Pensacola

One of my New Year’s resolution this year is to see and experience more. And before this year, I had never had the chance to travel in a plane.

And for my 20^th birthday in March, I was finally able to accomplish this.

On the plane ride we rode from Lightning Aviation in Foley, Alabama, to Pensacola, Florida, in a 30 minute plane ride.

Pensacola was first settled by the Spanish in 1559 and is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle. Giving the city one of its many nicknames of “America’s First Settlement”.

After the Spanish settled Pensacola, the first Catholic Mass was held in the United States on Pensacola Beach.

Before being settled by the Spanish, a Native American tribe of Muskogean-speaking people known as Pensacola lived in the area. Giving the city its name. The name was finally recorded in 1677.

Throughout the years, the city of Pensacola has been owned by five different groups giving Pensacola the nickname of “The City of Five Flags”. Pensacola has been owned by the Spanish Empire (1559-1719, 1722-1763, 1781-1821), the French Empire (1719-1722), the British Empire (1763-1781), the United States of America (1821-1861, 1865 to present), and the Confederate States of America (1861-1865).

Other nicknames for Pensacola include “P-Cola”, “World’s Whitest Beaches”, “Cradle of Naval Aviation”, “Western Gate to the Sunshine State”, “Emerald Coast”, and the “Red Snapper Capital of the World”.

In Pensacola, there are quite a few attractions. These include The Pensacola Seafood Festival and The Pensacola Crawfish Festival which is held in Downtown Pensacola. This city also holds The Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival in Seville Square which brings in more than 200 artists. In the same park is The Children’s Art Festival which showcases local children’s artwork. It also has the Pensacon which brings in 25,000 people from all over the world.

Others include Vietnam Veterans’ Wall South, Fort Barrancas, Fort Pickens (temporary prison for Geronimo), National Naval Aviation Museum, and the Pensacola Lighthouse.

One of the places we went for my birthday was Seville Quarter club.

Seville Quarter was founded in 1967 by Bob Snow as “Rosie O’Grady’s Warehouse” a beer-and-peanut saloon with Dixieland jazz. The club has seven different themed rooms called Rosie O’Grady’s, Lili Marlene’s, Fast Eddie’s, Apple Annie’s, Palace Oyster Bar, Phineas Phogg’s and End O’ The Alley Bar. It also includes an open-air courtyard with a fountain. A truly neat place.

The trip to Pensacola was truly a fun one. I was able to see the beautiful city from the sky and the streets. And was able to experience a very neat, and pretty bar as well. What made the experience better was the fact I had some of my greatest friends with me.

If you are looking for a historically rich and beautiful city, then I recommend taking a trip to Pensacola, Florida. Preferably by plane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxVVOnTupws