Saying Goodby

We have sold our boat Adagio
With the sale comes all the doubts and questions, did we do the right thing, will we be sorry?
I have to say yes to both of them.
We did do the right thing, she is going to a very young couple whom will love her, take care of her and sail her like we did...
and...
yes I am sorry.....I am going to miss sailing so much......but we are not done with sailing yet.....rest assured of that.
She is now ready for her new dreams and so are we. I haven’t detailed much about what we are going to do yet, but I have some wonderful ideas!
so stay tuned.....

Pictures of the work we have done...inside...

New floor in galley

This is just some the work we have done in the boat!

new shelfs in library

new custom carpet

new carpet and led lighting

new chairs

more of the custom carpet 

new hatch and new lighting

new curtains and lamb on bed…Lol

check out my poof i made under the chair!

Meditation anyone?

I decided to try to learn to meditate.....
I thought it will help me become one with the universe, a wiser, calmer and generally a better person!
So I sat on the back of the boat one evening and gazed out over the calm waters of the bayou.
A few seagulls flew by, carried by the wind, then a pelican swooped down and settled on the water. This is just what I need....I thought!
After just a few minutes, things, words and images started to float up into my mind..
I thought of the universe as a vast, impersonal, life creating thing, that is ever changing and moving.
This touched me deeply and it seemed that time stopped, suddenly a wave a peace came over me or from within me.....still not sure.
Then another thought popped up,
"I am so alive in this impersonal universe....so glad, or am I?"
Then another thought...
"Life on earth is sustained by things feeding on one another...Ewww....Whats up with that.....?"
Then another thought flew in.
"Shit happens."
Realizing I had strayed from my mediation and my thoughts should be good, soothing and calming, I took a deep cleansing breath and looked back out on to the bayou.
New thought!
"Pew.....it stinks over here near the paper mill, and that thing is so noisy!"
Then another thought....
"I feel the need to urinate"
Bummer....

 Here's some pictures to help you meditate!

These were taken off the back of the boat...

Finally🌞Back on board

Finally after a year and a half, living with friends and house sitting, we are almost ready to head back out on Adagio, we have worked so hard on her, she is almost a new boat!
We replace almost one side  of her with new metal, engine rebuilt, generator repaired,  new pro furl on stay sail, house repainted, sails redone and repaired, house enclosure canvas redone and cleaned, deck repainted, hatches repaired, it has been a whirl wind of boat, boat, boat.
I have new carpet in the hall, in the state room, and a new floor in the galley.
We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!
We are leaving after hurricanes season and we are off to see more of the world! I for one am so ready!

Hacked!

My blog was hacked and someone tried to post some very strange posts, thank goodness they only got to the draft stage, and I was alerted by Google that something was going on and I was able to delete them.

My blog is a mess right now, so bear with me while I try to clean it up!

Wandering aimless

We have had the boat in the water for about three months now, but due to some things that we can not control, we still are not back on board. Hopefully that will change, but for the time being we are house sitting for for some friends. 

The house we are staying in is super cool and very big, but, compared to the sail boat, it feels strange. 

I do miss Adagio! But I will stay the course and make the best of my time here in this new house. It does have a pool, so that makes things a little better! Lol....

I have been doing some gardening, growing tomatoes and herbs, so far so good, I have not killed anything yet..fingers crossed. 

I confess to taking life in the same way as I did on on the sailing trips we have made, wandering aimlessly. 

Wandering aimlessly could in some ways describe a lot of my life, It's not a bad thing but it's not for everyone.  It takes a special faith that good things will happen to you even if you don't seek them or perhaps in spite of what you do or where you go.  Think of all the things you have done in your life, hasn't it all worked out for the best? 

It doesn't mean that in your life can't have goals; it just means that you need to make life itself a goal and not just something we pass through on the way to some other perceived goal.  I have goals in my life and have met most of them, and I have have come to grips with those that I have not yet met, but I have thoroughly enjoyed taking the scenic route to getting there all of these years.  I have no way to know where I would be now if I had been more focused, more goal oriented.  Wherever it would be, I'll bet that the journey there would not have been nearly as interesting as the one I have taken.  No, that's not for me, I choose to live life where I am standing at the moment and not constantly wish that I were someplace else.  Wandering aimlessly I have stumbled over some beautiful places, met some of the most interesting people and have experienced life in a way that makes me grateful every day to have been on this wonderful adventure! This world we are living in right now is the real world! Make the most of it, sing, dance, and go wild! 

