The old brig and the SS US
Spent a down weekend unwinding from SHOT Show, taking the old lady to the Pensacola art fair, etc. In this, I was able to score a $30 box loaded with second-hand volumes at Open Books that must have formerly belonged to a NAS Pensacola instructor, judging from the eclectic subject matter (U.S. Navy aviation circa 1920s and 30s) and small Aero Club and USNI Press print runs. Well worth it!
I also visited for the first time the old Pensacola City Jail, which served from 1906 until 1954, when it was converted into an art center (the PMA) under the aegis of the University of West Florida. Of note, the two-story 12,000-square-foot Spanish Revival building just off the docks and near old downtown was the hub for not only city and county cops but also Navy/Marine Shore Patrol during both world wars, so you can almost smell the salt and beer.
They also have a modern triptych to the three Bluejackets (Watson, Haitham, and Walters) lost in the 2019 terrorist attack on Pensacola NAS.
Heading back to Pascagoula, we cruised by the MARS dock and saw the progress on the former SS United States.
The old mega-liner, being prepped for reefing in a few weeks off Destin, has been stripped of her iconic funnels as well as her masts and most other topside snag points for divers. Likewise, her portholes have been torched out, and just about everything that can be removed from her thousands of compartments has been.
Still, you can read her once proud name on the bow, like a ghost from yesteryear.
It won’t be long now.
There feels like an allegory there.