It's a wanderful life, so it is

Pensacola, Florida is a small city. Pensacola Florida is a beautiful city. Pensacola, Florida is a friendly city. And boy can they talk! Belfast taxi drivers are famous for their patter, but compared to here, they’re amateurs.
On our first full day we headed to Walmart at 8am for a “big shop”. Terry was our Uber driver and her husband is Barry. Since we are Gerry and Mhairi, she thought this was the funniest coincedence ever. We politely asked Terry how she was today. Answer was ‘fine until 30 mins ago’ when her son told her he had to give CPR to her 2-year old grandson after he took his swimming vest off in a community swimming pool. He was fine but in the ICU as he still had some water in his lungs. Terry was clearly still in shock: as were we. We’re not used to so much sharing.

Then there was the journey back. Beverly had just picked someone up from the airport who explained he was self-surrendering at the Federal prison. There is discretion for Federal crimes as to which prison you can serve your time and Pensacola is known as one of the cushiest. It’s currently hosting a celebrity reality star, Todd Chrisley, who got 12 years for tax fraud. That brought a smile to our faces, I can tell you. Anyway, Beverly helped the surrendering felon after getting all his details, as well as his wife’s and his mother’s. We know because she showed us them. To top it off, it was her 60th birthday. Beat that Belfast taxi drivers!!

Can we just mention here that each of those Uber journeys was only 10 minutes?

The natural place to start with Pensacola is the beach. It’s simply spectacular. The sand is pure white and dry and the water is warm and welcoming. The first day we visited it was really calm but the second time, there was a bit of a swell and, as usual, we frolicked in the waves like 6 year-olds. After all, nobody knows us here! We got the bus to the beach. There are only 3 each day for the 8 mile journey. We couldn’t believe there were so few to such an iconic tourist attraction. Then we got on the bus. We were the only passengers for the entire journey. Everybody really does drive here.

Speaking of buses and walking, we walked over to the world’s most remote Tourist Information Centre. Pensacola has an historic downtown and a spectacular beach. Either one of those locations would have been ideal for a Tourist Information Centre. However, someone decided to put it in a ring road on the outskirts of town.

It did have fantastic facilities but absolutely no tourists asking for information. We were treated as curiosities, even more so because we talked about walking to places. They gave us some great ideas for visits, including the War Memorial park.

This park has memorials covering many of America’s Wars (not the Civil War though) and it is beautifully done. It’s very recent, apart from the WWI memorial which was moved here specially. There is even a miniature version of the Vietnam Wall, where we met Frenchie who was involved in creating the Memorial Garden and is still dedicated to it. He is a Vietnam vet who was happy to explain the background to it and the lack of support for veterans before drifting into politics.

However once Frenchie started talking, we couldn’t get him to stop. Trump’s words flowed from his mouth – “invasion” and “Haitians” and “bad guys” and the certainty that there would be a “civil war”. Gerry suggested that civil war is not such a good thing. Frenchie agreed but thought it was inevitable. Normally, we enjoy talking politics and would have challenged some of Frenchie’s proclamations, but the gun licencing rules are so incredibly lax here that we assume everyone is carrying a concealed gun, and knows how to use it! Lots of polite nodding later and we finally escape Frencie’s clutches. Shaken, not stirred, but definitely disturbed.

During our second week, there were indications that a storm may be approaching. One Uber driver suggested quite blithely that it looked like it would be a Category 4 storm. We explained that we come from a land where storms are rare and asked what that meant. The answer was, unfortunately, a hurricane. We stocked up on food and drink and spent a couple of days in our apartment while we waited to see what would happen. We took the chance to make use of the enormous dining table and finished a 1000 piece jigsaw, read a few books and rewatched a few Criminal Minds.

Fortunately for us, Storm Helene changed directions and we escaped her path. The destruction and loss of life from that storm however, was devastating and our hearts go out to everybody who lost loved ones, homes and businesses as a result. It was a sobering reminder that when we travel we will come across experiences that won’t be pleasant, but it also opens our minds to understanding the challenges faced by others all over the world.

We were very, very lucky and thankful and went on to explore and enjoy more of Pensacola and surrounds. Part 2 includes World War II battleships, daredevil flying by Top Gun pilots and discovering the delights of fireball shots in our cider. We are loving Pensacola, Florida!