>>This program is brough to you in part by the Paul B.

Hunter and Constance D. Hunter Charitable Foundation a proud partner of WUCF, and the Central Florid Community.

>>Up next on this episode of Florida Road Trip... >>I think it's a good humor rivalry.

And if nothing else, it gets everybody talking about history.

>>We make a pit stop in a city that claims to be the oldest in the nation, not St. Augustine.

Plus... >>The bays here in Pensacol have one secret ingredient and secret feature, and that is our deep water pass.

>>That secre ingredients attracted the U.S. military and led to the Blu Angels calling Pensacola home.

>>I think the best part about being a blue angel was just being a small part of the history of this unbelievable organization.

>>Strap in.

Buckle up.

Florid Road Trip is back on the road.

♪♪♪ Hi there.

And thanks for joining us for Florida Road Trip.

I'm your host, Scott Fais.

We're back in the Panhandle again exploring the history of one of the earliest cities in the state.

In fact, Pensacola has the distinction of being the first settlement in the United States, even predating St. Augustine.

It's a friendly rivalry between two historically significant citie on opposite sides of the state.

>>People came to Pensacola probably 12,000 years ago.

They were here, the Native Americans, for a long time.

But the Spaniards arrived about the earliest they could have arrived, just about 1528, with an explorer named Narvaez.

He really was thrown out of Tallahassee area by the Apalachee Indians and built some escape rafts and rafted along the Gulf Coast to the west, trying to get back to Mexico.

>>Spanish explorer Don Trista de Luna landed in Pensacola on August 14th, 1559, nearly six years before the Spanish landed in St. Augustine.

>>Tristan de Luna's mission was to set up starting at Pensacola Bay, because they knew it was a good bay to build a port city here.

They brought a year's worth of food.

They brought 1,500 people with them.

And five weeks later, a hurricane came and destroyed their ships, destroyed it, turned it into a rescue mission.

And Tristan de Luna was a total failure.

After that, Pensacola was kind of forgotten about.

The French immediately came in and built Fort Caroline and Jacksonville, mouth of the St. John's, and also up at Port Royal.

>>The increasing French presence prompted the Spanish to dispatch Pedro Menendez.

>>We all know the end of that story is that he founded what is now St. Augustine and establishe the first capital of Florida up in South Carolina at a place they called Santa Alina, which is at Port Royal on Parris Island.

Over those next 125 years or so, they forgot about Pensacola.

Pensacola changed possession several times, which led to its nickname, the City of Five Flags.

>>So you had the Spanish.

They turned Pensacola over to the French.

And the French were here fo just a hot minute, as they say, for about six years.

And in 1763 the British came to Pensacola.

The British were here for 21 years.

And in 1781, we had a battle here.

Part of the American Revolution where Galvez defeated the British, and Spanish once again is now in control of Pensacola.

The Spanish were here until 1821, when officially Florida became part of the U.S. territory.

And right outside of thi museum is where this happened.

Andrew Jackson received Pensacola and all of Florida for the United States in 1821 right outside.

>>The fifth flag, a Confederate one, briefly flew over the cit during the American Civil War.

>>And you really can't claim something in new land unless you have a presence.

Take our going to the moon.

We have a flag there.

We found it first.

Have there been anything valuable there, the moon was ours.

And so it's the same principle.

>>Dr.

Ben serves as the President Emeritus for the University of West Florida and holds the distinction of being the area's first permanent archeologist.

>>An Pensacola is one of the richest archeological sites and areas in the country.

It had never been touched by an archeologist, not the historical stuff.

Downtown has been downtown for 300 years.

And you think, oh, it's all destroyed.

Well, so did I, but it wasn't.

It's right underneath the streets, right underneath the parking lots.

>>Not all archeological finds are downtown.

Some lie within Pensacola Bay.

Remember the hurrican that submerged de Luna's ships?

They remain underwater, nestled in the bay.

>>Archeologist found Luna's ships, and everybody went ballistic.

The university was great.

I mean we started an underwater archeology program.

It's one of three in the country, and our program really began to grow.

>>The museum honors some of Pensacola's more recent history, like this exhibits on the second floor dedicated to Trader Jons.

>>Martin "Trader Jon" Weissman was a native of Brooklyn, New York, and he was a World War Two veteran.

He was in the paratrooper and he had been sent to England to get ready for the D-Day invasion.

His last practice jump that he did before the invasion, he broke his leg and he got shipped back home.

So jump forward to New Year's Day, 1953.

Martin "Trader Jon" Weissman had left Brooklyn, New York, and came and opened a bar here in Pensacola and called it Trader Jon's.

The name came from his love of all things aviation, mostly naval aviation.