Water..water

The internet is now the most powerful educational tool in the solar system so 

I have been using it to resource new bottom paint for the boat, yes we are getting that close to getting Adagio back into the water, it seems every time we reach the cusp of getting it done, something else rears its ugly head and off we go on a new project. I was sand blasting the bottom and we found another pin hole. Now just let me stop here, no hole, no matter how small, is good on the bottom of a boat, but with a steel hull, a small pin hole always become a large hole. Sure enough, by the time we took off all the bad metal it was a window! That is now new metal and closed up! 

I painted the engine room also and Pierre started to put things back together. It will be so good to have her looking good again and back in the water. Everything is slowly coming back together and splash down is looking closer and closer!

Web and Log

It is the same for us every day anymore, here is my day, get up, work on the boat, get up, go to Lowe's, work on the boat, get up, go to West Marine, work on the boat...rain .....get up, go to Panama Marine, work on the boat....rain..you get the point!

Oh well, it could be worse! Right?

So I ain’t gonna lie. I haven’t had an ounce of desire to write in my blog, too tired most of the time, but the other night I got to thinking about the word blog, where did it come from and how did it come into play....so I had to find out....

The word blog is a conflation of two words: Web and log, in the monosyllabic and informal ways of the Internet, web log soon became known as the word blog. It contains, in its four letters, a concise and accurate self-description: it is a log of your thoughts, impressions, feelings and other such ideas that is posted publicly on the internet for others to read and comment on. Blogging is a relative new form of instant and global self-publishing, made possible by technology that has been available only for the past decade or so, it is the spontaneous expression of thoughts.

Now writing in a log is not a new thing, sailing ship have been recording logs for many hundreds of years and these logs owe their name to a small wooden board or log that was weighted with lead then attached to a line and thrown over the taffrail or stern of the ship. The weight of the lead and the board would keep it in the same place in the water, like a provisional anchor, while the ship sailed. This became known as a Taffrail log or ships log. These logs were an indispensable source for recording what actually happened on the ships and the line on the Taffrail logs was marked by equidistant knots so mariners could calculate the speed of their journey, as the ship’s voyage progressed the speed of the ship was measured by these knots, so it helped navigators surmise how far they had traveled and the ships log also provided accountability to a ship’s owners and traders.

Another form of "blogging" is writing in a diary and we can trace the diary's quirky and compelling history through centuries because lots of people wrote about themselves, their lives, family's, travels and their finding. But there is a difference between a blog and a diary, a diary is almost always a private matter and they usually are not meant to be read by others. Diaries are a unique individually literary form of blogging, its dedication to marking life as it happens and remembering life as it was, make them a terrestrial log.

Today blogging is a fun and informal way to write out loud! So have fun writing peeps and keep blogging on..

Here is a little fellow that was watching us from afar and just hanging out! I had to laugh at his antics.

Arm or leg?

I have discovered that when you attaching the word "marine" to literally anything you can immediately jack up the price of any said item by at least a thousand fold. Let me elaborate.

Me:  oh snap...we need a new pump for the head!

Pierre: let's go to the nearest marine store and get one!

Me: what should I give them?

Pierre: well...since you gave your last arm for the new generator part...I think a leg would be ok.

Me: you think they will take one of my legs!

Pierre: yea...I think so:)

Me: ok..good...let's go get that pump!

In conclusion, marine parts cost an arm and a leg!

Dog days of summer

Here are just a few thoughts to get you through the blue-blazing lava heat of the summer time, hummm...Alaska...snow on your eye lashes, ice skating, slushies from Sonic...cold headaches! 

I was told by a lot of people that Panama City had like record cold here last winter so I hope you’ve all had your fill of being cold, because from now until Forever, you’re going to be one unshaded moment away from spontaneously combusting. At the boatyard, in the summertime, it feels like you are actually walking, breathing and swimming thru Lava!

Did I say it's hot here? Well it is and we are just getting started. So it's time to get excited about sweating through everything you own!

New hole

Window

Welding

 We really HAVE been making progress on the boat, slow, but some. It seems like every time you fix one problem, another one rears it's ugly head. We had the hull UT scanned and that came out good, but where the old batteries were, there was a small hole from the leaking battery acid, we had addressed this issue the last time we hauled out, but apparently it was worse them we knew and we found more holes. That lead us to cutting out a new section of the hull as large as a window and then welding a new patch.

Everyone who has a boat and has been on the hard knows that this is a alien place and I for one will be so glad to be back on Adagio....then I plan to rise to the occasion, above all this dust, heat and lava.....you can meet me at Sonic, I will be the one sucking down all the slushies!

Vote for me!

Since our boat is on the hill and we are official homeless....some friends of ours have a house here that they are letting us stay in and it has cable, now we have been out of the loop for a while and I am appalled... all over again ...at the state of affaires this country is in. I'm not going to get up on a soap box  here, I'm just going to go for the throat. Now I'm a firm believer in the old motto, If you don't ask you don't get....so with that in mind and the elections coming up in the next year or so, I would like to throw caution to the wind and ask everyone to consider me for the next President of this once great nation. Before you say any thing, or drop to the floor laughing...let me point out the many reasons "why not".  First, and perhaps one of the the most important reason to vote for me is that I look good in a hat, very cute actually and the "Pres" has lots of hats to wear...No argument there right.  Now the the "cons" are plentiful, I'm just a sailor with a shady past, so we won't go there, let's focus on and examine the "pros".  I am completely untouched by all the scandal and problems concerning the political party's today, I have no skeletons in my closet and I am a woman....us women, we see things completely different than men!

 I can stand on the White House balcony that overlooks the rose garden and say to the adoring masses with a straight face, "I'm the woman for the job and with me as your next president if you go out and  buy yourself alot of really nice shoes, I will understand!"

Next, believe it or not I happen to be a very funny person, people who are funny are more likely to be perceived as more enjoyable and as better presidents. When something makes us smile or laugh, the feel-good chemical dopamine is dropped into our systems, which turns on all the learning centers in the brain and can't we all use just a little more dope!

I would also be very good in a job where my primary goal is encouraging acts of loving kindness and making sure the shoes and purse match the outfit. And finally there is the issue of my name. How can a billion true believers not smile and breath a sigh of relief when the smoke clears and it is shouted from the roof tops "here comes President Bambi"? Bambi..doesn't it conjure up images of green forests and cute little creatures skipping thru the woods? Now I want to assure you while my campaign will be a little "outside the box" you can rest easy that I will carry the good word to all the poor and oppressed, beginning with a visit to Paris or maybe the Bahamas or Hawaii.

Anyway, just think of the marketing opportunity for the nation, how is Bambi not the name of the

next big Disney Movie..whoops...sorry....that's been done already, see...it's already started...Hey, and what's to stop me from busting a move on the White House lawn and starting a new dance craze "twerking with Bambi" and  please don't get me started on the potential for a made for TV move or sitcom...Dear Bambi...yes this transition represents an incredible opportunity for the job of President to be reborn and reimaged and at the end of the day isn't that the name of the game?

Vice "Pres!"

Caution: "Vice Presiden Job" may cause your hair to turn white!

All about Boats

I feel incredibly honored and flattered when people tell me they read and like my blog (thank you) because my blog is my story and you're getting the best of it, because I want to everyone to have as much fun reading this as I have had writing it.  I collect and tell stories, can't you tell? I am constantly watching the world around me because there is always an interesting story to tell if you just pay close attention to the goings on about you and it does not matter where you are, but being in a boatyard.....oh..oh..oh the stories.... did you know that the perfect boat doesn't exist...huh...and that all boats are trade-offs, if you want to cram your boat with cool stuff, you won't win any races, if you really hate bright work, you'd better not have a boat with a lot of teak and stainless or you will be working on it daily!  A bigger boat will give you more living and storage space, but will be more expensive to maintain....the tradeoffs are endless. When you ask, most people claim their boat is the BEST boat, (like mine!) at least as far as they're personally concerned, this is not too surprising when you think about it, people put a good deal of love, research and themselves into building (or buying) their perfect boat, they have thought about what things are important to them and even if it turns out that they've overlooked a few things or they have made some mistakes in the decision making process, few boaters would care to admit that they've invested in a floating nightmare. They'll bravely defend their choice of vessel!!, us boat owners are generally in love with our boats. Sure, you hear boat owners occasionally complain about the expense and hassle of maintaining and operating their boats, (did I say occasionally?)... but ALL us boaters love talking and telling stories about our boats!

