No, I'm not in Spain. I really wish I was in Spain right now, but I'm living in Birmingham with my family for the summer. Last week, my brother, Luke, and I were in Pensacola, Florida, with our grandparents.
We explored downtown and it reminded me so much of being in Spain. The feeling I had when I was in a museum and was so hungry for lunch, but didn't want to leave yet... The feeling of exploring a city that is so rich in history. The feeling of having nowhere to be and nowhere to go, but loving every minute of it. The feeling of buying a piece of food because... well, it looks good and why not?
On Wednesday, we went to visit my nana's friend for her 98th birthday. She is so kind and joyful. I could write a whole blog post just about meeting her, but I'll save that for another time. If enough of you want to hear about it, I will write about it! She lives in an assisted living center in downtown Pensacola, so we walked around a little bit after. Luke and I realized that in the 14-20 years that we've spent coming to this city, we haven't been to downtown a lot.
One of my favorite things about Pensacola are the pelicans. Yes, you can find pelicans flying around the pier in hopes for some fish, but there are also pelicans made out of fiberglass placed around the city. It is a public art project, called "Pelicans in Paradise" of the Pensacola News Journal. They were designed by various artists selected by their sponsor. Each one is unique. They are so cool and fun to spot!
Luke is picking the repair man's nose.
We went in this cooking store/ café called "Bodacious". They actually let us try their balsamic vinaigrettes and olive oils! I didn't think they would because of the pandemic. But, she gave each of us a carboard tray with small pieces of bread and tiny cups to fill with vinaigrette or oil. I'm not a big fan of balsamic vinaigrette, but their olive oils were amazing! They had so many flavors and the signs listed the origins.
Then came Luke's favorite part: Bubba's Sweet Spot. This place is owned by Bubba Watson, a famous professional golfer from Pensacola. The second we stepped in, we could smell the sugar. Packaged candies lined the wall to our right, while fudge and rice crispy treats were in a long case on our left. Towards the back of the store, I found Hershey's ice cream. I had my eye on the ice cream, but looked around at the rest too for a possible treat. I eventually got a waffle cone with a scoop of Graham Central Station. I don't remember exactly what it consisted of, but it tasted like cookie butter, and that is why I did not regret my choice. However, Luke got some Dr. Pepper cotton candy and did regret his choice. He said it tasted like medicine. So, he got some Hello Panda chocolate filled biscuits. You can't go wrong with those.
On our way back home, we decided that we would come back the next day and go to the T.T. Wentworth Jr. Museum and walk around some more.
Didda, my grandpa, said he couldn't believe we actually didn't go to the museum, even though that was our plan. But, I didn't care because we still had a lot of fun! We looked around in a cute antique/ gift shop. I mostly just loved the architecture and design of the house.
I loved this sign because my nana says this a lot! Do you know anyone who says this?
We found a cheesecake shop near that gift shop and had to check it out. They had mini cheesecakes and bigger cheesecakes in so many flavors. We couldn't resist getting one! We got a mini s'mores cheesecake to share. It was creamy and delicious.
I love these murals.
And trees...
We read about Trader Joe's brother...
Here's a pretty pelican that we found before the pier.
It was such a beautiful day.
Nana thinks she is terrible at technology. But I'm proud of her for taking this great picture of us jumping of the edge of the fountain. I think it's great.
This is Phil. He didn't choose his name. Luke did. He was just hanging around for some fish. He did get some from a fisherman who had already caught a few. I was surprised at how close we were to a pelican. But then, the fisherman's young son came and ran towards the pelican. Then Phil flew away.
This is a statue of Tristán de Luna y Arellano. He led an expedition in 1559 to establish Santa María de Ochuse, a setlement that predated the founding of Jamestown.
Then, we drove over to the historical district where there were people dressed in 1800s clothing and informed us about how people lived in Pensacola back then. It was really neat!
This is where my aunt and uncle got married! I was a flower girl in their wedding! That was so long ago...
An old Spanish flag!
A cool painting of downtown and the Blue Angels!
Luke loves trying new restaurants. He found this place on Yelp, called "The Doghouse Deli". The people who work there are so nice. We had some great food too! Luke got the Diner cheeseburger with cheese fries, I got the Hawaiian BBQ sandwich with fries, and Nana got a hot dog that I don't know the name of... Luke and I want to go back sometime to try their breakfast items.
I thought this sign was so funny. We saw it outside of a caf
This mural on the side of this parking garage was so cool to me! It shows symbols of Pensacola's history and things they are known for.
And I love the way the sun shines in this picture!
On our ride back to Nana's house, I was curious about the name of this city, so I looked up the origin. When the Spanish arrived, they were told that the name of the people already living there was Panzacola. That's right, that's not a typo in the title of this post. So, they named the are Pensacola, making it easier for the Spaniards to pronounce.
I thought this whole experience was such a neat thing. Definitely a God thing. Because even though I can't be back in Spain, God gave me this week to be reminded of his glory. I also got to learn a little more of Spain's history and the history of the place where I've come to visit family every year. I really love that feeling of exploring and learning the history of a place. And the wind felt do good on that pier. It was awesome.
Kthnxbai!