And because we had Naval Air Station Pensacola here, the trailer park cam as he would trade bar tabs for any sort of naval memorabilia or any Navy related item that you had.

And we all joke and they talk about was "tradernomics."

He would say, oh, you brought me in a patch from your uniform.

Well, that's worth a couple beers.

>>On of the more interesting items?

A wooden leg with a bottle opener built right in.

He amassed a collection of well over 100,000 items that he had traded out with, people that he decorated his bar.

Pretty amazing to see this huge collection of military memorabilia from all over.

And every branch is covered.

♪♪♪ >>The city of Pensacola shares a longstanding history with the US Navy.

Naval aviation got its start around 1911, and by 1914, the Navy had centralized its training operation right here in Pensacola.

Thus, the city is oftentimes called the cradle of naval aviation.

And what better place than Pensacola for the National Naval Aviation Museum?

>>One of the reasons that Pensacola is called the cradle of naval aviation, because all young aviators, regardles of their commissioning source, Annapolis Reserve Officer, Training Corps Officer, Candidate school.

They come down here for their initial flight training and primary flight training.

>>The deep bay was a big dra for those massive naval ships, and it's centrally located between both the West and East Coast.

>>The museum, as you walk around counterclockwise, it's roughly chronological.

>>Throughout the museum, you'll find aviation pieces, beginning with World War One and stretching through history to the global war on terror.

But it's not just airplanes.

The museum also highlights personal stories.

>>The real story to nava aviation are the men and women that work on them and fly them and the tremendous history that they've created over our 113 year existence.

>>One of the challenges the museum faces is how naval aviation history is an ongoing story.

There are men and women flying off aircraft carriers around the glob in defense of this great nation that started their training right here.

So to be able to tell their story in an enduring fashion is one of the things we work hard at.

And that's wh one of the recent additions to the museum has been our Nimitz flight deck, which is a one fifth scale replica of a USS Nimitz flight deck.

And those aircraft carrier will be around for a long time.

They made ten of them.

The last in the class, the USS George Herbert Walker Bush was only commissioned in 2009.

So she has many years left of service life.

>>World War Two aircraft carriers had wooden flight decks and the museu has a replica of the USS Cabot.

Plus, they have 150 airplanes on display.

>>Our rarest artifact here is a dauntless dive bomber that flew in World War Two.

And this particular airplane by serial number flew on 4th June 1942 in the Battle of Midway.

The Battle of Midway was the most consequential battle in the Pacific in World War Two.

There were greater battles with more bloodshed, but no battle held more consequence for the United States Navy because had we been defeated there, and remember, this was in June of 1942, just six months after Pearl Harbor.

So a defeat there would have had ominous consequences for the United States.

We won that battle with air power, flown from aircraft carriers.

And it's really where naval aviation came of age.

Interestingly, as we got newer, faster, more capable airplanes, that particular aircraft came back to the United States and it was being used for carrier qualification training in Lake Michigan, of all things, where we train our pilots to learn to land aboard an aircraft carrier.

Sometime in 1943 it crashed.

It spent six decade at the bottom of Lake Michigan.

It was the sole remaining airplane to have flown in the Battle of Midway in the world.

>>As rare as this plane is, you won't find it encased in plexiglass or behind the velvet rope.

That's because the museum wants visitors to reach out and touch and feel history.

>>You can put your hands on naval aviation history, and we're very, very proud of being able to offer that to our patrons.

I have an exhibit fabrication and manufacturing staff.

They're small but almost all of the exhibits that you see on display here were created in-house.

♪♪♪ >>Veterans Memorial Park at Pensacola holds a special place in the hearts of visitors from around the country.

This sacred space is dedicated to American heroes, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our country.

Here, visitors will find a place of remembrance, reflection and healing.

>>We have more veterans per capita in the northwest Florida Panhandle area than any other place in the country.

In 1992, some local veterans decided that having been influenced by the moving wall that made a stop through the Pensacola area, that they wanted to have a half scale replica of the actual Vietnam Memorial that's in D.C. And they started the the work to get the real estate from the city of Pensacola and to get the funding from multiple resources to put that first anchor monument here in the park.

There are lots of monuments here and memorials.

We have one for World War One World War Two, the Korean War.

We have one for the Revolutionary War.

We have a Gold Star Families monument.

We have a monument for Purple Heart recipients.

Every branch of our service is represented here at the park in some form or fashion.

In one of our monuments.

♪♪♪ >>It covers the full gamut of all veterans that have ever served.

The primary reason that this park exists is to honor the fallen fro all of our nation's conflicts.

And that's the main mission that our foundation has to keep this park in the pristine condition that it's in.