We actually are on top of things here in the boatyard because both of us are very well researched in boats and therefore semi-prepared, and I mean semi... (because such fun thing come up when your boat is on the hard) and we possess, for the most part, a go-with-the-flow attitudes so that when things that aren't expected come up, we deal with them accordingly.

Rain, Rain

Can you believe it...ever since we hauled out it has rained and rained and rained..I have found the cure for droughts! The water Gods are not happy!

 Rain is liquid water in the form of droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then precipitated—that is, become heavy enough to fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth, so it is hard to be unhappy about all the rain...(but I am) and did you know, the major cause of rain production is moisture moving along three-dimensional zones of temperature and moisture contrasts known as weather fronts and if enough moisture and upward motion is present, precipitation falls from convective clouds such as cumulonimbus (thunder clouds) and can organize into narrow rain bands, of which we are getting alot of lately!

It has rained so much that Adagio started to tilt over on her port side and she started to sink into the mud and she moved over about 4inches and bent the forward stands! They had to move her today and reblock her. Rain Rain go away!





her new home on the hill

Haul Out

We left the City Marina on Thursday, the 10th and sailed over to Watson Bayou to haul the boat out and get some much needed work done. She came out of the water..no worries...I didn't sleep much the night before..I tend to worry about ALL THINGS! The bottom was not as bad as I thought it was, so that was a good thing and now we can get to work!

We got the prop off yesterday and the Bahamas home water heater out of the engine room, Pierre was happy about that, he has his ER space back. We have to decide on a new water heater now and we are going to have find a place for it and replumb it in.

We had wonderful intentions to work on the boat but, Codi's jeep has been giving her a fit this week, we have changed all sorts of things, but as we replace one thing another thing goes bad! Yesterday we went to Barry's Battery's and got a new battery, Pierre made a new battery cable (ethnic engineered from the old one) and we thought we had fixed the problems...not....it started leaking water again from another hose...well...to make a long story short....Pierre finally found the bad part...it is a heater control valve! And that my friends is a dealers only part! But lo and behold Pierre and Charlie had a wonderful idea, let's go to our Disney World, that for us is Pick and Pull, Charlie and I love that place!!

I have to stop here and give the guy at Pick and Pull kudos, Pierre gave him a $20 dollar bill and he said Pierre only gave him a 10, we told him no it was a 20 , but he insisted and Pierre told me to let it go, it was not worth fighting over...so we went out to the yard to see if we could find the part on a old jeep on the lot. Well we found the part, but not before Pierre cut his wrist really bad and I knew we had to get him to the ER for some stitches! As we were checking out I told the man that I wanted to give him our name and number and when he did his drawer this evening, he would be $10 over, well this guy, while we out in the yard, had already checked his drawer and sure enough, he was $10 over, so he gave me the money and gave us the part for free for our trouble! Thank you for your honesty!

And on that note, we spent the rest of the afternoon in Bay Medical ER! They are great there and we were impressed with the nurses, the staff and everyone was wonderful! 

Ouch

Florida anyone

I love story telling, that is why I have told so many story's of all the places Pierre and I have been, their history's and such! I got to thinking that I have never told the history of Florida, the place I have lived for over 20 years, so here is Florida's story!

People first reached Florida at least 12,000 years ago. The rich variety of environments in prehistoric Florida supported a large number of plants and animals and the animal population included most mammals that we know today. In addition, many other large mammals that are now extinct (such as the saber-tooth tiger, mastodon, giant armadillo, and camel) roamed the land. The people who inhabited Florida at that time were hunters and gatherers, who only rarely sought big game for food. Modern researchers think that their diet consisted of small animals, plants, nuts, and shellfish. During the period prior to contact with Europeans, native societies of the peninsula developed cultivated agriculture, traded with others and increased their social organization, reflected in large temple mounds and village complexes.

  Written records about life in Florida began with the arrival of the Spanish explorer and adventurer Juan Ponce de León in 1513, he waded ashore on the northeast coast of Florida, possibly near present-day St. Augustine. He called the area la Florida, in honor of Pascua florida ("feast of the flowers"), Spain's Eastertime celebration. 

Ponce de Leon

On another voyage in 1521, Ponce de León landed on the southwestern coast of the peninsula, accompanied by two-hundred people, fifty horses, and numerous beasts of burden. His colonization attempt quickly failed because of attacks by native people. However, Ponce de León's activities served to identify Florida as a desirable place for explorers, missionaries, and treasure seekers.

