Maybe there is no such thing as a free lunch, but visitors to
Pensacola can enjoy plenty of other free delights.
For starters, there is no charge to enjoy most of the area's sugar-white
beaches and rolling dunes and the sparkling emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Miles
and miles of free beaches, most preserved from development, can be found between Perdido
Key and Pensacola Beach.
Pensacola is home to the Navy's Blue Angels. Folks who want to go
indoors can stroll through the National Museum of Naval Aviation, one of the nation's
largest air-and-space museums. The museum features an awe-inspiring collection of more
than 100 military aircraft. Many of the guides giving informal tours are themselves
retired aviators with personal stories to tell about the aircraft. The museum, located
aboard historic Pensacola Naval Air Station, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Veterans Memorial Park includes The Wall South, the nation's
first full-name replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.The park is
located on Bayfront Parkway near 9th Avenue.
Many of Pensacola's best free pleasures are outdoors.
The Bluffs, on Scenic Highway near Summit Boulevard, offer a
stunning view of Escambia Bay and a series of walkways for easy viewing and spectacular
photography.
Edward Ball Nature Walk, on the University of West Florida
campus, rambles through a tree-shaded bayou where visitors can feed fish and turtles.
Self-guided tours of Pensacola's historic districts offer
visitors a low-key, easy way to see the City of Five Flags. Markers point out historic
sites in the downtown, Seville and North Hill areas.
Art buffs can find plenty to view for free, not only in the numerous shops
featuring local artists but also at galleries at Pensacola Junior College and the
University of West Florida. The regionally acclaimed Great GulfcoastArts Festival, held in
the first weekend in November, is just one of many free festivals brightening the area.
Tennis players can find several free courts at Bayview Park, a
sprawling recreational area in the city's tree- shaded East Hill area.The courts are
lighted and open day and evening.
The Bob Sikes Fishing Bridge between Gulf Breeze and Pensacola
Beach gives anglers a free deck from which to try their luck fishing in Santa Rosa
Sound.With any luck at all, the anglers will catch enough fish to give them the proverbial
free lunch.
Pensacola,
Florida - Located on Floridas Panhandle, close to the
Alabama border, Pensacola draws visitors looking for the ideal seaside vacation to play or
relax on the sugar-white sand beaches next to the soothing Gulf of Mexico surf. Visitors
enjoy fun in the sun and all its inherent activities, from wind-surfing to fishing, to
exploring a plethora of historic sites and taking in the show-stopping Navy Blue Angels
precision flying team.