A DAY IN PENSACOLA

(Pensacola – Joan Osborne)

A cooler day but sunny so we decided to take a day trip to Pensacola.

Pensacola, the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and approximately 13 miles (21 km) from the border with Alabama (33.4 miles/53.75 km), is a waterfront city in the north of the U.S. state of Florida. It’s separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Santa Rosa Island, and its protected beaches make it a popular holiday destination. The city was one of the earliest European settlements in the U.S., and Historic Pensacola Village is a museum complex containing original 19th-century buildings.

The original inhabitants of the Pensacola Bay area were Native American peoples. At the time of European contact, a Muskogean-speaking tribe known to the Spanish as the Pensacola lived in the region. This name was not recorded until 1677, but the tribe appears to be the source of the name “Pensacola” for the bay and thence the city.

The area’s written recorded history begins in the 16th century, with documentation by Spanish explorers, who were the first Europeans to reach the area.

In the age of sailing ships Pensacola was the busiest port on the Gulf of Mexico, having the deepest harbor on the Gulf.

Pensacola is nicknamed “The City of Five Flags”, due to the five governments that have ruled it during its history: the flags of Spain ( Castile), France, Great Britain, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America.

As you can see we did our own walking tour around the city. We saw several monuments/plaques: General Andrew Jackson,William Dudley Chipley,and T. T. Wentworth, Jr.

I don’t think he’d have made it as a minimalist. Lol. Wonder if today he’d have been called a pack rat or a hoarder. 😉

We had a wonderful, healthy lunch at Carmen’s. I had a kale salad with a side scoop of chicken salad, and Richard had a chicken salad plate. Delish. After lunch we walked a bit more and then headed home for a nice sunny time on our deck.