Our next segment of travel led us from England back to the States. After crossing the Atlantic and stopping briefly in Atlanta, our plane navigated south and soon lowered on our approach to Pensacola. Flying over the Florida Panhandle was a new geography puzzle for me. There was so much water! Where does all that water come from? There were bays, rivers, inlets, ponds, and the ocean. So many wonderful water viewpoints.

As the plane descended to tree level, I was reminded of our flight to northern Argentina to visit Iguazu Falls. The amount of green trees across the land looked a lot alike! 

What brought us to Florida? We were selected for a housesitting assignment. Unlike many of our exits from airports, this time we had people waiting for us! Larry and Jackie kindly picked us up from the airport and drove us to their home where we met their kitties – Ace and Koi. 

In turn we drove them back to the airport the next morning and saw them off for their big vacation. Over the next several days we went out to explore the area and see what was nearby.

Activities

A short drive away from our location was Perdido Key – also known as a little slice of heaven. The beaches feature soft white sandy beaches and clear water. We loved spending time there on the beach!

Further west of Perdido Key you cross the border into Alabama’s southern beaches. To me, it felt like the San Diego of the south (at least the back bay area of San Diego). Flat grassy areas give way to white sand dunes. It’s a stunning area with a lot of stuff to do for vacationing families: swimming, boating, fishing. We felt like we had enough going on in the area that we were never bored.

I was recently asked about routines and how we manage to create some kind of consistency or schedule for ourselves so that we don’t get lost in nomad life. For us it’s kind of easy. When pet sitting we follow the pets’ schedule. We tend to travel plan on Tuesdays and get some work done while still making time to exercise and explore. We travel with a small magnetic dry-erase whiteboard that we use to write out a schedule. When possible Corey joins his karate class through zoom on Saturdays. With these things in mind, a routine is formed though it is flexible.

The house we stayed in is nestled into a wonderful community right along Perdido Bay. We visited the community pool nearly daily. We got our first glimpse of hurricane season during our first week. As Helene formed in the Gulf, we were eagerly waiting for updates every few hours for a storm that was more than a week away from landfall. It was a fascinating dive into emergency preparedness, Florida geography, and weather patterns. We felt supported by Larry and Jackie from afar, as well as by neighbors. Helene proved to be a ruthless monster and we are so fortunate that this corner of Florida received only a small amount of wind and rain.

Life continued on in the Pensacola area and we enjoyed going on walks, watching football, caring for these two adorable cats, cooking at home, eating out, travel planning, and travel writing. (At this point we have several articles published online with Business Insider. If you would like to check those out here is a link to my author page.)

Then chatter began about the next disturbance in the Gulf, and then it strengthened. A huge sigh of relief collectively exhaled from NW Florida as it was one of the only areas in Florida that was not impacted by Hurricane Milton. Pensacola is not always this lucky. Hurricane Sally and other storms have leveled homes and devastated communities here, too. 

The beautiful dock in this community is new because it was destroyed by Sally. We have enjoyed walking down it in the evenings and enjoying sunsets and animal sightings.

Nearby is the Tarkiln Bayou, a state park where a forested trail leads past fields of carnivorous pitcher plants, eventually hitting a view over the bay.

We also enjoyed walking through the Navy Point neighborhood, where a waterfront trail winds around the bayous.

Our good friends Jake and Jamey visited Pensacola near the end of our trip. This was a great excuse for us to go out and do more touristy things. We started with a tiki boat excursion to Crab Island. We drove an hour or so east to Destin, boarded the tiki boat and enjoyed an afternoon of fun in the sun on this famous sand bar. Crab Island isn’t an island, and we didn’t see any crabs!

Loads of local and tourists waded in the shallow waters and enjoyed the scene.

The next day we went the other direction and enjoyed an afternoon at Flora-Bama. At the point on the beach where Florida and Alabama meet, there is a famous venue with five stages and room for thousands.

We enjoyed the live music and delicious bushwackers. Brought back from the Virgin Islands, the bushwacker is locally-renowned as the “official” drink of the Gulf of Mexico beaches. Recipes vary but they generally contain rum, coffee liqueur, cream de cacao, some kind of coconut cream, and either cream or ice cream, served frozen and blended. Similar concept to a mudslide. Very boozy and decadent.

