Monday was our first full day in Pensacola and we woke up to a beautiful view! Our condo was 11 stories up and we have just the perfect place to enjoy the sun and the ocean.
Our balcony - I think I spent most of my time at the condo sitting outside. I read alot and just enjoyed relaxing.
Our plan for our first day was to relax and that is what we did! I made amazing street taco's (from Publix) for lunch and then we headed to check out the pool. Our condo sat right between the Gulf of Mexico and Pensacola Bay on a little strip of land. From our balcony we enjoyed the Gulf and from the pool, we enjoyed the Bay.
The pool was COLD HA! I mean it was Lake Michigan cold LOL We did all get it but it took a lot of courage to do so :-)
Josh and Nate both tried out the hammocks. Nate was not a fan but Josh hung out in his hammock for a bit and relaxed.
Part of our "relaxation" on the first day was to do a little exploring. We took off for a drive into the Gulf Shores National Seashore and were just blown away by the beauty. We also saw quite a bit of damage left over from hurricane Sally. Thankfully the things we wanted to do/see were open. At the very end of the road/island sits an old civil war fort and it was amazing. We hadn't planned to explore it until Tuesday but we did a little looking around on Monday.
Nate loved the fort!
It was just humbling to think about the men who served at this fort from as far back as the civil war through the world wars to protect our country from attack.
As we headed back the other direction we pulled off at one of the many beach areas and enjoyed some time at the ocean.
It was a little chilly (but we are used to Lake Michigan, right?) and the waves were amazing. My kids were a little concerned about the sea creatures - especially jelly fish - but we saw nothing exciting HA! The beaches are just amazing. The sand is white and cool (we are used to tan and HOT) and it feels like flour. We also noticed it doesn't stick to your skin like the Michigan sand does which was great for clean up!
Once back at our condo we all cleaned up and headed out to dinner. Our resturant of choice was called Red Fish Blue Fish. It sat right on the beach so we were able to sit outside and enjoy the wonderful summer air! Our dinners were so good - lots of shrimp and fish!
We had some wonderful sunsets every night too!
After dinner, we went gift shopping before we finally headed back to the condo for the night.
We had a glorious first day in Florida. I think it met all of our expectations and then some! The weather was perfect and we even got to see dolphins swimming by the condo while sitting on the balcony!
