Pensacola Beach and Fort Pickens

Saturday rolled around and we finally got to spend time with Sandi.  It was a  3-day weekend for her.  Best of all she wasn’t on duty, didn’t have school and was able to leave base to join us.  We knew we’d have a good time.

We figured out where she wanted to go when we saw what she  had brought along  …. beach clothes.  So, after breakfast at Waffle House we were off to Pensacola Beach. 

Love it when you find a beach they’ve raked!

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect and by 10:00 we had laid claim to our spot, set up the beach chairs and umbrellas and were prepared to do nothing.

Relaxing at the beach! 

Then, we took a walk or two or more.

Some folks got busy building their own castles.

Eventually, we took a swim.  The water was wonderful.

Eventually it was time for a side trip and Fort Pickens was just down the road. 

Check out this awesome roadway.

I couldn’t get these people to move out of the way so I could snap a photo of the sign.

 

At the end of the road was the fort.   Fort Pickens was built between 1829 and 1835 to defend Pensacola.  It was an active fort until about 1947.   The fort is huge and we explored it all.  Sandi was our tour guide and we followed her direction.

Not far from the fort is a campground with several different loops.  We drove through Loop E and were surprised to see so many sites shut down and not in use.  So much for trying to get a site at the park over the weekend.  No wonder it was considered full.

Sandi wanted to check out Joe Patti’s Seafood Market so one more stop was made there.  It was packed and we figured any other day would be better than a Saturday. 

Instead we stopped at Sam’s Seafood and Steak Restaurant across the street for a very late  lunch.  It’s not a restaurant we’ll be returning to anytime soon.  As a starter, I think we were just a little shocked at the menu prices.  They reflected those you’d find at an upper scale restaurant and this place didn’t look like a fine dining establishment.  Even the shrimp hadn’t been deveined.  To me that’s gross but there was so much more we weren’t pleased with either.  It's been a long time since we’ve eaten at a restaurant that I’ve said we’d never return to.  This was one.

Our Elks calendar indicated Saturday night food would be served. We were too late for the dinner but the staff decided to take care of us anyway.  They made sure we had food warmed up from the leftovers.  The charge? Zero.  No wonder we stay at Elks Lodges where most of the people are so fantastic. 

And, that was Saturday.  The holiday weekend had two more days.  One of those days we planned to visit the Gulf Shores Annual Shrimp Festival and the next we expected Jerry and Janice to arrive.  We figured it would be busy but that’s another blog.
 

‘Tis life on the road.