In 1539 Hernando de Soto began another expedition of Florida in search of gold and silver but no great treasure troves awaited the Spanish conquistadores who explored Florida. However, their stories helped inform Europeans about Florida and its relationship to Cuba, Mexico, and Central and South America, from which Spain regularly shipped gold, silver, and other products.

 In 1559 Tristán de Luna y Arellano led another attempt by Europeans to colonize Florida. He established a settlement at Pensacola Bay, but a series of misfortunes caused his efforts to be abandoned after two years.

Spain was not the only European nation that found Florida attractive. In 1562 the French protestant Jean Ribault explored the area. Two years later, fellow Frenchman René Goulaine de Laudonnière established Fort Caroline at the mouth of the St. Johns River, near present-day Jacksonville.

Now these French adventurers prompted Spain to accelerate her plans for colonization and Pedro Menéndez de Avilés hastened his sail across the Atlantic and his sights set on removing the French and creating a Spanish settlement. Menéndez arrived in 1565 at a place he called San Augustín (St. Augustine) and established the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States. He accomplished his goal of expelling the French and Menéndez captured Fort Caroline and renamed it San Mateo.

French response came two years later, when Dominique de Gourgues recaptured San Mateo. The English, also eager to exploit the wealth of the Americas, increasingly came into conflict with Spain's expanding empire. In 1586 the English captain Sir Francis Drake looted and burned the tiny village of St. Augustine.

The English colonists in the Carolina colonies were particularly hostile toward Spain. Led by Colonel James Moore, the Carolinians and their Creek Indian allies attacked Spanish Florida in 1702 and destroyed the town of St. Augustine. Britain gained control of Florida in 1763 and had ambitious plans for Florida first, it was split into two parts: East Florida, with its capital at St. Augustine; and West Florida, with its seat at Pensacola. The two Floridas remained loyal to Great Britain throughout the War for American Independence (1776–83). However, Spain regained control of the rest of Florida as part of the peace treaty that ended the American Revolution. When the British evacuated Florida, Spanish colonists as well as settlers from the newly formed United States came pouring in. Spain formally ceded Florida to the United States in 1821.Andrew Jackson establish a new territorial government on behalf of the United States in 1821, but what the U.S. inherited was a wilderness sparsely dotted with settlements of native Indian people, African Americans, and Spaniards.

As a territory of the United States, Florida was particularly attractive to people from the older Southern plantation areas of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who arrived in considerable numbers. After territorial status was granted, the two Floridas were merged into one entity with a new capital city in Tallahassee. Established in 1824, Tallahassee was chosen because it was halfway between the existing governmental centers of St. Augustine and Pensacola.

By 1840 Floridians were concentrating on developing the territory and gaining statehood. The population had reached 54,477 people.

Florida now was divided informally into three areas: East Florida, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Suwannee River; Middle Florida, between the Suwannee and the Apalachicola Rivers; and West Florida, from the Apalachicola to the Perdido River. Florida became the twenty-seventh state in the United States on March 3, 1845.

During the Civil War, Florida was not ravaged as several other southern states were. Indeed, no decisive battles were fought on Florida soil. Before the Civil War, Florida had been well on its way to becoming another of the southern cotton states. Afterward, the lives of many residents changed. Beginning in 1868, the federal government instituted a congressional program of "reconstruction" in Florida and the other southern states. During the final quarter of the nineteenth century, potential investors became interested in enterprises that extracted resources from the water and land, cattle-raising, citrus industry grew, operations were as widely diverse as sponge harvesting in Tarpon Springs and phosphate mining. Beginning in the 1870s, residents from northern states visited Florida as tourists to enjoy the state's natural beauty and mild climate.

By the turn of the century, Florida's population and per capita wealth were increasing rapidly; the potential of the "Sunshine State" appeared endless. By the end of World War I, land developers had descended on this virtual gold mine. But Florida's economic bubble burst and hurricanes swept through the state in 1926 and again in 1928,

further damaging Florida's economy. By the time the Great Depression began in the rest of the nation in 1929, Floridians had already become accustomed to economic hardship.

