Historic Pensacola museum

We took it a little slower this week in Florida.  There were two very nice places we visited in Pensacola.  First was the Historic Pensacola area that had preserved and/or restored buildings as well as museums about the area’s heritage.  We learned that Pensacola is also known as the “five flags city” because it has been ruled by Spain, France, England, the Confederacy, and the USA.  The area is run by the University of West Florida, and they have done an admirable job of putting everything together. 

The other major attraction for Pensacola is the Naval Air Museum on the Navy base there.  It is their main one in the country, with over 150 planes displayed.  That is the base where Naval aviators train now; my friend Fran has a son who was stationed there for training a few years ago. We also went down to Pensacola Beach, with its beautiful white sands, and had some gulf seafood there.  Pensacola claims to have 340 days of sunshine per year, but we only got one of them (luckily it was our beach day).  So we moved on to Tallahassee, which wasn’t sunny either.  But they do have an excellent Museum of Florida History.  Chuck commented about Florida that he now realizes he was raised “tree deprived” in California.  Everywhere in this area is wooded, which makes the driving much more enjoyable.

A couple more reflections from the road.  We love Skype and Facetime to keep up with the growing grandkids.  The pace we’ve been going has been nice, allowing us to see each area well without getting too road weary.  We joke that as soon as we get to know our way around the area, it’s time to move on.  Also, you meet lots of interesting and nice people in RV parks.  We met a British couple that was doing a two year tour of the US, and a man who didn’t have an answer to where he was from because he’s been traveling for 20 years.  So we’re still novices I guess.  Now we are in Port Richey, just north of Tampa.  It’s sunny and warm here; mid 80’s today and warm this evening.  So this area has lots of “snowbirders” that come from the northeast and Canada.  License plates around us are from Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario (not Ontario, California, haha), Michigan, Pennsylvania, etc.  But one lesson learned: never take recommendations for Mexican restaurants from people that aren’t from California or Arizona.  We’ve decided that maybe we should stick to Taco Bell until we get out west again.  Till next week….hope all is well with everyone.

Old Pensacola home

Historic, but I don't qualify

Naval Air Museum, big plane

Pensacola Beach

Naval Museum, fast plane