By far the best darn museum to date

America is FULL of museums – From the large Smithsonian’s of Washington, DC

…to the imitate museums like the Presidential Library in Odessa, TX  

…and, then there’s the unusual like the UFO Museum in Roswell, NM. 

But, have you ever thought what makes a museum a complete magical experience?  I found the answer hidden away on a Naval Base in Pensacola, FL! The National Naval Aviation Museum is not your average museum; it is the world’s LARGEST Naval Aviation Museum in the world!  And, yes, they do have nearly every plane flown by the American Navy, but they also have areas of the museum that transport you back though time where you actually feel like you’re there.  

The exhibits tell their stories better than any museum I have ever been to.  

What I became most impressed with is the Sunken Treasures Exhibit.  

Walking into the room, there are planes on either side of you that were actually recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan.   Used in basic training to quickly qualify thousands of Naval Aviators for World War II, lights dances and reflects off the exhibit surfaces giving an illusion that you’re actually SCUBA diving under water.  In the center of the room, you can take a seat in decommissioned military briefing chairs and watch a fantastic short documentary about the training experience.  But it doesn’t stop there.  The screen is perfectly dressed with green camouflage that looks remarkably like seaweed.  WOW.

Every area in the museum tells a story in it’s own perfect way.From the floor… 

to the ceiling… (yes, you can walk up this staircase to the second floor)

and the exhibits in-between…

They are all tied tougher in such a magical way – it’s like stepping back in time to another era lived by our grandparents and and their parents… bringing their old war stories to life.

The only way I have been able to describe this incredible museum is to take the history of the Smithsonian’s and combine it with the magic of Disney!   What you get is a first-class experience that transports you back in time.  

You can easily spend the whole day there so plan accordingly, and if you’re after something with a bit more excitement, they have that too.  Pensacola, Florida is home to the Blue Angels Demonstration Squadron. Check the schedule for their next demonstration.