2018 (3) Satterfield Family Reunion Day 2 – Friday – James’ and Mark’s most excellent adventure

Good morning Gulf Breeze!  Boy do we Satterfields have some treats in store for you today!

Morning in Gulf Breeze

The night before

Actually, this all started last night.  Donnie told me to be up and ready, finished with breakfast, showered, and dressed no later than 8am for our early morning family trip to the Pensacola Navy Museum!

I didn’t expect to get up by 6:30 to eat breakfast and be out of the hotel by 8am!  Heck, I love my cousins, but I’m also thinking … I’m on vacation!  So Donnie and I get into a bit of a negotiation.

First things first, what time does the Navy Museum open?  I make a few checks.  Turns out the museum is open 9am to 5pm.  It is twenty minutes away from the hotel, so there is no reasonable consideration to leave any earlier than 845.  Check!  Much better than 8am!

But wait, there is a bit of a complication.  Remember that walker I bought on our trip through Tallahassee?  Well, we aren’t going to be able to make this happen with a walker.  We are going to need a wheel chair.  I explain to Donnie that we’ll need at least one wheel chair, and another cousin might want one.  What does this mean?  Well, it means we aren’t leaving the hotel until after I can call the museum to make sure they have a loaner or rental wheel chair available.  Okay, now our departure is no earlier than 9am, since I’ll have to make that phone call when they open.  My morning is looking a little more relaxed, and I can have a leisurely breakfast!  

Breakfast!

I never eat before breakfast.

W. C. Fields

We are up and out of the hotel room by 730 or so, down at the breakfast trough with our family a little while after.  Breakfast today was not a plate of ham and eggs, it was, well, quite similar to yesterday’s breakfast in fact

Friday morning breakfast
Friday morning breakfast

Waffle… with sugar water, yogurt… with sugar, raisin bran (yum!), milk (yum!), an orange, and an apple.  That thing up at the top left of the photo is some type of egg looking thing and some type of meat looking thing. Please, keep this secret between us, don’t share anything you are reading here with my dietitian.

Breakfast is long and leisurely, just like I had hoped!  We spent the morning visiting and sharing stories with our loved ones.

James D James A Mark on Friday morning

“Hello?  Is this the Naval Air Museum?”

Quick phone call to the Navy Museum confirms that we will have a wheel chair available!  Yay!  Just in case though, my dad and I decide that it might be best we have a car available, in case we have to leave early.

“Man must rise above the Earth – to the top of the atmosphere and beyond – for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.”

Socrates
Entrance to the Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum

The Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum is a great place to spend a half day if you are looking for something to do for free.

Mark and James A
Navy A4E – Naval Aviation Museum

“You haven’t seen a tree until you’ve seen its shadow from the sky.”

Amelia Earhart
Donnie James A and Mark at Naval Museum

Old Town Pensacola

The museum is largely a collection of static displays contained in about 300,000 square feet.  The part I liked the best was almost an oversight!  Upstairs tucked in a little corner of the museum is Old Time Pensacola!

Old time Pensacola
Old time Pensacola – Navy man chatting at the cinema
Buy More War Bonds and Stamps – Naval Aviation Museum
Old time Pensacola – Naval Aviation Museum

The great day at the museum came to a close around 4pm or so.  James D, Donnie, James A, and I were all pretty hungry by then. 

Donnie James A Mark at Naval Aviation Museum

As the dinner bell rings

Since we had no lunch I thought hey, how about all you can eat Chinese Buffet?  Great idea!  I call one on Gulf Breeze to find out if they had a buffet and how much, turns out they want $20 a person!  Oh my! I’m thinking, buffet in Miami is like $8 to $10!  So I ask the nice lady at China Horizon, where can we get a $10 buffet?  She says, “Ten dollar?  Oh no, not here, you have to go to Pensacola for that.”  Note to self, Gulf Breeze is not cheap, but apparently Pensacola is more reasonably priced!

Next on the list, how about Chic-fil-a?  James A and I both like the place.  James D says hey, let’s check out Zaxby’s!  Same but different.  We are all in!

Zaxby’s Chicken Diner
Deep fried Zaxby’s

I’ve never been to a Zaxby’s.  Kind of an interesting place.  There are innumerable signs and placards on the walls.  I’ll post a few of them later.

Did I mention what kind of food they have?  Yes, you guessed it.  Deep fried battered chicken, deep fried French fries, and mayo based coleslaw.  Ugh.  This trip has not been a good trip for my eating habits.

I wasn’t able to eat but about half of it.  Just way too much grease for me.  It was good to the taste, but not to the stomach!

“Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunrise sunset

Dinner came and went, we visited with even more cousins, a few that came in on Friday were here now!  Good to see everyone, and now time for the best sunset of the day!

Sunset Gulf Breeze

We all visited through much of the evening, it was a pleasant night had by all.

Friday Night at the Satterfield Reunion

Goodnight and pleasant dreams to you!

Another day another night, funny how time flies!