November 16
Most states are within a single time zone. Virginia and Ohio are in Eastern. Iowa is in Central. And so forth. But, Florida sits in two. A good portion of the panhandle is in Central, which allowed me an extra hour to reach the Fort Pickens area of Gulf Islands NS. Only problem was the area was closed. Turns out the storm which came through Florida starting Tuesday night caused enough havoc in Fort Pickens that the NPS closed the area. I remember Wednesday morning at the hotel in Florida City watching the Weather Channel when the broadcaster said a tornado warning was in effect for the Keys. A couple I had met at Fort Jefferson on Tuesday are stationed in Pensacola. They said their favorite part of Gulf Islands is Fort Pickens. Oh well, I will have to return at a later date. Nothing like pristine Gulf Coast beaches to draw one to the area, in addition to the park. Back on the mainland there is an area called Naval Live Oaks which is part of the park. I decided to go there and hike a couple of the trails. The drive back over the two sequential bridges which connect the mainland with the beaches had me thinking about the politics in Florida. The only toll system seems to be Sun-Pass. If you do not have this, you have to “Pay by Plate”. No problem to pay the fee for crossing the one bridge. But that would be if I had my personal car. National Car will now charge me $9.95 for processing the bill from Florida, in addition to the crossing fee and the attached “administrative fee”. Governments sure find plenty of ways to get money. Again, no issue with the bridge fee. In the old days you would pay with cash and be done with it. But in today’s world there are service fees, administrative fees, reservation fees, resort fees, etc. And I would not have had to worry about National charging me. What can we do?
Fort Pickens was built to protect Pensacola Bay and the newly formed Pensacola Navy Yard (in 1825). A series of forts were built along the Gulf Coast in the early 19th century to protect our land and water interests. Though the fort had four walls facing the Gulf, one wall faced towards land, just in case. But any land attack would require scaling 40-feet from the bottom of the dry ditch.
The boundary of Tuskegee Institute NHS encompasses Tuskegee University. This is a beautiful campus. Booker T. Washington made it his mission to establish the school and staff it with the best and brightest minds. He began his work in 1881. George Washington Carver heeded the call for assistance and arrived in Tuskegee. He taught and researched here for years. His boyhood home is a National Park back in Missouri, where he was born. Washington’s birthplace is also a National Park, in Virginia. Some of the buildings on campus were built by students from the early years, using bricks which were made on-site. I met three wonderful young men who are students. One pointed in the direction of the campus chapel and asked if I had seen the large open area about the size of two football fields. He said the bricks used for all the construction came from material dug up in the large area. That is history which you do not see in school textbooks. The VC/Museum is undergoing renovations so I wondered where I could get the Passport Cancellation stamp. The men gave me a couple of options, such as the Legacy Museum on the north side of the campus. The campus is small enough that in a few minutes you can pretty much walk to any building. I stopped by the school’s chapel. It is quite the artistic look, famous for not having very many right-angles. Next to it is Tuskegee Cemetery, where Washington and Carver are buried. As I returned to my car I took one last look at The Oaks, the 3-story home of Washington. With many information placards placed around campus, this is one university folks should stop at and tour.
Just ten minutes down the road is Tuskegee Airmen NHS. This park preserves the legacy of the “Red Tails”, the highly decorated unit of African-American pilots of the 15th US Army Air Force in WW2. These guys knew how to fly their P-51D planes. Legend has it that when Nazi planes saw P51 Mustangs with red colored tails, they knew they were in for a fight. An old tale is that this unit never lost a bomber during all their escort missions. I have heard this story for decades. Though the narrative is not correct, only losing 27 bombers in 1,500+ missions is the best rate among all the escort units during the war. When I first visited this park 15 years ago the VC was in a temporary trailer. Nothing else was available for a visitor. That is a stark contrast to today. The two original hangers of the airfield now house the park’s collection of artifacts. Hanger 1 has examples of the two planes which the men trained in before going to the Mustang. The Link Trainer in Hanger 1 looked like the device my father-in-law trained in for the war. Hanger 2 has a theater, along with a P-51 hanging from the rafters.. There are enough information displays in Hanger 2 to keep one reading for 4 hours. I especially liked the one placard that showed Tuskegee Airman MSgt Malvin Whitfield on the podium at the 1948 London Olympics where he won two gold medals and one bronze.
When I had arrived, a park ranger asked me not to go in the theater because a presentation was being given. Turns out a 4-star General was talking to the ROTC corps from Auburn University. The group had taken a tour bus over to the park. I met a number of the young men who will one day be serving in our Armed Forces. In hindsight, I forget to tell them to be sure to beat Alabama in this year’s Iron Bowl. As with many of our National Parks, the thought of standing on the same ground as men and women who changed the course of our country’s history, is reflective. If you are ever on I-85 going through the Auburn area, exit 38 is the airfield, just one minute from the exit. No reason not to stop.