A Weekenders Guide to Pensacola

Growing up in Florida you learn a few things! Where to go and where to eat!

Truth be told, most restaurants in Pensacola are great with all sorts of fresh seafood and steaks. And the beaches aren’t named “worlds most beautiful beaches” for nothing!

Here are a few of my faves for a quick Weekend in my Hometown!

In terms of beach spots there are three main beaches to choose from, the main beach gulf side by the pier and beach ball, sound side, famously called moms beach thanks to relatively no waves and then miles of seashore (known as the gulf islands) national seashore.

My sister, being the beach bum she is,  prefers the seashore. The gulf islands national seashore is famous for low crowds, sandbars and plentiful seashells.

We found more shells than our hands could hold within a matter of minutes.

The sandbars come and go, but fortunately for us, the perfect one happened to be at the beach where we stopped, so we threw out our chairs and soaked it up!

The best part about the main beach (pier and beach ball) is plentiful lifeguards in season, restrooms and showers for families and tons of parking! This is a major local hangout for the younger crowd, and usually a handful of surfers or wakeboarders! 

Afterwards we headed to the boardwalk to kill some time and grab some sweets while doing some shopping. We stopped at Envie, the boutique which happens to be one of my hidden spots for top notch brands, mainly #FreePeople for me and #SouthernProper for the Hubs then headed down the strip for ice cream! A local Mexican restaurant, cactus flower, along with papas pizza are tucked away here too and are the perfect spot for a [quick] lunch or dinner.  If you’re wanting to grab a [full] lunch or dinner, beachside, Flounders and Grand Marlin would be my top two choices, based on overall food and atmosphere.

For this trip, I had more family I wanted to meet up with so we decided to eat on the water, but a little closer to home at one of the most delicious seafood spots in all pensacola and pensacola beach, The Fish House. They’re known for their shrimp and grits alongside views of the bay! For lunch we shared a sautéed crab claw appetizer and I opted for their strawberry salad as my main course. “Would you like to add a salmon to your salad?” the waitress asked….. um #yesplease!!

Downtown Pensacola has recently become a hub for new business and is less than 20 minutes from the heart of Pensacola beach. So if you plan a trip to the Beach and want a few more shopping options and beautiful sights, downtown pensacola will certainly do the trick! 

Southern Sisters & Bluetique were two of the ones we stopped at before heading back for the day. They’re right in the Seville Square area, which is a lovely spot for photos, and all year long, loads of festivals take place there, so if your traveling, be sure to see if any festivals will be taking place during your stay! The seafood and arts festival are two of the most popular! As far as sites go, downtown has views that mirror old town Florida, with historic homes and churches and delicious little breweries and bake shops tucked in between. 

I only had one day to hit up all of these spots before going back to the farm where my baby shower was taking place the following day [check out post here], but definitely could have stretched it out and made a full weekend of it!

|southern sisters boutique|bluetique|envie|the fish house|