World War II helped spurred economic development in Florida. Because of its year-round mild climate, the state became a major training center for soldiers, sailors, and aviators of the United States and its allies. One of the most significant trends of the postwar era has been steady population growth, Florida is now the fourth most populous state in the nation.

Since World War II, Florida's economy also has become more diverse. Tourism, cattle, citrus, and phosphate have been joined by a host of new industries. A interstate highway system exists throughout the state, and Florida is home to major international airports. The university and community college system has expanded rapidly, and high-technology industries have grown steadily.

  The citrus industry continues to prosper, tourism also remains important and Florida attractions bring millions of visitors to the state from across the U.S. and around the world. The space program with its historic launches from Cape Canaveral, lunar landings, and the development of the space shuttle program has helped bring a lot of media attention to the state.

Here are a few fun facts about Florida to boot!

We have 663 miles of beaches, and the only natural disasters we have are hurricanes and we can see those coming. Stone crab. We’re home to Publix, the greatest grocery store in the US of A. Being a mermaid is a viable career choice in Florida. Our state spawned Johnny Depp, Tom Petty, and Debbie Harr. Alien-seeking and rockets? Yeah, we do those at Cape Canaveral. 

Florida is the only place in the world you can find alligators and crocodiles living in the same ecosystem and Florida is the only state in the continental U.S. to have extensive coral reefs off its coasts. We care for everyone's granny and gramp, we inspired Ernest Hemingway and we live where people vacation!

Florida a kooky, whimsical, charming, messed-up swamp!;)

Mobile Alabama

I am sailing to Mobile Alabama with Lou and Annie and their dog Java (Brown Dog) on their Trawler Annie's Song. This is going to be my first experience aboard a trawler! We are going via the intercostal waterway.

Navaguesser

Lou

Annie

walls of the intercoastal

looks like snow

Wednesday June 11

Niceville is located at 30°30′58″N 86°28′18″W.[5]

The fist day we arrived in Bluewater Bay Marina in Niceville Fl. just off the intercostal waterway in goose bayou. Annie and Lou have sailing friends here, Andy and Alice, super nice people and they had us over for lunch the next day at their house. They have sailed all over the US and into the Caribbean first on their sailboat and now on their trawler. They keep their boat at Bluewater Bay Marina. Niceville is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States, located close to Edlin Air Force Base. It originally began with the name Valparaiso, then to separate itself from the neighboring town took the unofficial name of Boggy. Upon incorporation as an official city, the name was changed to attract more citizens and tourists. The Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival is still held here annually.

Niceville is part of the Fort Walton Beach–Crestview–Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area. Did you know that Internet personality Toby Turner and sportscaster Pam Oliver lived in Niceville? The weather kept us in Niceville a day longer than we expected, but that is ok!

Blueway Bay Marina

Niceville Bridge

Friday June 13

We slipped out early in the morning and sailed up the intercostal towards Pensacola beach, our next stop on this wonderful journey. We found a wonderful anchorage....thank you active Captain and Annie! The only bad thing is the yellow flys, if the wind quit blowing and you were on the beach...you were a meal for them! We spent a couple of days there and one day we took the dink and went to Pensacola beach....not impressed with that!!

Pensacola Beach Condos

Anchorage

Monday June 16

Pensacola is located at 30°26′13″N 87°12′33″W (30.436988, −87.209277).

Left the anchorage and sailed into Pensacola bay and on to Palofox Marina located in the downtown in Pensacola. Pensacola is a sea port on Pensacola Bay, which connects to the Gulf of Mexico.

The area was originally inhabited by Muskogean peoples; the Pensacola people lived there at the time of European contact. Pensacola Bay was the site of Spanish explorer Tristán de Luna's short-lived settlement in 1559. In 1698 the Spanish established a presidio in the area, laying the foundation for the modern city. It changed hands several times over the next several years, and became the capital of West Florida during Florida's British (1763–1783) and second Spanish periods (1783–1821). Pensacola is nicknamed "The City of Five Flags" due to the five governments that have flown flags over it during its history: the flags of Spain (Castile), France, Great Britain, the Confederate States of America, and the United States.

Wall painting

Urban Dining Downtown

A large United States Naval Air Station, the first in the United States, is located southwest of Pensacola. Naval Air Station Pensacola is the home of both the legendary Blue Angels and the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the museum is not to miss, you can spend hours in there and not see it all, when we went there the Blue Angels were practicing so we had the best of both worlds!