Attractions
National Museum of Naval Aviation
The museum on site at the sprawling U.S. Naval Air Station west of Pensacola is regarded as one of the largest and most remarkable air and space museums in the world, with more than 170 aircraft on display dating from the 1920s to the space age. In addition, the museum boasts a very realistic recreation of a World War II aircraft carrier and a wartime Pacific airbase. Between March and November visitors might catch a practice session of the Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team soaring through the skies. If not the team can be seen in action on one of two Imax films shown at the museum, or keen would-be aviators can have a go at doing it themselves on the flight simulator.
Address: 1750 Radford Boulevard, Suite C
Telephone: (850) 452 3604
E-mail: museuminfo.navalaviation@mchsi.com
Web site: naval.aviation.museum/intro.html
Opening time: Daily 9am to 5pm; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day
Admission: Free
Pensacola Historical Museum Pensacola Historical Museum
The museum is a good place to learn about the city’s diverse history and understand why Pensacola is known as the ‘city of five flags’. The museum is housed in the Arbona Building, built in 1882, and the site includes an archaeological dig dating back to the Spanish colonial era, which visitors can view from a boardwalk with explanatory signs.
Address: 115 E. Zaragosa Street
Telephone: (850) 433 1559
E-mail: phstaff@pcola.gulf.net
Web site: www.pensacolahistory.org/museum.htm
Opening time: Monday to Saturday 10am to 4.30pm
Civil War Museum Civil War Soldiers Museum
A store-front museum in Pensacola's business district houses a fascinating collection of Civil War artifacts gathered by a local physician, Dr Norman W. Haines Jr, throughout his lifetime. The exhibits have been arranged to give visitors an insight into what life as a civil war soldier was like. Particularly interesting are the medical exhibits. The collection also includes the handmade First National Confederate flag captured by Wilson's New York Zopuaves during the Battle of Santa Rosa Island in October 1861.
