s you stayed in looked neat, especially the one in Key West. Would you recommend them and what were their names so I can look them up?

If you had to do it all over again, what would you change? Route, sites, destinations, etc.

 

[The Bruce]

For Bob,

How is your leg coming along?

I really liked the route that I took, both ways. Of course you may want to take a little more time heading down than I did. You can find some back roads through LA, MS, and AL that get you off IH10 and that's what I would do if not doing an Iron But ride. If you have time to go through Birmingham you have to see the Barber Motorsports Museum. A little out of the way but if you are going scenic you can plan on it. There are sections of IH10 in LA that will jar your bones in a repetative manner for a few miles, particularly west of Baton Rouge. The route down the middle of Florida was really quite nice. I didn't stop to see anything on the way down, as you know. Most of the things to see in Key West are in the old part of town near the harbor on the west end. Duval St. is where all the action is. If you want a quick tour of the island, the Conch Train is kinda neat. An open air ride around town they drive by all the main tourist spots and you can decide what you want to go back to see. Of course you will want to see the southernmost point, 90 miles from Cuba. Lots of restaurants but be prepared for high prices; it's an island so everything is shipped in and it's a tourist spot. 10 bucks for a cheeseburger so you get the idea of the premium.

The way home: If you come up the gulf coast the Sunshine Skyway coming into Tamp Bay is pretty cool. Then jog over to the coast and ride up to Clearwater Beach. It's slow going through the small villages but a nice ride rewarded with the beach area. Get out of town on the big highway and stay on it for a while as traffic on FL90 is horrible. The Gulf Coast Highway along the panhandle is real nice, highly recommended, basically US98 through Apilachicola, Panama City, Destin, Gulf Breeze and into Pensacola. Naval Aviation Museum . On a clear day you'll get lots of flyovers from the navy operations. It was cloudy when I was there; I could hear them but there was very little visibility. I would have stayed on 90 along the cost after Biloxi if it wasn't dark and raining. but the interstate is only a few miles away so if you need to get somewhere quick you can jog over and haul buns when needed.

Hope that helps. Let me know if there are more specific questions you have.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Bob, you could take your BMW over to the other coast and ride down from there. You could hit Daytona and have some fun in the sand on the beach. Then take off and head down the coast the lazy way through some of the small coastal towns, then cut inland and hit the interstate once you start hitting the big cities of the south.

CBAT, don't know if you've ever paid any attention or remember the history of the Sunshine Skyway, but I well remember it living in the area at the time. That particular deal was what ended my dad's time volunteering with the Red Cross. He had to do a few jobs that even with his time spent working in the E.R, really ruined it for him and he couldn't continue.

 

[The Bruce]

I don't know anything about the skyway. It was just a cool ride.

Bob, I forgot to mention, the place I stayed was Westwinds on Eaton St.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Here's a link to the wiki page for the bridge and goes directly to the 1980 tragic collapse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway#1980_bridge_disaster

 

[The Bruce]

Wow.1980 was a bad year there.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Yea, it was pretty bad. If you saw the fishing piers off to the left of the bridge the way you were going, those are parts of the old bridge. The old bridge was kind of freaky as it was very steep on either side and it had one of those grates on the top that disappears from view as you drive over it at highway speeds. It was not a good bridge for those who have bridge phobias. Then when the span fell in, you had to drive on the other span and for a long time you could look over and just see where the other bridge just stopped. It was chilling to say the least. The new bridge has a much more gradual slope and higher sides to help curb the feeling of how high you are.

 

[NitroRoo]

I used to fish all around the skyway, both by boat and on the pier. Thanks for the memories. I used to do the ride you did from Tierra Verde all the way up to Clearwater/Dunedin. Nice, relaxing riding.

 

[achesley]

On my trip down in May, I found the east coast of Florida very disappointing for the most part from Jacksonville to Miami. Most all private and stuff being grown along side of the roads so you can't see or get to the ocean but for small sections of the run down there. And el mucho traffic. . St Augustine was pretty neat and the Space Center is not to be missed.

 

[Bob Dahringer]

What a wonderful write up.
Makes me wanna go on a road trip.