Back to School 2023

In early August Cynthia and I went to Pensacola Beach/Navarre and stayed at an AirBnb on the beach. It was awesome and relaxing and awesome.

Waiting for our shipwrecks at Peg Leg Pete's.

Sitting in our same spot each time at Flounder's.

The beach behind our Airbnb.

Out past the barrier reef was a bloom of pink meanie jelly fish. They look like brightly colored steering wheels. We also saw a 5-6 foot tiger shark swim past.

We also visited the Naval Aviation Museum while we were there. 

Then when we got back we went to the state fair! Some of our small group friends met us there and we tried out the Deep Fried Bacon Brisket Mac-n-Cheese Grilled Cheese sandwich. 

It took a year off the end of my life, but it was so good.

The ladies all went on a ride together. I'm not a fan, so I just watched.

One of my favorite pictures of the entire summer, haha.

Emily at band camp! She is the percussion lead in marching band this year, which is super cool. She's a very talented kid.

Then I took Rose to new student orientation at Coe. There are 422 incoming freshmen, so it's a small school. Rose is majoring in Psychology and is excited to start college.

They have each kid ring the bell before they start school and then they will ring it again when they graduate.

Cynthia discovered a gift card to the Macaroni Grill, so we went there for dinner the day before school started. Both girls started school on the same day.

Rose bein' Rose!

Pensacola 2021

In June we went to Pensacola and took the girls there with us for the first time! It was also their first time flying:

 

And their first time hanging out in Atlanta waiting for a connecting flight:

When we arrived, we picked up our 2021 Mustang convertible and headed to the airbnb on the island. The weather was awesome:

Our airbnb was a high-rise condo on Santa Rosa Island. This is the first time we stayed anywhere other than a hotel down there. The view was pretty great. On one side we had a balcony facing in on the island and on the other side we had a balcony facing Sabine Bay.

Island side:

Sabine Bay:

I think this was the only picture I took from the inside of the condo, unfortunately:

The neighboring buildings to the north of us:

We didn't waste time going down to the beach and getting in the water. Rose collected shells:

Look at those white, white midwesterners:

In the evening we watched the sun going down and the boats coming back into the bay. It was so peaceful:

The view from our balcony the next morning was breathtaking:

Meanwhile, this person needed help:

And every evening the view was just like this:

Cynthia likes having her picture taken first thing in the morning:

Back out on the beach again!

Panoramic view (in case you didn't know what was going on here):

The Blue Angels flew over and put on their full airshow routine over the island around 9am. Since there aren't any airshows due to Covid they've been doing all their performances for free once a week over the island and the mainland.

Lunch at Red Fish Blue Fish:

And back to the beach...

Dinner at Flounder's. Took some pictures with the funky microbus while waiting for our table:

Rose ordered a ONE POUND slice of cheesecake with marmalade and survived:

The next day we went out on a dolphin boat to see if we could find any... dolphins. And we did. They came right up to the boat:

During a lull in the dolphin watching Rose got a selfie with the captain. They swapped shades for the pic:

And more dolphins! We saw several pods over the course of the trip:

Dinner at Shaggy's Bar & Grill, which was a couple doors down from our Airbnb:

The next morning we went to Fort Pickens:

There was a network of tunnels connecting the fortifications and despite the picture below, these things were dark. Emily and Rose decided to explore and I followed them. 

Everything was good until Rose turned her phone flashlight on and they could see cockroaches everywhere. All over the walls, the ground, scurrying everywhere. So they left: 

The artillery on top of the fort. From up here we could see the base across the water and the old lighthouse:

Paddle boarding later that day... it's tough to balance on these things. Seems like they would be OK in a lake, but with the ocean current and waves it's difficult to stay on them:

Peg Leg Pete's! Just like the sign says.

So much fun! Wish we could just stay there and never go back. That would be alright with me.