Blue Angels wrap up 2022 summer show Saturday with full beach and lots of new memories

The common hearsay knowledge buzzing around Pensacola this week was, "If you want to get a good spot for the 2022 Blue Angels air show on Saturday, you better get to the beach early."

But, early wasn't early enough. It turns out, even 5:30 a.m. was too late to secure a parking spot to see the show.

The weekend followed the pattern of a steady build, as Thursday's practice show brought 19,661 vehicles across the Pensacola Bay Bridge, with Friday increasing to 19,865 vehicles, according to Katie King, public relations and marketing on behalf of the Santa Rosa Island Authority. Each vehicle was averaged to contain three people.

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Still, the crowds continued to trickle in throughout the morning, with multi-colored umbrellas lining every inch of sand east of the Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier. The high summer temps did not stop the crowds, even with the day’s high hitting 92 degrees on Pensacola Beach and humidity making it feel like it was upwards of 109 degrees, according to the National Weather Service Mobile.

Even with the parking hassle and high heat, when the Blues showed up to the party, their triumphant entry brought the beach crowd to their feet.

Thousands of attendees, with about 100 of them even spending the night on Casino Beach, begged the question: Why? Why come see the Blue Angels every year?

Now that the 2022 summer show is in the books, Pensacola had a lot to say.

Tried and true traditions

For many Pensacola locals, Blue Angels weekend is synonymous with hanging out on the beach, playing games to pass the time, and oh yeah, a lot of drinking.

Before sunlight broke on Pensacola Beach Saturday, there were plenty of groups already buzzing with stories and memories while the show was still an entire day away.

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There was some element of roughing it required to make a bed out of sand, but no one really seemed to mind, they just got creative.

Pensacola local Jacob Rosas decided to build a sand moat to protect his dozen or so friends from crashing waves into their tent in the middle of the night.

Kendall Foust made his morning cup of joe using a Jet Boil camping water heater and a manual espresso machine.

Patrick and Jennifer Taylor caught up on sleep in lawn chairs. But hey, at least it wasn’t just the sand this time.

“I slept better last night than I usually do, probably because we had the chairs to sleep in this time,” Jennifer said.

“Yeah, sometimes, we’ve just had to sleep on the beach,” Patrick added, referring to the sand.

But above else, each group walked away with a mutual feeling that the campout provided a bonding experience, that many people, young adults especially, are looking for.

“I think a lot of people see it as a beach festival more than a show," Megan Pargoff said.

Tightening family ties

For several Blue Angel spectators, the love of the Blues was passed down through family members, who instilled an appreciation for their precision and technique early on.

Texas-native and Blue Angels super fan Maria Rivas said her dad taking her to air shows as a kid developed an intense love for the Blue Angels. So much so, she has seen them in locations across the country, but Pensacola Beach is her favorite.

“This is their home, the cradle of (Naval) aviation,” she said.

Rivas said she will count down the days until the next show like some people wait all year for Christmas time. She spent Saturday’s show alongside her husband, who came with her for the weekend, making new family memories.

“Every single thing,” she answered about her favorite part. “Every single thing.”

For Alabama resident Beth Welch, she was able to spend her birthday with her son and husband who would be seeing the Blue Angels for the first time Saturday.

She was hoping to help fuel her son’s interest in the Navy and fascination with planes that he has held for almost half of his lifetime.

"He's obsessed with the Navy, he loves planes," she said of her son, CJ.

CJ plans to enlist in the Navy when older, and when he asked if seeing the Blues fly solidified that decision, he replied with a simple: yes ma'am.

The technical tactics

When watching the Blue Angels take the sky, the maneuvers hit closer to home for veterans like Jerry Crutcher, 78-year-old U.S. Marine Corp. helicopter pilot from Longview, Texas.

Crutcher spent 1965 to 1970 as an active-duty Marine Corps pilot in the Vietnam War, followed by the years 1970 to 1978 in the reserve. When Crutcher saw the maneuvers executed by the Blues, he thought back on times when doing the right move meant staying alive when flying under fire.

“You do all that in combat, except for the playing around,” he said.

His experience provided him with a special appreciation for what it was the Blues were actually doing and what they were showing the world was possible.

“It’s precision, that’s the whole military aspect, really,” he said. “You don’t get any better than that.”

Crutcher said that although the memories that come back are such personal ones, he continues to watch performances with his wife by his side and wears his U.S. Marine Corp. hat with honor.

“I don’t regret anything. My wife still gets mad at me,” he said teasing about her worry during his deployment. “But I still get to aggravate her for another 50 years, maybe 56. The wife makes it a whole lot easier.”

The Blues will be back with another large performance in the Pensacola area this fall.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Blue Angels Pensacola Beach airshow concludes 2022 summer show