'I'm still in awe': Blue Angels weekend on Pensacola Beach could have set a record
Thousands of fans from across the country spent three days on Pensacola Beach this weekend to see their beloved U.S. Navy Blue Angels, despite brutal temperatures that reached 92 degrees.
The area was under a heat advisory Friday with a "real feel" temperature of 107 degrees. Saturday reached 91 degrees with a real feel temperature of 109, according to the National Weather Service.
A rainbow of colored tents stretched across the crystal white sand as fans sought relief from the blazing temperatures, coolers of cold water at the ready and taking frequent dips into the Gulf of Mexico.
Still, the heat was an issue for some beachgoers. Escambia County spokesman Davis Wood said Friday that seven people were treated for heat illnesses and three of them had to be transported to the hospital.
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Veterans of the annual beach show know just what to expect and many scope out their seats on the sand — under a huge umbrella — before 5 a.m., sticking to water and Gatorade rather than beer and soda.
Kevin Peeler, a Ripley, Mississippi, resident visiting Pensacola for the air show, wasn't taking any chances when it came to traffic that could compromise his front-row vantage point. He made sure he had a spot secured on the shoreline by 6 a.m. Thursday, intentionally coming to a practice show to avoid the crowds.
"This is the way to do the beach," Peeler said, motioning to his setup of a pop-up tent, cooler and plate of lunch overlooking the rolling turquoise waves.
Peeler has improved on his strategies for watching the Blues since his first show in 2014. The first time he saw the show was a "happy accident" during a pre-planned boys' beach trip to Pensacola Beach. Now, he makes a point to come back every year for the show. He planned on attending Friday and Saturday as well, even if that meant waking up a little earlier.
"(Friday), that (6 a.m.) won't be early enough," Peeler said.
By Saturday, the parking lots at Casino Beach and Quietwater were closed by 5:25 a.m., the earliest the lots were filled in several years and a possible record. Officials are still checking traffic reports, but believe the Saturday show set a record attendance — at least in modern memory.
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To get a good viewing spot to see the Blues, would-be spectators arrived throughout the early morning hours. However, to get what perhaps is one of the most coveted viewing locations — exactly on the edge of the waterline at high tide — the Taylor family took their arriving early to whole other level.
“10:30,” Patrick Taylor said. “Last night. Yeah, we got here at 10:30 last night.”
Patrick Taylor, his wife, Jennifer Taylor, their eldest daughter, Elise Taylor, and her boyfriend, Joseph Kilcoyne, arrived on Casino Beach at 10:30 p.m. Friday night to secure their ideal viewing location for the 2022 Blue Angels Airshow.
They came equipped with two tents, multiple chairs and several large coolers, and their personal little compound sat about three feet from the water.
“We brought tents, chairs to sleep in, slept on the beach and the next thing you know it was sunrise,” Patrick Taylor said.
They said that there were around 100 people who had the same idea as they did and spent the night on the beach.
“When we went to sleep, there were some tents around, but by the time we woke up there was all of this,” Patrick said, pointing to the forest of beach umbrellas.
Saturday is traditionally the busiest day of the show, but the preceding practice and dress rehearsal days are quickly catching up.
Although Thursday has flown under the radar as the best day for locals to catch a Blue Angels show due to the reduced traffic and easier beach access, some would say the secret is out.
"Today is a lot busier than usual," Navarre resident Beverly Harding said at Thursday's performance.
Though she and her husband, David Harding, have sought every opportunity to see the Blue Angels' fall and summer shows religiously for the past 15 to 20 years, the Thursday dress rehearsal has become their favorite day to come out.
David Harding said he will happily endure the traffic each year if it means that he can experience the rush of the planes charging over his head. Even though 35 years have passed since he caught his very first show at Naval Air Station Pensacola, he still experiences that first-time feeling. He recalls hoisting himself up on a cooler to get a better view before feeling the wind of the planes pass over him at what seemed like an arm's length away.
"I literally almost fell off that ice chest with my 5-year-old son," he said.
That thrill is a familiar one for any Pensacola resident who has been pleasantly surprised by a Blue Angel sighting during a swim at the beach or after a grocery run at the Blue Angel Parkway Walmart.
Not everyone is as lucky.
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The long-awaited air show that comes to Pensacola Beach every summer pulls the heartstrings of people near and far, beckoning many from across the country and other parts of Florida to see the spectacle.
It certainly drew in Clay Isbell and his group of 12 friends Friday, who make the 180-mile trip from Slidell, Louisiana, every year.
Isbell is a photographer who loves coming out to Pensacola Beach annually.
"I love it," Isbell said. "Seeing them (fly) over the water, it adds a new element."
The air show is so special to the group of friends that Isbell said the event became an annual bucket list item after he saw the planes flying overhead.
"We booked (the hotel) next year in advance, because we know we'll be back next year," he said.
That's the draw of the Blue Angels, and it's one that the elite pilots never take for granted.
"To come here and represent our brothers and sisters in arms who are out there and by the nature of our naval services, folks just don't get to see us," said Capt. Brian Kesselring, Blue Angels commanding officer and flight leader. "And to be able to bring that to the American public and make it something they can reach out and touch and appreciate is something that was super impactful in my life."
For retired U.S. Navy administrator Ty Beach, it's the timing and precision of the pilots that have kept his attention fixed on the Blues every time he has seen them fly, whether it has been across California, Hawaii or Japan.
"I've only seen them about 450 times," Beach said with a chuckle. "I'm still in awe. If you can fly three feet apart at that speed, it's still amazing to me."
The Blue Angels Super Hornet jets actually fly as close as 18 inches apart as they perform aeronautic maneuvers like the Diamond Dirty Loop, the Double Farvel, the Vertical Pitch, the Fleur-de-Lis, the Opposing Knife-Edge pass and the crowd-favorite Sneak Pass.
These are just a few of the mind-blowing displays of choreographed precision flying the Navy's flight demonstration team has perfected over the past 75 years.
They are slated to perform at 30 different locations this year. And the excitement over the Blue Angels has only increased in the last few months following the release of the new film "Top Gun: Maverick."
"Throughout the air shows we've had, it's been record crowds, sellout crowds, and a lot of Top Gun T-shirts we're seeing around the crowd line," Kesselring said.
A beautiful aspect of the Blue Angels performance is that each stop the team gives a ride to a "key influencer" who makes a difference in the community.
Ashley Turner, a guidance counselor at Tate High School, was one of those selected for a flight during this year's show.
Turner pulled 7.4 g's during her flight — that's a force equal to 7.4 times normal gravity — and briefly blacked out during the maneuver. However, she said she did not get sick during the flight.
"They do this air show after air show," Turner said. "And especially after watching 'Maverick' the movie, it really kind of is like being up there like Tom Cruise, but it's the real deal."
Benjamin Johnson can be reached at bjohnson@pnj.com or 850-435-8578
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Blue Angels Pensacola Beach air show brings thousands from all over
