From the category archives:

Outdoors

Its another day in paradise…

by agirlandhermutt on September 9, 2010

On my last day in Pensacola, I participated in my most favorite activity ever…spending time with my family!

We started off with the classic breakfast of “sausage” and eggs. My parents served up some soy sausage with maple syrup. My fave! There were also some serious scones involved.

I also snuck in an early morning photo with my Moms. *MUAH!* She=the best!

I decided that for our last day I would take The Scientist out to the beach to play some putt-putt golf. I’m a golfer from way back and used to love this little course on the beach.

We got there and this is what we were greeted with.

Seriously? How embarrassing. The whole course looked like this! The carpet was peeling and the cute waterfall and river that I remembered ended up a little Sahara Desert.

We still had a great time (tied!) and I tried to make it up to him with another frozen delight at Bamboo Willie’s.

I’m pretty sure I enjoyed this little pit stop more than he did. Mmm….delicious frozen drinks!

Our last stop was to downtown Pensacola. We took a little walk past Pensacola Bay.

I could have stayed there all day, but our stomachs were grumbly. We visited Hopjacks. With 64 beers on tap and some yummy pizza, we were all set.

Have you ever had corn on your pizza? I hadn’t either! I’m a fan apparently!

The rest of the afternoon was spent just relaxing in the CENTRAL A/C and laughing with my family. Our final dinner before heading back was at my favorite restaurant, The Fish House. They are known for the gouda grits and I’m known for chowing down on them.

We all got a version of the two dishes below. You stick with what is good, right?

Our meals were OUT OF THIS WORLD. Everything was fresh and tasted so yummy. It was so great to support the Gulf Coast community with some local food eatin’.

We said our good-byes to the sand and sun with some fully bellies and a smile on our mugs.

I have some great memories of Pensacola. I was born in Pcola. I lived there for 18 years. My parents have been there for almost 40 years. It will always be my home and I have some seriously fond memories.

You can take the girl out of the South but you can NEVER take the South out of the THIS girl.

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Thank you for cooperating!

by agirlandhermutt on September 8, 2010

The weather in Florida could not have been nicer. It was hot, but not so humid that I wanted to cut off all my hair. Ironic, but at the time we were in Florida, Boston was under hurricane warnings. Odd, but true!

Saturday morning started off with one of my faves when I visit home…Baked Granola Apples.

Apples, cider, greek yogurt and some hommade granola. You can’t go wrong.

The Scientist and I hit up Pensacola beach for the Jamaican Festival and some serious relaxing. The water was lovely, the sand was beautiful and the sun was warm. You would have never known that the oil spill had an affect on our beaches. All the visitors help the economy so I encourage you to visit!

However, I advise you to PUT YOUR SUNSCREEN ON! My wave running trip resulted in an awkward sunburn on my forehead.

I decided to do some playing around with Picnik.com to see if I could even it out (WHAT?! I’m a little vain!) and decided to click on “gritty” instead . Holy crap. This photo should be an ad for what kind of sun damage our delicate skin can get. I used to be a hard core tanner, or tried to be (poor Irish skin!), and this makes me regret it totally. That and my little bout of skin cancer in my early 20s. Sigh…live and learn I suppose.

After our day at the beach (under the umbrella!), we took a little tour of the boardwalk. Bushwackers were consumed!

On the way home we made a pit stop by the famous McGuires Irish Pub, home to beer, Irish Wakes, and dollar bills all over.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying being with my parents and possibly a few margaritas. My dad makes a mean margarita and my mom’s appetizers can make anyone drool! I enjoyed them so much I forgot to snap a photo.

The next morning we were up bright and early to experience my the Famous Crab Cakes Benedict (seperate post to come on those!) and headed out to the Naval Air Museum. This museum is free to the public and is just filled with fantastic aviation memorabilia.

Fun Fact: My parents were in the Navy!

We also checked out the Hubble IMAX while we were there. SO COOL!

As we were driving out of the museum we came across this gym…

Keepin’ it Classy Pensacola!

Dinner was a combo of fish for me and slow-cooked turkey legs for everyone else. Combine that with some home-made mac & cheese and some roasted veggies=perfect!

The final dish of the night was in the form of an ice cream dish!

Balsamic strawberries made an awesome topping!

Do you think someone was interested in the ice cream or just some puppy rubs?

The Scientist and I thought about going out for a bit that night, but my parent’s uber comfy house drew us back in. Sneaky!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Are you from a military family? I thought about joining the Navy for about a day, then I realized my shoe collection wouldn’t fit on the ship.

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Greetings from the land of sand and sun!

by agirlandhermutt on September 8, 2010

Ahh…there really is no place like home. I am a born and raised southern gal. My life motto is that “you can take the girl out of the South, but you can’t take the South out of the girl”. The past few days were spent getting back to my roots and spending some quality time with my parents. I miss them already!

Ready for an epic post? And….ready….set….go!

Before I booked it out of town, I dropped Mr. Korky off at his home away from home. With that face it was hard to say good-bye!

We arrived in Pensacola just in time for some lunch on the beach.

We hit up the new Jimmy Buffet Hotel and dined at Frank & Lola where I noshed on popcorn shrimp, fresh grouper sandwich, and a classic Bushwacker.

If you ever have a chance to try a Bushwacker, DO IT. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Just order and enjoy!

Our lunch was the perfect way to start the Pensacola experience. We ran around a little taking a little tour of the area to see what was new since I was last there and stopped off for some much needed supplies (wine!). I found this while we were out and about…ChocoVine! A mix of Dutch chocolate and cabernet wine. Hello!!!

We spent the rest of the day just relaxing around the house and playing with the pups, Butch and Spike. I know, I know. Those names are too much, but so are these dogs.

Dinner was a fun visit with Chinese food. Oh how I love Chinese food in Pensacola! We always order a few dishes and then just dig in.

It was followed by a lovely slice of cake. Mmmm…Best cake around!

I had a solid night of sleep and woke up EARLY ready to head out to Destin for some serious wave running. Breakfast was some stellar lemon poppyseed scones and fresh berries.

The weather was beautiful! We saw rays, dolphins, and all kinds of fishies.

We all had a great time with almost no throw-offs. I was pretty proud of our crew!

On the way home we stopped off for lunch at The Back Porch. They have some serious smoked tuna dip that I could eat for every.single.meal. So Yummy! The view ain’t to bad either!