It's a labor of love because I feel a kinship with my fallen comrades and the fact that this particular location is a spot to come and honor them and memorialize them in such a profound and special way.

It's worth every bit of my time, treasure and talent that I can put into it.

♪♪♪ >>Since every naval aviator begins their journey right here in Pensacola.

There's no better place for the Navy's flight demonstration squadron to call home.

[PLANES ROAR OVERHEAD] >>Flight demonstration aspect of the Blue Angels, which most people are probably the most familiar with, is going to be our six jet F-18 Super Hornet demo referred to as the Delta.

We also have a C-130J Super Hercules, which is affectionately known as Fat Albert.

The ability for this tea to inspire is really something that's that's unparalleled.

I think in in my mind.

I know when I was a kid growing up in San Francisco, California, I didn't have much exposure at all to the military or to the Navy.

But one thing that did happen every year was there was an airshow over San Francisco Bay for Fleet Wee and the Blue Angels performed.

I remember thinking, this is the coolest job in the world.

And that inspired me, you know, as a as a young kid, to to start down this path of really just wanting to be a naval aviator and fly F-18s in the Navy.

The most memorable experience I have is over my hometown in a blue and gold jet that remember looking up at as a kid and it was a certainly a pinch yourself moment.

I can't believe this is happening.

>>A pinch yourself moment.

Much like the feeling of watching the Blue Angels in action.

[PLANES ROAR OVERHEAD] ♪♪♪ >>You know, when you come to a Blue Angels show, you know what you're going to see.

You're seeing that precision and that power, that excitement.

>>We're rooted in history, and like any organization, we evolve over time as well.

But I think the the the core tenets of of honor, courage, commitment and a pursuit of excellence are something that have held the test of time over our 77 plus year history.

>>Blue Angels were formed in April 24th, 1946.

The CNO at the time, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Chester Nimitz, formed the team with the idea of making sure that naval aviation didn't fall to the wayside or out of sight, out of mind in the waning days of World War Two.

>>Becoming a Blue Angel is a lifelong dream for some, but for those who achieve it, it's only a short pitstop in their aviation career.

>>Every member of the Blue Angels is active duty Navy and Marine Corps, and no one is a Blue Angel for their entire career.

It's a very short tour, 2 to 3 years tops, where you're a member of this team.

All of our members come from the fleet and we all return to the fleet.

So for a brief moment of time, we get to represent our brothers and sisters who are out there serving on the front lines for deployed, operating off the aircraft carriers every single day.

>>A lot of people don't realize is that there's more than just the six pilot that comprise the Blue Angels.

When we were our tea last year had 143 men and women maintainers, supply personnel, administrative personnel, medical, logisticians, you name it.

>>The Blue Angels is a large team of people, all sharing a rigorous schedule.

>>A typical work week is six days.

Six days a week we'll travel out to our show site either on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the distance.

And then we'll return home Sunday night, debrief and then finally head head to our home and get some rest with a a Monday day off to be able to recollect yourself and spend a little time going to get a couple of hugs in with the family.

And then we're back at it on Tuesday.

>>If you can't make it to one of their show sites around the country, you can catch the Blue Angels practicing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during their season at the National Naval Aviation Museum.

>>We'r the home team in Pensacola and, you know, tradition being what it is, this is it's a great place to be.

We feel very, very much appreciated and just honored to be a part of the Pensacola community.

♪♪♪ >>The Pensacola Lighthouse stands as one of America's oldest.

Its original location stood at just about a quarter mile East of here.

And during both lightning strikes and cannon blasts, the Lighthouse's history continues to shine bright, just like the rare lens found at the top.

>>This is the second lighthouse and the first one was built and lit in 1824.

It was built by Winslow Lewis and almost immediately it was felt to be insufficient to the needs of the Mariners.

The pine trees on Santa Rosa Island were tall.

It was only a 40 foot tower compared to this one, which is 151 feet.

But the pine trees grew and it obscured the view of the tower.

>>In 1855, Congress appropriated money for a new lighthouse first order Fresnel lens.

>>It was first lit in 1859 but not even a couple of years later we were here to witness the Civil War.

The light witnessed the battle of Santa Rosa Island.

Pensacola and Florida seceded from the Union.

Commodore Brant here on base resigned his commission with the U.S. Navy became part of the Confederacy and Lieutenant Slimmer part of the Army here took him and approximately 70 to 80 troops went over to Fort Pickens and fortified themselves over there and actually had a battle under Braxton Bragg, During the month of November, they had about 5,000 cannon shells fire back and forth.

The actual lighthouse was struck 3 to 4 times.

