Blue Angels 75th Anniversary Homecoming
More images available in my air show Gallery on my Jlouphotography website.
A month ago I had the privilege of spending time with two of my precious grandsons that I seldom get to see. Their mom invited me to join them for a weekend stay at Navarre Beach to catch the Blue Angels 75th Anniversary homecoming airshow on November 6, 2021. We had a wonderful time.
It was just a short drive from Navarre to Pensacola Beach and we avoided most of the traffic that way. Parking is always a nightmare at these events and unless you get there before the crack of dawn you will not find public parking available near the beach location of the show. We lucked up, if you can call it that, and found a beach house owner renting a couple of spaces in his yard for the sum of $35. That was a shocking price until we learned that the guys next door were asking $75.
After a short walk, we arrived at the beach just as the show was starting and found an ideal spot front and center at the water’s edge, a perfect spot for taking pictures. The first couple of hours were filled with demonstrations from various stunt pilots and jet performances from other branches of the military. My grandsons had a marvelous time playing in the sand between demonstrations and I enjoyed meeting people from all over the country. I also got to know my DIL’s mother better since she came down from Albertville with them. She is a very talented and creative lady, so we had a lot to talk about other than just how brilliant our mutual grandsons were.
I have to admit that I am hooked on airshows now and expect I will definitely find time to visit Pensacola Beach more often. It is my understanding that if you go to the Naval Air Museum after one of their major practices, the pilots are often available to sign autographs. Unfortunately, at this time you cannot get onto the station without a navy escort.
