Showing posts with label Historic Pensacola Village. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Historic Pensacola Village. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

A trip back in time......


Our Location: Bluegrass Rv Park, Foley, Alabama

Overnight lows were warm enough to allow us to shut the heater off and still feel comfortable in the morning getting out of bed. Today's temps were excellent and we slathered on the sunscreen just ensure we wouldn't get burnt on our outing. 

Breakfast was the usual quick, painless effort. After that we read for about an hour before loading up the Dogsled and heading off to Florida. Sounds like a long trip huh? Well it wasn't, within about 15 minutes we were crossing the river from Alabama to Florida. A short drive away is Pensacola with numerous things to entertain a person. We took in Historic Pensacola Village today. 

Sewing Machine in on of the houses in Historic Pensacola Village

I've been there before but it was a first time for Riley (first time that it was open so we could actually go INTO the buildings not just walk around them like the Monday we visited when everything was closed), and she seemed to enjoy it. The tour guide left a few things to be desired but she managed to get us through it without too much trouble. She dwelt on things that weren't of interest to us such as length explanations about wall coverings, and window drapes, gossipy things and didn't spend enough time on the bones of the buildings such as windows, door taxes, incomes, etc. Riley and I both found her accent a bit difficult as she talked too fast. ~laugh~ Overall though we enjoyed the tour and will return again probably Friday to see if we can get a different tour guide for the tour. Our ticket purchased for $8 each today is good for a week! 

Some kind of old clock at the TT Wentworth Museum

Also part of the Village experience is the time lines depicted in various buildings that show the progression of Pensacola as a settlement/town/city. It's various ownership by different countries such as Spain, France, England etc. There is an interesting time line from the business angle in which it gives actual statistics for import/export from the cities earliest days until recent times. Cotton and lumber being among some of the top exports over the years. It allows one to see the growth of industry or the lack of growth or change in industry over the years. It's major industry being shipping for a long time, as a port it was highly profitable even in times of trouble, and played a key role in the early years of a young growing nation. 

A FLINT mantle around the fireplace helped to keep and distribute the heat, and were used in the 'public' parts of the house.

Also depicted in their time lines is the issue of slavery, and the civil war. A number of exhibits depicted the early struggles of blacks, free blacks, women and early life in the new city. The time lines moved along into the 1900's and showed the coming of new modern appliances, and conveniences such as washing machines, toasters, electric stoves, refrigerators, as well as the telephone, tv, and radio. There was a number of wagons, buggies, bicycles, tricycles, and even a train engine. 

Old Coca-cola vending machine. I think the price was a nickel or maybe a dime.

It was an interesting morning that both entertained and educated us. We enjoyed the TT Wentworth Museum as well. It had numerous small displays including one dedicated to Coca-cola. That display held a number of old Coca-cola ice boxes, vending machines, dispensers, as well as items that displayed the Coca-cola logo. It also held various bottles, cans, and posters that I remember as a kid. Some of the displays were very crowded and hard to see all the items in the display cabinet but it was still interesting. 

Dueling pistols on display at TT Wentworth Museum.

After we left the Historic Pensacola Village area we walked down to the little harbour. Not much to see but they have made a nice little sitting area that allows one to sit and watch out over the water. I'm certain it would be a great place to sit when the ships are moving about. 

This orange tree was growing outside one of the historic homes we visited today.

From there we headed homeward. A few stops along the way but nothing exciting. We arrived home about 1:30 pm and had a quick chat with Ed of Ed & Sue (our next door neighbours) and Neil (Ed & Sue's REAL neighbour back home in Missouri). I dropped Riley at the Igloo and went out to do a couple of things on my own. More on that at another time. Home by 4 pm I was tired and hungry, since I'd missed lunch. I came home to find Miss Riley sitting outside enjoying the sunshine and warmth. I'm glad she had some time to herself. She commented that she feels very safe here in the park which is a good thing. I of course being a smart ass said," Well of course you feel safe here you can out run all of these old geezers. " ~laugh~ 

The roots of a Crepe Myrtle tree on a side street in Historic Pensacola Village

Chatted with Ed & Sue for a bit after I got home and then inside to grab a quick snack and just sit down to unwind. About 5:30 pm we prepped dinner and I sat down to read for a bit. Around 6:30 pm I headed outside to BBQ dinner. It was nice outside, not too cold at all. I still bundled up but I didn't come inside chilled like I have a few times. 

Dinner was Dill Potatoes with onions, Parsley-Oregano Veggies, and Pork Loin Chops with Georgia Peach BBQ sauce. We followed that up with a bit of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream.  MMmmmmmmmm...good stuff!!


Dinner was excellent and not just because I was hungry. ~laugh~

Quick clean up inside and out, walk to the dumpster and that was it for the day. I came upstairs to edit the pictures we took today and to write this post. Riley went off to do whatever it is she does back there in her space. I think I can hear her snoring so that takes some of the guess work out of it. ~laugh~ 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a great day as well. Until next time...be safe, take care....


Tuesday, January 24, 2017

It's Monday....some things aren't open.....