It was relatively quiet since we arrived during daytime and in shoulder season. It was pretty perfect for us. We perched in a few places, enjoyed some music and each others company. It was a great closing for a weekend with friends. With our final days in Pensacola, we continued to check items off the sightseeing list.

Naval Air Station Pensacola is the home base of the Blue Angels, and no trip to Pensacola is complete without checking out at least one show. We decided to avoid the crowds and the long waiting time to get on base, and instead watched the show from the parking lot of a nearby shopping plaza. It was a scheduled practice but it is still interesting to watch. There’s something thrilling about a fast airplane zooming over a crowd of people. The tight formations and manuevers are all fascinating to watch.

There is a great Facebook page that provides detailed information on Blue Angels viewing information in the Pensacola area.

The next day we finally visited the National Naval Aviation Museum. Free to guests and containing over 150 planes, it was a cool experience! The museum started in 1962 and is maintained by generous donations and corporate sponsors. The navy provides the real estate and the utilities, as the museum is located on the base.

We joined a free guided tour and I learned so much that I would not have picked up on if I wandered around the building on my own. We highly recommend centering your visit around the illuminating tours provided by the experienced volunteer docents.

Most of the planes are authentic, with only a handful of replicas. We walked through the World War I and World War II exhibits and then the tour led out to the hangar to see modern planes and space exhibits.

There was even a section for Blue Angels planes, which are hung in formation from the ceiling. Fun fact: the planes hanging here are farther apart than when they are actually flying. Yes, they get that close to each other in the air. We learned more about the squad: Pilots serve 2-3 years, the planes travel more than 1,300 MPH, and fly higher than 50,000 feet.

We watched two movies in the “Giant Screen” theater (think Imax), one about the Blue Angels, and one about the world of aircraft carriers. A fee is charged for the films, but we considered it our donation to the museum.

Considering it takes all day to tour through all the exhibits, of course we stopped for lunch! The museum features the Cubi Point Cafe, a recreation of the officers club at Naval Air Station Cubi Point in the Philippines. When it closed down in 1992, the plaques and other memorabilia were taken down and rehung to create the same vibe.

On our way “home” we briefly stopped at the Pensacola Lighthouse. We knew the museum was closed, so we wanted just a quick photo and walk around. Glad we had a hustle in our step because at 4:10 PM, Navy security was taking down license plate numbers and threatening to ticket visitors. Not much of a grace period for people dillydallying on a nice day! We left with no incident and proceeded to exit the base.

Pensacola was the Spanish capital of West Florida, and downtown Pensacola is filled with historic colonial buildings, as well as tree-lined parks. The streets reminded us of New Orleans with the gallery-style balconies extending over the sidewalks. I seem to not have any good photos from town though. The beach is outside of town and it’s a long stretch of soft, white sand and dozens of restaurants and bars to entertain visitors.

And there seem to be constant festivals and parties in Pensacola! We attended the Pensacola Seafood Festival, and then a couple weeks later we went to the Festa Italiana in the same park. We could have gone to Taste of the Beach, the Pensacola Interstate Fair, and a gamut of other festivals.

Food and Drink

Very different than Miami, the cuisine in Pensacola is generally southern-based, with an emphasis on seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. We tried to eat the local specialties, both at home and at restaurants. Here are some tasty highlights:

• Joe Patti’s Seafood: An enormous seafood market. Here we tried Royal Red shrimp, a delicacy caught in the deep waters of the Gulf, with a briny lobster-like flavor. They will steam seafood for takeaway, but we cooked our Royal Reds at home.
• Salty Pearl Raw Bar: In Perdido Key, we enjoyed raw oysters and a nice platter of fried shrimp, both available as happy hour specials.
• Ruby Slipper: A lovely New Orleans brunch spot.
• Crabs on the Beach: We tried succulent she-crab soup, a bisque served with a shot of sherry to pour over.
• Hub Stacey’s at the Point: A locals spot just off a marina, they served up some nice sandwiches.

So many restaurants offered nice patios. Only once did we find a place that would not serve on their patio, and it was only because they were down a server (i.e., no silly weather-related excuses). Many also had live music, even on weekdays. It was very pleasant to feel the breeze off the Gulf as we ate seafood and listened to local musicians.

It was our first visit to Northwest Florida but hopefully we will be back to Pensacola. The fall weather is incredible and the people are jovial and hospitable — especially these furry friends!