1964 Pensacola Tourism Film.

Eric will need to be alert when the time counter gets to the 6:01 point.

A short mention about the Perdido Bay Country Club...

When the Pensacola Open was played there, I remember driving past my former home and seeing Jack Nicklaus strolling around the home's front yard. Obviously, he rented the home for the week.

I like the mention of Chemstrand. My Daddy worked there. Everyone in his control room died with cancer but hey we had GREAT Christmas parties.

Also enjoyed the old airport. I remember Daddy taking us to the airport on Sunday afternoons. He would park by the chain link fence and we'd watch the planes land or take off. Simple entertainment.

Do they still do the treasure hunt on Pensacola Beach for the Fiesta of Five Flags? I'm guessing no.

Loved the view of the beach sans buildings.

Call me sentimental...

My usual plane to travel in and out of what is now Pensacola International Airport, was an Embraer Brasilia... a twin-engine turboprop.

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SW, I think they still do the treasure hunt. I had some friends that found it one year.

SheWrites wrote:

I like the mention of Chemstrand.  My Daddy worked there.  Everyone in his control room died with cancer but hey we had GREAT Christmas parties.  

Also enjoyed the old airport.  I remember Daddy taking us to the airport on Sunday afternoons.  He would park by the chain link fence and we'd watch the planes land or take off.  Simple entertainment.

Call me sentimental...

I'll be darned.  My Dad moved our family here from Virginia in 1956 (when I was 6 yrs old) to start a career at Chemstrand.
Boy do I remember those Chemstrand Christmas parties too.  Do you remember going through the line to get your company provided present which was always a pretty nice toy?  For me at 7 years old that was really something I looked forward to every year.  My Dad and my uncle (who also came to Chemstrand in 56) liked to take our two families to the company picnics too that were held at the picnic grounds near the entrance.  I always pigged out good on picnic food at those.  lol

And yes I absolutely do remember going to the airport as a kid and pulling up to the chain link fence.  There was a spot where you could stand at the fence which was right behind the tarmac where the airliners stopped before takeoff.  The back (exhaust) end of the engines,  prop and then later turbojet too,  would be facing you probably not more than 20 yards away.  When they pulled back on the throttle,  the prop or jet blast would hit you right in the face.  So cool.  lol

Those were the best parties. The ladies dressed as elves and had those long eyelashes. I received a camera, a very nice jewelry box, gorgeous/plush stuffed animals. Those were good times. I had several family members that worked there. Lots of school friends Dads and Moms worked there. Truly a different age.

Amen

Oh, one more thing. I was in the Copper Possum in Milton and found a nylon lamp. I squealed! The lady laughed and said she had picked up a few through the years. He also had an ashtray from poured nylon.

We turned out to be not very good stewards of the beach...

So very true.

The beach was a major part of my life from 60 to 64. It played a big part of who I am today. I was a very very lucky person to be able to enjoy an unbelievable piece of nature. Sad that I was not able to pass it on others.....My daughter once asked me "Dad What happened?" I told her "Zal, believe me, I had no idea, even in my wildest dreams, that it would turn out like it has."

Now you have to get a hotel room or rent a condo to enjoy the beach.

We do it old style. During the summer months my beach bag, chairs, and umbrella stay in the car. Have gear will travel will see opportunity and will enjoy it! State park or National Seashore for us. We did the condo thing a few times when will lived away. Hated the crowds and the thought of those condos sitting where we used to gingerly walk between dunes.

Westsiders had Gulf Beach, now called Perdido Key.  There were miles of places where you could park and walk across to the Gulf... and two big parking lots.  

The frigging US Fish & Wildlife, in their infinite wisdom, decided that compacted shell roadbed is beach mouse habitat and we can no longer park beside the road.  

The county came in and built bathhouses in the parking lots (good), a lift station and did a piss-poor job of making room for cars.  And then put huge rocks as the cover material that really hurt your bare feet.  (I sent a note to Gene Valentino to have his damn engineer walk the length of the parking lot in HIS bare feet.)  During any summer day, there is usually no room to park anymore.  And, then the LEOs come out and ticket folks for parking outside of designated parking spots.

And the condo owners have put up signs telling us to stay off their beach.  They successfully lobbied Valentino to close the parking lots at night.  No more moonlight strolls along the beach with your sweetie... unless you are one of the privileged class... condo owners.


Thank God that I can boat over to Perdido Key and camp there.  I believe that the National Seashore will close the South side of Big Lagoon to beach access due to grass beds, though.

DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT!

Why is a beach rat so damn important!

Joanimaroni wrote:

Why is a beach rat so damn important!

They aren't. The environmental Nazis (USF&W) get orgasms when they get to push humans off parcels of land. It is their main purpose in life.

The Perdido Key Beach Mouse is no longer in existence anyway. Once a subspecies but critical dwindling of the numbers to almost zero caused the Nazis to cross-breed the species in an Auburn lab and repopulate the Key with hybrid mice grown in a lab.

The arguments for keeping the PKBM are not valid. They say that the dunes will suffer because the mice take sea oat seeds and bury them, thereby propagating sea oats. Wow. As if the sea oats didn't exist for millions of years before the mice evolved... duh!

And they aren't part of a vast food chain anyway. No foxes out there anymore... maybe an osprey might catch one every once and a while, but I think they have enough fish to prey upon. Ospreys aren't going extinct if the PKBM disappears.

Those signs piss me off!

Thanks for ruining my day .. LOL Well Said Mr Eric Well Said..

Thank you Eric......we need a sign Stomp the Rat!