With Pensacola Naval Air Station and Eglin Air Force Base in the area, there is plenty of military activity about. There are streets with names like "Air Commando Blvd". On prior trips, we have watched the Navy’s Blue Angels practice while we were sunbathing on Pensacola Beach. On this trip, we saw at least one military aircraft every day, usually more. Coast Guard helicopters are common during the day.
One night, my Florida Brother told us to come for a walk on the bike trail on Navarre Beach. He pointed out a distant "booming" sound. It was followed by a faint but perceptible rat-a-tat-tat. You had to concentrate, but you could hear them. These were the sounds of the night bombing runs at Eglin. The responding machine gun fire and anti-aircraft rounds could also be heard. My Florida Brother said you might actually see the flashes from communities closer to the base.
These sounds were not a problem; in fact the "boys" enjoyed them. You can’t hear them if you are actually on the beach because of the surf, and you can’t hear them from inside the poorly insulated beach house. I don’t want to scare anyone away with this report, just explain what you might be hearing in the distance.
With big and small boys in our family, military activity is just one of the attractions we got for free. Military Bases