OUT & ABOUT TRAVEL
Find a New Side of Florida in Pensacola
WHERE DOLPHINS AND BLUE ANGELS MEET 450 YEARS OF AMERICAN HISTORY BY: MATT KIROUAC PHOTOS PROVIDED
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lorida in the summer might typically conjure visions of South Beach or family vacations to Disney World, but nestled on the western edge of the state’s panhandle, a seashell’s toss from the Alabama state line, Pensacola is a smaller, underrated city with a flavor, vibe and lore all its own. It ticks all the requisite summer road trip boxes — patio bars aplenty, adrenaline-pumping water sports, miles of sugar-white sandy beachfront — but beyond the sunbathing and dolphin-spotting, it still feels like the most un-Floridian of all of Florida’s beach towns. That’s largely due to its history as America’s first settlement, ahead of even St. Augustine — though later abandoned, it was founded in 1559 by Don Tristan de Luna. It’s such an old city that its nickname, “The City of Five Flags,” is indicative of the fact that Pensacola has been under five flags in its history: Spanish, French, British, Confederate and American. That lore is on full display in Historic Pensacola Village downtown, an 8.5-acre collection of colonial cottages, houses and churches where old-timey homesteaders and historians offer museum tours, cooking demonstrations and a glimpse into another epoch. Today, though, Pensacola is the kind of singular place where one can step back in time in a historic village or a military fort, then drink a Bushwacker on the beach.
Pensacola Beach has an average of 325 sunny days per year. Crystal clear waters and stunning white beaches make Pensacola beach a top destination among fishermen, beach lovers and environmentalists alike.
94 The Bend
