Pensacola Bucket List

When Parker and I got to Pensacola 14 months ago, we quickly created our "Pensacola Bucket List". One of the coolest parts of Navy life is getting to travel and live in different places, so we wanted a way to hold ourselves accountable and make sure we really take advantage of every place we live. Looking back at the bucket list, we completed most of the activities our first few months living here. Eager much? While we have not done everything on this list, we feel we hit the important things. We created this list our first weekend here before we really knew anything about Pensacola, so a few of the bullet points are a little odd looking back. We kept a spreadsheet of the bucket list, and Parker went through and wrote dates and commentary for some of the places we went, so I will share that as well. If you didn't know this about me, I am a pretty big Parker fan, so some of his comments had me cracking up. Without further ado, here it is!

1. Naval Aviation Museum

We went to the Aviation Museum 2/3/12, and Parker was on cloud nine! This was one of those "I love my husband so I will smile and look at all the pretty planes" events for me, but I love seeing Parker in his element and so passionate. The Naval Aviation Museum is something everyone wants to see when they visit, so we took both my grandparents and Parker's parents when they visited last year.
 

Parker's comments: We went and walked through the entire museum! There were lots of cool (historic) airplanes and very interesting displays. Fun!

2. Beach

Well this one was fairly obvious. We live right next to the beautiful Pensacola beach, so we knew we had to take advantage of it! I don't know how many times we went to the beach, but I can tell you it was a lot. It became a regular weekend thing to grab a cooler, pack the car, and spend the day at the beach with our friends. Simple yet an absolute blast!

3. USS Alabama

We Parker had been wanting to go see the USS Alabama in Mobile since the day we got here. We didn't mean to wait so long to go, but we finally got around to it a year after we moved here. Bonus: our friends Doug and Michelle wanted to go too, so we had a little double date day and enjoyed the museum. You can read my full post on that here.  Though this was clearly a Parker activity, I had a great time. Like the Naval Aviation Museum, I love seeing him in his element.

4. Fort Barrancas

We went to Fort Barrancas on 2/12/12, so it's kind of a blur. One detail, however, stands out like it was yesterday. It. was. FREEZING! I am from Texas- I don't do cold well. Once you got past the weather, we had a lovely time :). We toured the inside and outside, and it was really cool to see all the history and think about the men who actually used this fort to fight off intruders so many years ago.

Parker's comments: Went during Chelsea's Birth Week! How exciting! Pretty cool seeing the technology of the time and touring the battlements.

5. Lighthouse

We toured the lighthouse the same day we toured Fort Barrancas, so it was a busy day for our feet. The lighthouse was so my favorite! We got to climb all the way to the top and had a gorgeous view of the beach.

6. Waffle House

Wait, what? Yes, you read that right. Eating at the Waffle House was on our bucket list, but let me offer you our justification. There is literally a Waffle House at every exit in Pensacola/other areas of Florida we have been to. We decided it must be a Florida thing so we had to eat breakfast there at least once. I feel like it's more common to see a Waffle House here than a gas station! Slight exaggeration, but you get the idea. That said, I have to say we do love a good Waffle House breakfast. We waddle on out of there happy as clams every time!

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Parker's comments: We ate breakfast and loved it! We will definitely be going back.

7. Clay Shooting

I had never been shooting, and Parker was so excited to go to a shooting range, so I gave him an afternoon at the range for Valentine's Day and off we went on 2/25/12. It was fun! I am not super comfortable around guns and said a lot of silent prayers throughout our time there, but I loved doing something different and was channeling my inner Sydney Bristow (any Alias fans out there?). Parker shot the clay pigeons, but we all knew I had no chance of hitting them, so they just let me shoot into the woods a few times. We went again in the Spring with our friends to shoot targets, which was also a blast. I wore my neon orange DG shirt for safety. You can't be too careful, right?

 

Parker's comments: We went out to Styx River and had a blast! Now I want a shotgun barrel and handgun!

8. Checker's

Seriously, another fast food chain? Yep, this was the last item on our list. They don't have Checker's restaurants in Texas, so we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. We have eaten at Checker's a few times, and it definitely satisfies the burger/fries craving. I know it's a little ridiculous that Waffle House and Checker's made the bucket list and that somehow the Fish House and Maguire's (restaurants Pensacola is actually known for) didn't. Like I said earlier, this bucket list was made before we really knew anything about Pensacola. I can assure you that we have hit up all the cool, local restaurants during our time here. For the Texans who have never eaten at Checker's, think a cross between Sonic and Wendy's.

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Parker's comments: We ate at checkers and the burger/fries were delicious!

Other things that were originally on the bucket list that we never did: Saenger Theater, Sam's Surf City Waterpark, and the zoo. In our 14 months here, I have never heard of the first two, so I am guessing we aren't missing anything too fabulous. As for the zoo, we spent a day at Naples Zoo on our honeymoon, so that satisfied our zoo fix for a while. I think Pensacola has a pretty small zoo, so we were fine skipping out on that one.

So there you have it: our Pensacola Bucket List! I am excited to do this for every new place we live. We will be creating a new bucket list this time next month! Eeek! :)