Greetings from Pensacola!

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Actually Lillian, AL, a few miles from Pcola.

We just got here today so all we've seen is our campground, which is super rural but nice. It's right on Perdido Bay with a nice fishing pier for Monello. There's a sort of beach - you'd want to launch your kayak there, not spread a beach blanket. Civilization is about 10 miles away in Pensacola, so that works.

I know you Navy guys have been to Pensacola, so what should we see and do? So far on my list I have:

Farmers markets
Flora-Bama bar
Blue Angels practice

What else?
 

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
Actually Lillian, AL, a few miles from Pcola.

We just got here today so all we've seen is our campground, which is super rural but nice. It's right on Perdido Bay with a nice fishing pier for Monello. There's a sort of beach - you'd want to launch your kayak there, not spread a beach blanket. Civilization is about 10 miles away in Pensacola, so that works.

I know you Navy guys have been to Pensacola, so what should we see and do? So far on my list I have:

Farmers markets
Flora-Bama bar
Blue Angels practice

What else?
the Lighthouse!! :yay:
 

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
A bit of trivia - at NAS Pensacola, is Admiral Forest Sherman field, home of the Blue Angels. Forrest Sherman was the name of the Elementary and High schools in Naples, Italy when we lived there. He died in Naples. It was pretty cool when I went there and saw that the Home of the Blue Angels were named after him. I had no idea how many things were named after him.

/trivia
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Vrai jokes (or at least I hope she jokes) when we are getting ready to leave about what will go wrong. It can be something small like forgetting to put the knives away. Or something puzzling like our steps won't retract. Leaving Tuesday went off without a hitch. Unless you count that we left a day later than planned. Allow me to elaborate.

The RV is equipped with 4 levelers that compensates for when the ground is not perfectly flat. The levelers also stabilize the chassis. So when you walk around the RV it feels fairly solid. Or as solid as possible when your home's base is made of tires.

The levelers first acted up way back when we arrived in Oklahoma City (June 2020). The local tech came out. He spent a couple of days scratching his head. He even was on the phone with the company that makes the levelers. When we left, we still had an issue. But he gave us a work around. It involved bypassing 1 of the systems. And it required that 1 of us held a wire to the engine while the other 1 worked the leveler control panel. When we got to Branson, I made an appointment to get the levelers fixed. We left the rig then went to Lake of the Ozarks, Lincoln, NE & Manhattan, KS. We came back and the levelers worked.

Then the very next stop they didn't. So we jury rigged it. Then a miracle occurred. For the next several stops, the levelers worked fine. It was like they were haunted. The RV is heavy and I figured 1 of the numerous pot hole along our route had jostled the levers back to working.

Then we arrived in Biloxi. No leveler love. Nothing. So we leveled by using blocks under the tires. The entire week when we walked around you could feel the sway of the RV. The levelers do a fantastic job of stabilizing the RV. The local repair guy did a fantastic job and got us our levelers fixed. He replaced the solenoid. Best part is they work better now than they ever did before. They adjust a lot quicker. Before it was much slower.

On the way here to Lillian, AL from Biloxi, I needed to fuel up. I saw there was a truck stop along our route. I have to use the gasoline pumps to refuel. But it's tricky getting close. So Vrai goes ahead of me and acts as my spotter. Plus she runs off any car that attempts to take my spot. Anyway she mentioned that she saw a billboard for a Buc-ees. It said in 20 miles. We agreed to meet there. They always have enormous parking lots, so finding a space for my 50+ feet wouldn't be an issue.

Anyway the billboard lied. It was more like 50 miles. But we went in and got a whole lot of Buc-ee goodness. I got some scones and cinnamon bears plus the black cherry fountain soda. Vrai scored some BBQ sammies plus some nuggets. We got out of there for under $100 which shows our restraint.

We find the campground and get set up. The levelers functioned like they were on steroids. We make our home cozy. The next thing to do is explore the campground. It's rustic. The roads are semi paved. The sites are grass with a bit of gravel. But we are right on the water. This section of Alabama is hilly. So it's rolling. We walk down to the pier and bay. The body of water is Perdido Bay. There is a woman holding a 35 inch redfish talking to a few other campers. She claims that she caught the fish on a small crab that she found in the shallow water. None of the other people fishing have caught anything.

For dinner Vrai warms up the sandwiches. We have that along with some baked potato salad. Later that evening, I open my cinnamon bear. While eating the 2nd one, I experience a snack malfunction. My crown pops off. Evidently the PSIs produced from a gummy candy is enough to overcome dental glue. Luckily I have a 930 appointment tomorrow to get back in the game.

So when Vrai asked what will go wrong today, I never imagined it would involved dental work.

The good news is that I have my fishing license and I'm ready to go out and catch us some dinner.

PS - Yesterday was the 7th anniversary of our first date. And the 5th anniversary give or take a day of our hitting the road. We have had a lot of ups and downs along the way. Good thing it's been mostly ups. Here's to hoping that you have mostly ups on your journeys.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
My crown pops off.

