Exploring Our City

Parker and I are always in the best mood Sunday after church, so lately we have been going out to lunch, walking around the mall, etc. to postpone the studying/housework that awaits every Sunday afternoon. This Sunday, Parker asked if I wanted to each lunch downtown, and of course I was game. Pensacola has a really neat downtown area. It's historic with a modern twist, and there are tons of neat art galleries, shops, and restaurants. Bonus: downtown Pensacola dead ends at the bay. We have really fallen in love with this place, and it's very surreal to us that we won't be here much longer. It's definitely bitter sweet, but we are excited for new adventures elsewhere. Anyway, Sunday we parked downtown and just walked up and down the streets of our beautiful little city. We have lived here over a year, but we had never taken the time to really explore the downtown area. A little sad, I know. Sunday was a GORGEOUS day and it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

I loved the fountain near the start of our walk! Parker found a hubcap sitting by the sidewalk, and the hoarder in me was trying so hard to think of something cool I could craft out of it, but I decided we didn't need any more junk (and this was literally junk). 

We found a neat little gazebo (I thought of you Maggie!) next to what I think was some sort of Bed & Breakfast, and it was precious with all the greenery around it. Side note: Parker and I both wore green unintentionally, so we considered walking around and pinching random strangers who weren't wearing green to try to convince them it was St. Patrick's Day. We decided to be normal and not do that. We dead-ended at the bay, my personal favorite part of the day. The water was beautiful and there were so many people just enjoying the view and taking in the gorgeous day that we had been given. Of course I had to get a picture of Parker in front of the ship (Navy problems).

The coolest thing about the bay hands down were all the birds that hung out there. There were a lot of people fishing, so the pelicans hung out on the side walk in hopes of snatching a fish. They didn't want to be bothered, but there weren't shy at all about being around people. So neat!

The large bird is a grey heron, and the other two are pelicans. I had never been so close before!

We took turns acting like cheesy tourists and posing in front of the pelicans. We couldn't get over how comfortable they were with people. It was neat, and the water was beautiful. We so often take for granted living in Pensacola, but Sunday was definitely a reminder of how blessed we are to live here!

We ate lunch at a place called Helen Back (catchy and weird at the same time), and it was a great way to end our little mini adventure. We sat on the third-floor balcony overlooking part of the city and I proceeded to get a slight sunburn...typical. After lunch it was time to face reality and head home, but Parker and I had the best little time together!