>>As for that fancy new lens in the lighthouse, it was removed during the war.

>>The lens was removed to keep the federals from having utilization of the lighthouse during the Civil War.

Confederates took it down and it one was either shipped to Montgomery and stored or it was stored in place.

We do know that it was the after the Civil War, it was shipped up to New York to be refurbished at the depot there and then brought back down and reinstalled.

>>The lighthouse survived hits from cannons and also lightning twice.

>>We kind of proved those stories when we were doing the restoration 2014, we opened it up and found the fasteners for those original lightning straps.

You can see that it was actually a lightning bolt that just went through the tower.

♪♪♪ >>Today, you can climb all 177 steps all the way up to the top to take a look at the light.

One of 13 left in the world.

And then step outside to behold 360 degrees of the Emerald Coast, including two states and three counties.

>>It's still actually use as an aid to navigation today.

Since its beginning and up until today, the Coast Guard still maintained the bulb on the lens and the lens itself.

>>If you visit with someone who can't make the climb, there's still plenty of history to behold.

Housed in the keeper's quarters built in 1869, awaits a museum with exhibits dedicated to the history of the tower, the women who kept the light, and a glimpse into what life was like living up the lighthouse.

No matter where you shine light in Pensacola, you'll find history.

♪♪♪ Gulf Island's National Seashore is just one of more than 400 national park sites across the United States.

This park is know for its nature and its beauty, as well as preserving a significant portion of Pensacola's past.

>>Of all 428 national parks that exist, only ten are called National Seashores.

And Gulf Islands is the largest national seashore.

It stretches for about 160 miles from Fort Walton Beach here in Florida, all the way to Cat Island, a barrier island very close to New Orleans.

>>It's one national park, but located in two states, Florida and Mississippi.

>>Here in the Pensacola area we have beaches, we have forts, we have campgrounds and trails both on land and trails on water.

In the 1820s, Arm and Navy officers, they came to Pensacola and found Pensacola Bay to be for them the gem.

So it would be here that the US Navy would establish the first and only US Nav Yard, the Pensacola Navy Yard.

And because of the significance that the Navy put on the harbor here and because of the presence of a Navy yard, the US Army, they had to fortify and protect those two naval assets.

So beginning in 1829, the Army Corps of Engineers would establish Fort Pickens out on the western end of Santa Rosa Island.

That fort was completed by enslaved laborers in 1834, just a matter of five years.

Upon completion, the Army Corps of Engineers, their contractors and the enslaved labor force, they went on to what we now know as Perdido Key, right off of my shoulder.

In a matter of five years completed Fort McRee.

Together, Fort Pickens and Fort McRee could protect the shipping channel leading from the Gulf of Mexico into Pensacola Bay.

With the completion of Fort McRee in 1839, the Army Corps of Engineers, their contractors and the enslaved labor force that came to where we are now standing here on what is today, the Nava Air Station Pensacola, to begin constructing Fort Barrancas here to my left, and then a half mile north of us, a smaller brick fort named Advanced Redoubt.

>>During the Civil War, both Union and Confederate troops occupied these forts with Confederate forces seizing those situated on the mainland of Pensacola.

>>But then in 1862, the spring, the Confederate Army withdrawal, allowing for US forces to come back and reoccupy the mainland and Pensacola itself.

Another fight that unfolds within the larger story that is the Civil War is the struggle for freedom.

With the US forces so heavily present here in the Pensacola area, they became a magnet for enslaved men, women and children.

So throughout the American Civil War, individuals, enslaved individuals who today we call freedom seekers, they risked their lives and in some cases traveled great distances over land and sometimes over water, hoping to reach the US Arm and Navy here on Pensacola Bay.

Hoping to obtain fo themselves, and their families, freedom.

>>Gulf Islands National Seashore offers a variety of trails suitabl for hikers of all skill levels.

Among them is the trail that once served as the first federal road.

This path linked Pensacola to St. Augustine, two of the most populous communities in 1821, when Florida became a U.S. territory.

>>Gulf Islands can't be experienced in a matter of hours.

It would take a couple of days to explore the reach of this park and to explore the depth of the places and the stories that are preserved here.

You can go and explore an old fort.

You can get lost.

You can discover your national park, but also discover yourself.

>>Pensacola, a city rooted in history and whose American pride is sky high.

I'm Scott Fais.

For all of us at Florida Road Trip, thanks for joining us.

We invite you to join us again next week as we continue our ride through Florida history.

Until then, safe travels everyone.

♪♪♪ >>This program is brough to you in part by the Paul B.

Hunter and Constance D. Hunter Charitable Foundation a proud partner of WUCF, and th Central Florida Community.