Growing up in Annapolis, Maryland, I looked forward to the last weekend of May each year as the whole county celebrated Commissioning Week at the Naval Academy. There was bound to be lots of traffic, midshipmen in the streets and of course, the Blue Angels! The Blue Angels are a team of F/A-18 Hornets that perform amazing acrobatic feats at speeds of up to 800 mph. Some years I'd skip school with my family to go sit in the fields at the Naval Academy to watch, some years I went on field trips with my class and other years I'd just watch with neck craned at recess as they zoomed over our school.
I was sad to miss them this past May but couldn't believe it when I saw a poster for the Kaneohe Bay AirShow on the Marine Corps Base here on Oahu. **Featuring the Blue Angels!!**
I picked Chris up from duty on Saturday morning and we headed across the island in his Jeep to get there early. (Um, that thing is SLOW on H-3. I think every car passed us as we chugged up the highway. Ha.)
We stopped at my faaaavorite breakfast place on the windward side--Crepes No Ka 'Oi. If you are ever on the island, I will take you there. Mostly cuz I want to eat crepes. Also, we can hang out.
When we got to the base, we set up our blanket under the tail section of a commercial airliner to get some shade, just like hundreds of people were already doing. Genius.
They started out the air show with sky divers. It was really cool to see as each diver leapt out of the airplane. One diver unfurled the POW/MIA flag while another held the American flag as the National anthem was played.
Have you ever seen a trick helicopter? Neither had we. This one is flying upside if you can't tell.
I loved getting to hang out with Chris all day. Special thanks to the US Navy for making sure each moment with my husband is precious and treasured.
There were lots of stunt planes and helicopters but most of my pictures of those are tiny little dots or blurs. We also spent the day hanging out on our blanket, napping, eating food from the vendors and getting sunburnt.
And then, the Blue Angels came out and all our attention was on them.
Have you seen them fly? Do you love them as much as I do? Do anything cool this weekend?