Day 14 - Gulf Shores to Gulf Breeze (Pensacola)

So as you know from yesterday's blog I was super tired last night and K had to finish the blog. Well this morning on day 14 of the holiday I actually slept to a decent hour (730) which is a bit annoying with regard to jet lag on Tuesday. We had a hotel breakfast this morning, I tried to be healthy and have porridge but it was disgusting and watery so I had to make myself some waffles.

We set off in the blazing sunshine hoping to catch the 10am dolphin cruise but unfortunately it wasn't running cos it was too windy. Bad times but at least we were out and about early. We stopped in at Target so K could buy some jeans that K saw the other day that are apparently better than ones at home.

Soon we were cruising towards Pensacola and we were in state number 9 - Florida! We didn't stop in the town we just headed across the bridge towards the beach. Our first stop was Fort Pickens which is in a national park. It meant it cost $15 for us to get in (not each) and suddenly the coast wasn't built up and it was reasonably quiet - well worth the money. By the time we got to the tip of the island where the fort was the wind had picked up and we were very happy we weren't on the dolphin cruise. The fort was cool and there was a lot to see but it had a mixed history. It was built in the 1800s using slave labour (bad) but was used by the union in the civil war (good) but it was also used to hold captured apache including Geronimo (bad).

We went down to a wee beach after it and saw loads of cool birds including a heron and more pelicans.  On the road out of the park we walked through some dunes to a beautiful, deserted beach. White sands, clear water the whole 9 yards. We did some padding and just enjoyed the quiet for a bit before heading back to the car.

We decided to head back over the water to Pensacola old town for a late lunch. The Mexican that we'd planned to go to was rammed because it's cinco de mayo and Americans love it! Luckily, we'd spotted some food trucks so we headed to them. I got a couple of tacos (pork and fried avocado) and K just got a fried avocado one. We also ordered some tortilla chips with guac and fried green beans with ranch. It turns out we over ordered, it was a lot of food! The fried green beans were amazing, one of my favourite things ever. It was blowy sitting outside so afterwards we headed over to Bodacious Brews to heat up. The coffees were great, highly recommended if you're in the area.

Our next stop in the very picturesque old town was the Pensacola Bay Brewery. I got a flight to try 4 of their beers, all delicious but special props to the 44 pounder IPL. K had a diet coke cos she was driving sadly but I let her try all of mine.

At this stage it was after 4 so we went and checked into the hotel which is on the island of Gulf Breeze which is between Pensacola and Pensacola Beach. We checked in and it's a Hampton Inn just like last night and comically similar. Nice though!

We headed back over to the beach after checking in and went straight for the mini golf, I had to salvage my pride! Luckily I did win but it was a close run thing, at one point I was 9 shots clear but I ended up only winning by 2. After my victory lap we headed down to the main beach, it was pretty busy but still not crazy. There were plenty of people swimming and paddling but also just a lot of people sitting chilling enjoying the vibe as it got a little dusky.

We headed back to our hotel as the sun started to set as the restaurant next door is famed for it's sunset views and walking for dinner meant K could have a drink for once.  We got there just in time and got a window seat facing the sunset and it was incredible. K ordered a wee cocktail and I got a beer from the other local brewery and we enjoyed the view. We both ordered chicken florentine (chicken supreme with spinach served with rice) and it came with a ceasar side salad and a garlic cheese biscuit which they brought as a starter. The meal was absolutely delicious and it was good to eat something a bit less "American".

After dinner we were going to walk down to the bar a few buildings down but we're both a bit tired cos of the sun and the sea air so we decided to call it a night.

We've got a shed load of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll say goodbye to the coast and hello to central Alabama. So it's an early start.

Night y'all!