It’s hard to believe it already October. Where did the time go? We made a few phone calls this morning and made plans to drive downtown to Pensacola’s Historic District. We didn’t realize that this was the weekend for Pensacola’s Seafood Festival down in the same area of town. Oh well… more to see and do.
As we neared downtown, there were people walking everywhere. We decided to head down to the Palafox Pier at the Port of Pensacola first.
This is where we stayed in our boat when we brought it down from Wisconsin in 2008. It’s always different to see a place from the land compared to the water. Parking was not a problem at the marina. It was a beautiful day to take a stroll along the docks.
From the marina, we could see this interesting structure and the Argonaut Stadium.
Being here at the marina brought back interesting memories. However, we had to move the truck and find long-term parking if we wanted to check out the seafood festival and walk around the Historic District.
Luckily, we found an empty space in the vendor parking lot for free. We are lucky like that! We walked to the park in Seville Square. The seafood festival was being held in the park with all the arts and craft booths in the center of the park and the seafood booths around the perimeter.
In checking out the seafood booths, the food looked scrumptious and as usual……expensive, so we bought some kettle corn and beers to enjoy as we walked around. From there, we walked a block or two to Historic Pensacola Village.
It is a complex of houses and museums reflecting 450 years of history. Different homes display exhibits and authentic furnishings from different time periods in Pensacola’s history. We didn’t go inside any of the homes, but enjoyed looking at the restorations and architecture as we meandered down the streets. Pensacola is rich in history being known as the City of Five Flags. This city has flown the flags of Spain, France, England, the Confederacy, and the United States. The influence of these countries is apparent in many areas of the city.
Old Christ Church has been beautifully restored.
We passed this old steam train which transported lumber back in the day.
On most corners in the Historic District, decorated pelicans can be found. Each designed pelican represents a certain company, organization, or theme. Some were very unique!
We got back to the campground in time to watch Wisconsin play Michigan State in football at 2:30. (Too bad…we lost) Auggie spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun outside. This is as far west as we’ll be going on this trip. Tomorrow we start heading east to Marianna, FL where we’ll be staying at the Florida Caverns State Park. This park has extensive caverns with calcite formations, a museum, and a natural rock garden. Caverns in Florida are very rare as you can imagine. I have been looking forward to touring these caverns since I first learned about them last year. After the game, Bob cooked some steaks on the grill. We started to prep the trailer for leaving tomorrow and took our evening walk around the campground. The campground was really full tonight with “weekenders” so we wanted to see everyone that had come in today. It was another beautiful night with perfect temperatures.
