Vacation Destination: Pensacola, Florida

Matt had a conference in Pensacola, Florida and the kids and I were free so we decided to tag along. (I sure love summer break because school sure gets in the way of many potential tag-a-long vacations!)

Before we left for Florida we hosted playgroup at the neighborhood pool. Lauren showed me her new trick...

now you see her...

...now you don't!

My girl is now going under water.
Swimming is so much fun now!

Tyler still uses a life jacket and floaties but he has fun as well.
Here's the latest "Tyler Smile."

Tyler and Daddy
(Matt crashed the playgroup)

Lauren and her friend Elissa (a.k.a. the girl with the curly hair.)

After playgroup we dried off and threw our wet swimsuits into the car and then we were off to Florida. Tyler was the navigator...just in case my Garmin Nuvi failed us.

"um guys, I think maybe we took a wrong turn"

After traveling through Georgia, Alabama and Florida we arrived safely in Pensacola. The conference was held at the Crowne Plaza. I've stayed at over-priced, wonderful hotels before but this one was just over-priced. I recommend other accommodations. (Crowne Plaza did not pay for my endorsement or lack thereof.)

With Matt safely tucked into his conference the kids and I took off for Pensacola Beach. We paid the $1 toll to cross the bridge.

At first I let them get close to the water. It was a scorcher of a day (90s and swimming in humidity.)

But then I started to discover some British Petroleum souvenirs in the sand.
(apparently they started washing up the evening before we got there)

so I made them back up from the shoreline

Before long, Tyler got too hot. After his one hundredth "I want to go back to the hotel," I loaded them up in the car, got them an ICEE and we took a scenic drive.




We saw shorebirds nesting and even baby birds flying all over the place. The speed limit was temporarily set at 20 mph due to all the babies/chicks? learning to fly. We also saw many yellow-vested people cleaning up oil from the beach thanks to the BP oil spill.

After we were all cooled off and sights were seen we headed to nearby Fort Pickens to explore. This fort was built in 1829 to defend Pensacola Bay.

L and T checked to see if the cannon was loaded.

Lauren is currently fascinated by cemeteries so she had me stop at this transplanted one to take a look.

At dinner that night, lemon-faced Lauren said this was the best day of her life. Wow!!
The next day while Matt attended meetings about the latest and greatest in the Pulp and Paper Industry the children and I checked out the Gulf Breeze Zoo.
We loved this zoo (although it was small and oh so HOT outside.) We bought some food nuggets and fed the animals in the petting zoo area. A llama actually sneezed white goo all over Lauren and we all had a laugh over this (well all of us but Lauren.) It still makes me chuckle to think about it!







I had planned to take the kids to the National Naval Aviation Museum after lunch but we were all worn out from the morning at the zoo and the humid hot elements. Instead we took a "rest" in the hotel room and then did some goofing around that we can only do in hotel rooms.

jumping on the beds

That night we had dinner at an awesome restaurant. The Fish House. If you are ever in Pensacola you must eat here! Matt had the grouper fish special and I had a couple of sushi rolls. My sushi was so good that I don't even remember what the kids ate. We sat outside and enjoyed the cooler evening air.

This morning as we checked out of the Crowne Plaza we asked the one and only friendly front desk employee where the best local-dive-breakfast-diner was. He steered us toward this joint. The Coffee Cup. We sat at the bar and had a great greasy breakfast. The waitresses were super sweet. "How you doin' hon? You want more coffee?" I love little diners!
On our way out of town we visited the National Naval Aviation Museum. This was AWESOME. Unfortunately, we had a couple of hard to entertain children. There was plenty for them to see and do but Matt and I agreed we could spend a whole day here just learning and experiencing. Here are a few snapshots from our visit:

Blue Angels

Next time we're in town we'll make sure we get to see the Blue Angels practice.

At first glance Pensacola, FL doesn't seem that exciting but after a closer look I really fell in love with the place and I can't wait to go back.