Day 16: Pensacola Beach, FL 220 miles; 3:15

We started out at 8:15 after a quick return to the motel to pick up Jim's forgotten hat.  We hit Tallahassee at the tail end of rush hour.  Fortunately, I-10 just skirts the beltway in Tallahassee, so we got through with no problem.

We passed Quincy (pop. 7,972; elev. 187 ft.).  Quincy was established in 1828 and thrived as a tobacco town.  Then the Quincy State Bank persuaded its patrons to invest in the fledgling Coca Cola Co. and the town and its citizens really thrived.  The town has a 36-block historic district with Victorian-style buildings.  Most buildings were built in the 1880's.  We put this town on our list of places to visit next time we are in the area.

We noticed that there was swamp on each side of the road  as we passed into the Central Time Zone.  We added "Chattahoochee" to our list of interesting city names.

We stopped at the Ponce de Leon Rest Stop (near the Ponce de Leon Springs State Park).  Shortly after the rest stop, we passed through "Niceville" and it started to rain.  Forecast called for scattered showers today and the sky turned rather dark.

We got off the Interstate guided by Miss Direction.  Pretty soon we saw a sign for a toll booth.  Given our past experience with toll roads, we were concerned, but this worked out well.  They had a person collecting the $3.75.  Then we went onto a very long bridge -- 5+ miles long.  Once we got to land, we traveled about 7 miles and then turned left and went over another toll bridge ( only a dollar this time).

Finally, we had arrived at Pensacola Beach -- known for its white sand beaches.  I read in our AAA guide book that the sand is 99% quartz, which helps to explain the color and sugar-like texture of the beach here.

We got to the hotel at about 10:35 and I told Jim we would probably have to go do something until check-in time which was 4pm.  He said that he would go in and talk to them.  When he got back, he said we were checked in and the clerk had switched us from parking lot view to gulf view.  He said she was a sweetheart...I thought that I should have Jim check us in more often.

We are at the Days Inn.  It is a three-story motel surrounded by 12+ story high-rise Hotels (Hilton, Holiday Inn, etc) We have two small pools and a sand volley ball court.  Our neighbors have very fancy pools with fountains and pool-side bars.  But all of us are right on the same beach and we are paying much less.  This was a great find.

The rain stopped soon after we got here, so we went for a walk.  We checked out the beach first.  Beautiful beach, just like we remembered.  We are on the Gulf side of the island.  Just to the west is a very long and tall pier.  There are a number of restaurants, bars, and shops around the pier.

The boardwalk is across the street from the pier area on the bay side -- called Quietwater Beach.  The surf is not so heavy on this side and you can see across the bay to Pensacola.

The boardwalk has a number of shops and a lot of bar/restaurants with tropical themes.  A few are open.  Looks like there is a lot of fun night life in the area.

At the end of the boardwalk was a Hooters. As we passed by, a couple came out of Hooters.  He was saying, "How did you find me.  I was just having a beer."  She was saying, "I knew where you would be."  As we passed, he said loudly to Jim, "Hey, I really like that shirt." (Jim was wearing his "Deuce Days" shirt from the car show in Victoria.)  We figured the man had probably had more than one beer.

We had lunch at an establishment called Flounders.  We ate out on the covered patio (it was raining again)  off Quietwater Beach.  They had a beach volley ball net set up and it looked like they had games scheduled for each day.  They also had a great play area for kids and you could get out to the beach from there.  The food was great.  I had thought that the name of the restaurant was derived from the fish, but when we left we saw a sign that said, " Fred Flounder, founder."  Say that fast, six times...

Jim went back to the room while I browsed the gift shops.  Then we went down to the beach and I got in and tried some body surfing like I used to do here when I was a kid and we vacationed here.  Then a quick dip in the pool and dinner in the room.  Then I went for a walk and found some nice seashells.  The sun came out about 4pm and the weather is warm.  

I think we'll sleep well tonight and maybe take a walk on the beach tomorrow before we take off again, heading west towards Houston.