Florida: Pensacola (Day 2)

Day 149
NM Today: 2
NM Total: 3119

No, the number shown for the nautical miles traveled today is not in error.  We moved Sea Moss from one marina in Pensacola near the Naval Aviation Museum to another Pensacola marina within easy walking distance of downtown.  It took longer to untie and retie the boat than it did to navigate the 2 NM to get from one site to another.  We left one marina at 10:15 and were already docked at the other by 10:45.

All three of us (Sea Moss, Jammin Jane, and Not Sew Easy) moved to the new location.  Before moving, however, the guys decided to accept a ride from a local boater who offered to drive them to the marina for a look around before moving the boats over to see if the move was worth the effort. When they came back to Bahia Mar marina, they said with no hesitation, "We're going!"  

I was on Jammin Jane helping Jane correct an error in her knitting when the guys got back.  She is just learning to knit, and I have been knitting for many years.  I felt the pressure though when I was still on their boat, and Ben started up their engines to relocate their boat.  I had to pick and knit in a hurry and get out of there to get on my own boat before I got an unplanned trip on Jammin Jane or Sea Moss left without me.

The move was definitely a good decision.  We took advantage of the proximity of the marina to town and walked into town twice today.  by the end of the day my Fitbit registered around 18,000 steps for today.  Oh my aching feet!

When we arrived at the Palafox Marina, we found Third Degree here.  I had met Jim twice previously but not his wife Faith.  We finally met today when we walked by their boat to check into the marina. Faith and I hit it off right away.  I told her that we planned on walking into town after lunch, and so she and Jim joined the rest of us on our explorations.

A nearby ice cream shop became our important first stop.  Jane had noticed the place earlier and suggested we stop for a treat, so when we ate lunch on the boat, we left room for dessert.  The choice of flavors was somewhat disappointing since neither Clark nor I are chocolate fans.  We both played it safe with vanilla.

On our path from the marina to the ice cream shop, we passed by a huge ship.  Clark said its purpose is to work on servicing oil rigs out in the Gulf.

Big Ship near Marina to Service Oil Rigs in the Gulf
(picture taken from our boat earlier)

After ice cream we strolled into town and checked out some of the local shops and parks. One odd sight we found was trees wearing knitted sweaters.

Knitted Sweaters for Trees????
Not just one tree but many!

 We passed by just a few shops and then saw the "World of Beer" pub, so of course we had to go in to check it out.  I had heard from Faith that they had a huge selection of beer to choose from.  She was not kidding.  I never saw so many different beer bottles before.  Besides a wall full of refrigerated beer in bottles in all sorts of shapes and sizes and brands, they had a menu that changes daily with 'on tap' selections.

I do not normally drink any form of alcohol, but I decided that today I would try a brew.  I got the "Full Sail Session Lager" which said it was light and crisp.  I thoroughly enjoyed that beer.  With the ice cream not even an hour earlier followed by the beer, Faith and I agreed that it brought new meaning to a root Beer Float.  However, Clark said, "There was no root involved."

After our libation stop, we continued our stroll through town and passed by many more shops and eventually found our way to a park.

Fountain in Park in Pensacola

 As we walked along we noticed individuals all over town busily decorating the streets for the holidays.  Each lamp post received a wreath, and several trees appeared at key locations around town. Somehow though, when wearing shorts, it does not feel like Christmas is right around the corner and Thanksgiving is right next door!

Christmas Decorating

Just does not feel like the Christmas season

As we waited to cross one of the side streets, we found painted pelican statues on the opposite side of the street.

Navy Pelican Statue in Pensacola, FL

Army and Coast Guard Pelican Statues in Pensacola, FL

As we walked around town, we saw signs up on every block restricting parking after 4:00 due to a big street festival planned for the evening.  We decided we needed to go back our respective boats for a few hours and then come back into town again later.  When we got back to the marina, we saw a tiny salamander walking on the edge of one of the docks.

An escapee from a Geico commercial
on the docks of the marina

 After dinner we collected Faith and Jim from Third Degree and walked back into town.  The streets had been transformed while we were gone and no longer resembled their earlier appearance.

Palafox Street Early in Afternoon

The mostly empty streets from earlier in the day were packed with stalls with people selling everything from jewelry and artwork to food and beer.  Very talented musicians performed along the street - far enough away from each other to not interfere.  In one case we even saw two performers on opposite sides of the street taking turns playing songs so as not to step on each other.  One family of musicians performed and had Faith and I memorized while twin boys, who looked to be about seven years old, sang, danced, and played trumpets. They were very talented and not the least bit shy in performing!!!

In addition to all the above activities, we also found other forms of entertainment.  For example, people on one block tried their hand at life-sized Jenga using bricks advertising Starbucks.  Sadly (or maybe not) we did not get a picture of the over six-foot-tall, pot-bellied Puss In Boots in tights standing on a chair to reach the top of one pile of bricks. Actually it was a pretty ugly sight!  We also saw impressive jugglers juggling bowling pins and a woman doing acrobatics.

Earlier in the day I spied a 1965 Ford Mustang and had Clark capture a shot.

Ford Mustang c. 1965

Then during the festival we saw an antique fire truck on display and Clark wanted it captured on camera.

Old-time Fire Truck

While looking on the internet earlier in the day, Jim from Third Degree noticed that the town is having a Turkey Trot 5K run / walk tomorrow morning.  When she found out I was wearing a Fitbit, Faith asked me if I would like to do the walk (not run) with her.  I agreed that I will join her tomorrow at 7:30 as the race begins at 8:00.  I hope my aching feet are ready by 7:30 a.m. to go for another long walk and rack up some more steps on my Fitbit!

Faith suggested that we grab breakfast after our exercise.  It will be just the two of us since our husbands both declined the invite to join us at 7:30 in the morning for our walk.  Also in town tomorrow morning is a farmer's market, so we plan to hit that for a fresh supply of good food.  Looks like it will be a very busy day!

Clark and I have not decided how long we are staying here at this marina, but the town is great so we are definitely staying more than just one night.  If we stay long enough, we get a discounted rate-per-foot for our stay.  We have to weigh that against our desire to be in position to cross the Gulf when a "window" opens.  Jammin Jane and Third Degree have both already extended their stays to a full week here.  We will need to pay close attention to the weather forecast and recommendations on Gulf-crossing travel to see how long we can / should stay.