As the two ferry boats made their way into the bay late Saturday afternoon, the excitement began to build. Gulf Islands National Seashore Superintendent Dan Brown has been waiting a long time for the boats to arrive.

Criss-crossing a gray sky on a blustery Monday morning at NAS Pensacola, the Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team showed off their impressive flying maneuvers in the air, the noise from their T-38 jets almost deafening and the smoke trailing off behind them and fading into the gray clouds.