Life of Lydia

My mother and I have just returned from a girl’s trip to Pensacola Beach, Florida, mere days before school starting!

Before I dive into what we did, let me explain why we took this trip when we did. My father is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets baseball team, and thanks to his influence, Luke is also a fan. For a few months they have been planning a trip to New York to see the Mets play in their home stadium. When my mother learned that this trip would occur during a week in which we had no firm commitments, she started to feel left out. To simplify the conversation, she asked me if I would like to join the men on a trip to New York the week before school started. No, I would rather stay home. Then she asked if I would like to go to the beach the week before school started. Yes, I definitely would.

We began our trip with a ride on an Allegiant plane. There were a lot of kids and families. When we landed everyone clapped.

We rented a Nisan Sentra for the week.

On the way to the beach condo, we drove through a section of Gulf Islands National seashore and got caught in what seemed to be a caravan of jeeps with lights.

The beach Condo did not have an elevator, and my mother was very nervous about getting the suitcase up the stairs, but as you can see, it did happen.

By the time we got to the condo it was 9:00 PM. I talked my mother into going out to see the beach even though it was dark. We got to see the moon over the water!

In the morning, we could the beach a lot better!

This was our condo. It provided very easy beach access.

Morning light on the waves.

I enjoyed lots of walks on the beach. I learned that it takes a lot longer to walk the same distance on the beach as it does on dry land. The sand really slows one down.

We bought a beach umbrella at Walmart.

This flag was set up by a fellow beachgoer. I felt that saying “est. 2025” was not quite accurate, as the gulf had existed long before, but had simply received a new name. Some ideas for what to put on the flag instead are “rebranded 2025” or “all new name, same great gulf”. But nobody asked me.

I managed to get a sunburn on the first day.

Equipment needed for a day at the beach.

My mother took a seaside nap.

In the evening, we went to the Pensacola Beach boardwalk. We discovered that it is a strip of beach with a lot of bars, restaurants and stores. It is very touristy and has a “let’s party” feel.

The Pensacola Boardwalk wasn’t our kind of place, but we did go to a small pizza restaurant that was very good.

I tried to get an aesthetic shot of my feet in the waves.

For the last two days, they were flying the red flag at the beach which means no swimming. We were still able to wade in the water.

On Tuesday afternoon, we visited Fort Pickens. We went here about 10 years ago on a family trip to Pensacola. The fort was built by slave labor as part of a system to defend Pensacola Bay and did engage in battle during the Civil War, but it is also very beautiful. We loved the brick archways and sunlight passages.

A sole cannon can still be found in the fort.

Usually, dealbated building with vegetation growing on them are a bit of an eyesore, but fort Pickens is an exception.

We commented that it looked like ancient ruins. I think this was the cistern.

Apparently, all of the arches have a reverse arch underground. This one was dug up so visitors could see.

The view from on top of the fort. This was my favorite part. We could see the Gulf of Mexico/America on one side and the Pensacola Bay on the other. (Not pictured.) We could also see the barrier island Perdido Key, which is where we stayed 10 years ago.

I have labeled this screenshot with the things we could see from atop the fort. We could also see the Pensacola lighthouse on the mainland.

It was hard to capture the full view in a photo. It was significantly more aew inspiring in person.

We visited a few smaller batteries from the 1910s. My mother quickly wore out, but I kept exploring and reported back to her.

That evening on the beach, but mother’s chair broke, so she adopted a new position.

Trying to make our hair look flowy.

I tried to help my mother’s hair along a bit, but I like the more natural shot better.

Sunset.

On Wednesday morning it was pouring down rain, so we went to the Pensacola Museum of History. This display shows the fave nations that have ruled the area.

An iconic bar in the area forever memorialized in the museum.

I think the museum building used to be the city hall.

In the words of my mother Amy Tyndall, “We had lunch in downtown Pensacola at a very small bookstore with an even smaller classics section.”

We stopped by a yarn shop called Dixie Knits.

In the afternoon, we took a guided tour of Historic Pensacola. The tour included visits several buildings, roughly in cronogical order of when they were built. The contraption pictured was used to store food and keep out mice and thieves.

This church was built to try to minister to the population of Pensacola. The problem was that you could see sketchy stuff out the window, so a lot of people decided to go do that instead of attend church. For this reason, the church has been moved to a different location and is now just a historic site. (At least this is how I interpretated the tour guide’s long talk) There is also a story she told about how several pastors were buried under the church, but their graves were robbed by union soldiers during the Civil War.

This elaborate table setting was in the Victorian house.

We heard all about how the residents of this house used the bathroom and got dressed.

The last building was a bordering house from the 1910’s. The upstairs was turned into a museum of sorts about life in the 1920’s, including a recreation of a suffragette’s bedroom, speakeasy, and movie theater. We are not sure why.

That evening we went back to the beach. On previous beach trips, I greatly enjoyed letting the waves toss me back and forth. I have found that although I still enjoy it, I can’t do it as long as I could before.

Wow, what a book! I finished the Quenta Silmarillion sitting on the beach. It was a lovely experience as the final chapter, “The Voyage of Eärendil” is all about crossing the sea.

“Hail Eärendil, of mariners most renounced, the looked for that cometh unawares, the longed for that cometh beyond hope! Hail Eärendil, bearer of light before the Sun and Moon! Splendour of the Children of Earth, star in the darkness, jewl in the sunset, radiant in the morning!”

I’ve had a long journey with this book, but it was a lovely story with an awe inspiring ending. Stay tuned for my full Silmarillion review coming soon!

Beautyful light for the last night on the beach.

We made one last trip out to the beach before leaving on Thursday morning.

On the way to the airport, my mother got pulled over in Gulf Islands national Seashore for going 36 in a 25 zone. She received a stern lecture about protecting shore birds but only got a warning. She handled this situation with a lot of grace, I did not.

We had to wait a while on the plan for several military jets to take off.

Reunited with Jacques at last.