Pensacola Beach with its powdery white sand beach which seems to go on forever is beautiful. The kitchen in our house was being remodeled, so we chose to get away from the dust and noise to Pensacola Beach, Florida. But first things first, a slight detour to New Orleans.
New Orleans
Driving into Pensacola Beach we chose to break the journey in New Orleans. We spent just one night there. In the evening we walked through the French Quarter and had beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde on Decatur Street, the iconic original French Market coffee stand since 1862. The area around the café and by the Mississippi river is pretty.
We arrived too late to see the inside of the St.Louis Cathedral but saw it from the outside. We skipped the risqué Bourbon Street (nothing of interest to us) although we passed the intersection few times as we were walking to other places. To be honest, felt a little concerned about safety walking around the French Quarter, but our visit was fine. And I guess, these days any city, one has to be careful. We enjoyed dinner at Pierre Masperos, the Crawfish Etouffée, Crab cakes and sampler plate of creole dishes was delicious.
I liked the Garden District of New Orleans much better than the French Quarter. Next day morning, we signed up for a walking architecture tour of the Garden District and Lafayette cemetery and found it to be worthwhile. It was great to see the beautiful historic old mansions and hear about some of the famous people who lived in New Orleans. We visited the Christ Church Cathedral (since 1805) and I thought it was one among the most beautiful churches I have seen in America.
We left immediately after the walking tour as New Orleans was just a quick break enroute to Pensacola Beach, though it was nice to get a quick glance of this historic city.
Pensacola Beach
Off-season November, Pensacola Beach was very peaceful and not at all crowded, so we loved it. Unlike the craziness of the Miami area or even the busy Clearwater beach, Pensacola beach was calm, refreshing, and pristine. It is on the Gulf Coast barrier island of Santa Rosa and its white-sand beaches are clean and gorgeous. The area includes Opal Beach, and the Gulf Islands National Seashore.
Even though we were working some of the days, it felt like we were on vacation. The condo we rented was on the eleventh floor and had a gorgeous view of the sea from every room and each time I looked up from the computer I could see the blue sea and it was a real treat. Waking up in the morning the first thing we would see from the bed was the sea.
We purchased groceries at the local Publix supermarket and also viewed the veteran’s day parade, staying to hear Grand Marshal, Colonel Joe Kinego’s, USAF (ret.) speech. It was nice to see a small-town parade, a decent number of people lined the main street to encourage and support the veterans.
Fort Pickens
Over the weekend we visited Fort Pickens, which is the longest stretch of federally protected seashore in the United States. You can understand Pensacola’s military significance going back before the American Revolution. There are three forts which were designed to fortify Pensacola Harbor – Fort Pickens, Fort Barrancas and Fort McRee within the Gulf Islands National Seashore and administered by the National Park Service.
Pensacola Museum of History
We also drove back into Pensacola downtown to visit the Museum of History. The main building, a lovely three-story Mediterranean Revival style structure is the former Pensacola City Hall. It was built in 1907 and has permanent and changing exhibits. Also in the same complex are several other historic structures. Guided tours are offered by costumed staff at certain times, check https://historicpensacola.org/ for more information.
Restaurants:
There are lots of seafood restaurants in the area, we enjoyed these below: –
Pensacola Beach Restaurants
- Flounders – we liked it so much we had two meals here, the ambiance, view and food were great
- Shaggys
- Café Nola
- Peg Leg Pete’s
- Native Café
Pensacola Restaurants
- Ruby Slipper Café in Pensacola (Brunch was delicious, the place tends to get crowded, so sign up on the waiting list earlier)
- Founaris Brothers (Greek) in Pensacola
All in all, it was a wonderful break from the routine. Pensacola Beach is so beautiful, think we would want to visit again. Florida and its lovely beaches are an irresistible draw.