Wanderers : Perdido Key, Florida

We were excited to be back in Florida! We reserved a place at the Purple Parrot Village Resort in Perdido Key. We had stayed here previously and really enjoyed the resort and the surrounding Pensacola area.

We quickly got into a routine visiting the onsite gym, sauna, hot tub & indoor pool (too cold for outdoor) on a daily basis. We grocery shopped at NAS Pensacola Commissary and Joe Patti's for seafood. I was excited to be cooking again. And we were both excited for some home cooking!

Our plan was to really explore the Pensacola neighborhoods as a possible future place to live. Well... those plans changed. First my Aunt Joan passed away (RIP), my mom's last living sibling. So we drove to Maryland for the funeral.

The trip took us two nights because our first night we spent in Georgia. We wanted to watch the Ravens Conference Championship game. J.R. Crickets Union city was a great place to watch the game. By the time we left, I was friends with half the bar since I was from Baltimore.

We made it to Maryland

As always it was good to see family. We just hate that it was under those circumstances.

The trip home was much quicker. We only spent one night in South Carolina and we made a quick stop at Buc-ees (a first for us). Censory overload!

Brisket sandwich on the go

On our return to Florida, I was not feeling. By Sunday, I was in so much pain we ended up at the emergency room. The emergency room staff was phenomenal they took us right back, gave me pain medication and something for nausea. It was determined I needed my gall bladder removed. We didn't realize at the time that the emergency room was just a satellite building of the hospital so they needed to transfer me to the hospital by ambulance which didn't happen until about midnight.

I spent the next six days in the hospital. The first day in the hospital, I was scheduled to have some tests completed so I was not allowed to eat or drink. Well the test didn't happen and they delivered me a dinner I could not eat.

Doesn't that look appetizing

They finally performed the first procedure to remove gall stones and I was still not allowed solid food but I was very happy to get a popsicle. It turned out I had so many stones that the doctor basically threw in the towel and told me I needed to see a specialist to get the remaining stones removed. He said he had never seen anyone with so many gall stones. Next day, out came my gall bladder.

Finally released on Saturday but not done yet. Since I was a special case, we needed to see a specialist in Alabama to have the remaining stones removed.

Off she goes

What did we see and do?

Downtown Pensacola - America's First Settlement, founded by Spanish sailor Don Tristan de Luna in 1559, the Pensacola Bay Area was the first European settlement in the New World. Downtown Pensacola features local restaurants, historic attractions, shops, and more.

Clock Outside the Artel Gallery

Marker created in 2020 detailing the history of the building

Built in 1898 as a brick building that encompassed 409 and 411 in one structure. It replaced an original wooden building erected by Henry Pfeifer in 1885. The building has served as a fruit and grocery, a tailor shop, a restaurant, and from 1916 - 1919 as the Birmingham Liquor Company. It has had many residents over its 125 year history, but, by far, the longest tenant was Pensacola Restaurant Supply and Equipment Company opened in 1946 by Oscar and Norman Willenzik. The structure was seriously damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and was vacant until 2010 when purchased by Quint and Rishy Studer. The building then underwent extensive rehabilitation to become a cornerstone for Pensacola's downtown revitalization.

Bodacious Shops a coffee shop that also sold oils and vinegars.

Random pics

We visited the World Famous Flora-Bama and enjoyed music and of course a couple of Bushwackers.

Lots of bras

Johnson Beach National Seashore

Pensacola Beach

Purple Parrot Beach Bar

Hub Stacey's at the Point - Our favorite bar

Rob being a Good Samaritan and giving a woman a jump start.

What did we eat?

Home cooked

Hmmm??? 🤔🤔

Sheet Pan Mediterranean Shrimp

Some type of fish lol

Some type of fish tacos

Chipotle Chicken & Avocado 🥑
Rice Soup 🍲

Processco Friday with pizza
made by Rob

Rob was impressed with himself. He made his first grazing smorgasbord (I had hardly eaten in a week) and yes, he got me roses. 💖

Valentines Dinner

Baked Salmon with lemon
cream sauce

Chocolate Mousse

Perdido Key Sports Bar & Restaurant - we were so excited about this place. It was within walking distance of our condo and we were actually going out to watch a football 🏈 game. It wasn't just any game but the Ravens-Texans Divisional game.

The place was packed and all the TVs had the pregame on. All was great except the game started and they had music piped in and not the sound to the game. We were very disappointed 😞. We drank our beers and marched unhappily back to our little oasis because luckily we had a plan B. I made us wings with celery, carrots and blue cheese dressing along with chips, salsa and guacamole.

Comfy seats, homemade food, and volume turned up loud. Plan B worked out perfectly 😋.

The Point Restaurant Pensacola - The short period of time we were at the sports bar we met a couple who recommended this restaurant and told us that's where the locals go to eat. The restaurant was packed 😳 and we had to wait for a table. The food was good and we got to listen to some live music. It was definitely a locals place!

Mahi Special

Los Mariachis Mexican Restaurant Fairburn, GA

Texas Molcajete - phenomenal!

Plenty of sour cream

Roma Ristorante Italiano Petersburg, VA - this place was pretty close to our hotel until we had to get back to the hotel. We were staying on an Army base so you have to go in and out through a gate. Well the gate we went out of was closed when we returned from dinner and the GPS kept taking us in circles. We did finally figure out how to get to the main gate.

The food was so so!