I told him he looks like @TPD 's avatar. :jet:

This is a super rural area and very cool. The campground is rustic, but in a good way. My shower this morning was a big improvement over the ones in Biloxi, so that's a plus.

My folks took a roadtrip to Miami to gamble, and tonight on their way back to NE we were supposed to meet up for dinner when they stopped for the night around Pcola. I was really looking forward to meeting up with my mom on the road but it wasn't meant to be. Started raining, then started pouring, and we'd have had to make our way about an hour up the road in the rain, then come back in the rain AND the dark. If we weren't in the sticks or at least familiar with the area we'd have gone, but there were just too many strikes against it. So that was disappointing but oh well.

In reading other people's travel adventures it occurs to me that Monello and I are somewhat oddballs. Most people travel to get from point A to point B - we like to meander and stop at anything that looks interesting. It's taking us a month and a half to get from South Padre Island to Panama City Beach because there's tons of stuff in between them and we want to see it.

We meet people on the road all the time doing 12 hour driving days, stopping for a night, hit the road the next morning for another 12 hours - ugh, makes me break out in hives. I mean, I get it - people have 2 weeks a year to do something fun. But the driving isn't the fun part, the seeing stuff is. So if you're just going to drive past everything interesting because you're destination-oriented, why not simply fly? Bust a move driving doesn't sound like a vacation to me.

But whatever. Just because I wouldn't enjoy it doesn't mean nobody does, even though I think that whatever I do is right and everyone else is wrong. :razz:
 

kom526

They call me ... Sarcasmo
Actually Lillian, AL, a few miles from Pcola.

We just got here today so all we've seen is our campground, which is super rural but nice. It's right on Perdido Bay with a nice fishing pier for Monello. There's a sort of beach - you'd want to launch your kayak there, not spread a beach blanket. Civilization is about 10 miles away in Pensacola, so that works.

I know you Navy guys have been to Pensacola, so what should we see and do? So far on my list I have:

Farmers markets
Flora-Bama bar
Blue Angels practice

What else?
I just dropped a line to my a great old friend of mine that lives in P'cola. I asked him for a list of places for you two to hit up. He's on a Mardi Gras Krewe with a guy that owns a couple of restaurants in the area so he's got a little bit of info.
 

kom526

They call me ... Sarcasmo
Quick List Vrai:
Hub Stacy's (sandwich type place)
The Fish House (local seafood)
Peg Leg Pete's - but the bridge is still out so it is a long work around
McGuire's - The Senate Bean Soup and the artichoke dip (FWIH is AHHH Mazing!)
Coffee Cup
Jellyfish Bar
Purple Parrot
Innerarity Point Restaurant

In Orange Beach, AL
Acme Oyster House
Tacky Jacks
LuLu's (Jimmy Buffett's siter's place)
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
One of the unique things they eat along the Gulf Coast is fried blue crab claws. They take the claws with the meat, batter and fry them, and serve them with a dippy of some sort. They're tasty but not worth it IMO because you just get a tiny bite and they're really expensive.

A better option is the chargrilled oysters, where they take the halfshell oyster and throw it on the grill, basting it with butter while it flames up, then top it with a bit of parmesan and seasonings. I'm not a big fan of oysters but done this way they're amazing.

Pimiento cheese is big and they use it in everything: schmear a burger, mac & cheese, casseroles; if you might normally use cheddar, southerners will use pimiento cheese.

In Biloxi there was a Waffle House on every corner but I haven't seen one so far in this neck of the woods.

One of my future projects is to do a blog of TRULY unique regional foods. Like, if you do a search for "what southerners eat" you'll find dumb articles with lists that include BBQ, collard greens, biscuits, peach cobbler, and fried chicken - clearly compiled by someone sitting in a Manhattan high rise office who is unaware that people all over the country eat those foods, and has never been to the region in question so they have no idea about the unique delicacies found there. "Ooh, fried chicken! How exotic!"


People in areas all across America eat foods that outsiders have never even heard of - THOSE are the finds. It's like how stuffed ham is something you won't find anywhere outside of Maryland, or even outside of St. Mary's County. Yet you'll never see it listed in a "what you should eat in Maryland" article. THAT'S the stuff I'm looking for and the blog I want to write.
 

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
My maternal grandmother is from Pensacola, along with many of her relatives going waay back. Most of them migrated over to Mobile, AL over time.
 

DoWhat

Deplorable
PREMO Member
Aircrew school at Pensacola and ELINT (EWOP) school Cory Station.
Don't remember a lot, but I know I had a great time.
Young, single and I had my motorcycle.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
A better option is the chargrilled oysters, where they take the halfshell oyster and throw it on the grill, basting it with butter while it flames up, then top it with a bit of parmesan and seasonings. I'm not a big fan of oysters but done this way they're amazing.

Those are always a favorite at the Tall Timbers oyster and beer events...always a line waiting.
 
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