We are currently in Foley, Alabama but we were without internet connection for a couple of weeks so I’ll be posting the blog posts in order over the next few days until I get caught up.

Our Location: Bluegrass Rv Park, Foley, Alabama

(Jan 23, 2017)

A much cooler day today than yesterday with a crisp wind that brought a chill whenever it blew. In the sunshine it was nice this afternoon, in fact it bordered on being hot in the direct sunlight. The wind died down shortly after noon time and it was a much more pleasant afternoon than morning.

Devin Scullion, who had a rare rapid aging disorder, died at the age of 20.
Devin Scullion

Condolences to my old neighbours back in Hamilton, Ontario, on the death of their son Devin who passed last night. Devin was very special young man, he suffered from a very rare disease that made him age rapidly. Referred to as ‘Old Man Syndrome’ Devin was one of a very few people in the world that had this disease. He managed to live many years longer than predicted by the experts but his life was cut short at just 20 years of age. My thoughts go out to his parent Jamie and Shaun and their family.  Rest in peace Devin.

Native Totem Pelican

Monday of course is cleaning day, as you know. Never takes long, it’s just getting started that’s the issue. ~laugh~ I took the time yesterday to clean out a couple of cupboards, wiping them out, putting them back in order as they seem to slip out of order as the week progresses. Nothing like a clean Igloo.

Christmas Decorations & Street Art

After breakfast the cloudy skies didn’t instill any confidence in the sunshiny forecast that I’d heard but never the less we decided we’d try to sight seeing today. We headed out to Pensacola and the Historic Village of Old Pensacola. Not a far drive but it took us back into the state of Florida of course. We stopped a few times along the way as I showed Riley some places that I remembered and wanted to check out again. Eventually we made it downtown to the old Village of Pensacola. I’d visited here once before but couldn’t find the parking lot I was remembering in my mind. Reason being that it wasn’t open to the public, it was closed off for renovations and it just confused me. ~laugh~ Eventually we parked and headed out to find T.T. Wentworth Museum to purchase tickets for the tour. Hmm…do you remember that it’s Monday? It’s not open on Monday. ~laugh~ I think I did the same thing before too. However we managed to walk around the old part of down town and see a few old buildings and get a walk in as we haven’t been walking here due to weather.

Parking meters

Back in the Dogsled we headed homeward with a few ideas of how to spend the afternoon. We went on past the Bluegrass driveway, headed into the village of Foley on a couple of errands. First we stopped at Piggly Wiggly, one of the little grocery stores here for a few quick things we needed. However it wouldn’t accept my debit card and so one of the errands wasn’t going to be accomplished. I was planning on getting some cash back from them as they offer that feature but well….Murphy …..~laugh~

Pedal trolley. EVERYONE pedals.

We opted out of the second errand until tomorrow as we were hungry and decided lunch was calling. Back home we managed to find our way to the fridge, put away a few groceries, eat a few more and start a new list. ~laugh~ I enjoyed a large garden salad while Riley finished off the chicken from yesterday. We both enjoyed our books as we ate lunch. The warm sunshine kept calling me to come outside and sit. However we’ve been doing a lot of sitting lately but decided today was the perfect time to get back to walking. We made 4 rounds around the park which took us about 20 minutes, we were pleased with that as we’d already did some walking this morning. Riley headed on home while I stopped to chat with a couple of folks I know here to ask a couple of questions they could answer. The park no longer fills propane cylinders so I need either have this one filled or exchanged and we can start bbqing again. Charlotte and I chatted away, catching up on a number of things. She’s one of my favourite people here in this park. I’ve always liked her, she and her husband Vern are super nice folks!!!

Camouflage crane truck.

Home from my little chat with Charlotte I changed into short pants, grabbed my book, outside in the warm sunshine with my hat to keep the sun out of my baby blues. ~laugh~ I wasn’t out there very long until Roy (next door) came motoring over in his chair. We chatted for about 45 minutes, I think Roy is lonely and misses his friend Tom (actually Roy's brother in law) who passed away about 18 months ago. Tom and his wife Linda own the park. Roy fell and broke his leg just about a year ago and has had two surgeries to fix it. He’s 88 but doesn’t act a day over 15.  Reminds me of someone that shall remain nameless. ~laugh~  As Roy and I are chatting the neighbour on the other side, Ed from Missouri came over to chat for a few minutes as well. After the two of them left I once again started reading, enjoying my time in the sun but it got to be too hot and I had to retreat inside. Doors, windows and vents open it was nice in the Igloo.

Building made of big rig boxes.

Puttered in the rest of the afternoon reading, and figuring out what sides to add our chicken for dinner. Before you know it, the air is cooling off and dark is coming. Shutting all the windows, vents and doors to keep in the afternoon heat.

Made with our own shelled Alabama Pecans

Dinner was excellent but cooked inside. Honey Pecan chicken breast with seasoned steamed veggies, along side bow tie pasta. Mmmmm…..

Clean up and head off in our own directions. Another day is finished here and night is settling in, thanks for visiting, I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time…be safe…take care…