Pensacola

Pensacola is a historic beach city in northwest Florida, in the United States of America. It is in Escambia County, Florida's westernmost county, at the tip of the "panhandle". The city is home to the Pensacola Naval Air Station, the National Museum of Naval Aviation and many historic districts that skirt the downtown area. Surrounded on three sides by water, the Pensacola area is full of history, shipwrecks, beaches and spectacular vistas.

Pensacola should not be confused with its neighbor, Pensacola Beach, covered in a separate article.

History
Pensacola has the nickname "The City of Five Flags". Only the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce actually uses that name, but it's a convenient short-handed way of describing the city's history. Over the past 450 years, Pensacola has been owned by five nations: Spain, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Confederate States. It was also inhabited by various Native American tribes, but sloganeers never seem to include them.

When the Panzacola Indians arrived in Pensacola thousands of years ago, they found old growth pine forests, thicketed with massive pine trees so large, it would take two or three men to wrap around the trunk. These trees provided so much shade that there was almost no undergrowth on the forest floor, and traveling through the woods was easy. Since there isn't much food to be found in pine forests, the tribes tended to live near the water, where fishing was plentiful. Not much is known about these early inhabitants of the area: they left few artifacts behind, and all of the tribes that lived in Pensacola prior to European colonization have gone extinct.

European colonization began with the Spanish: Juan Ponce de León (of Fountain of Youth fame) sighted the area first, and later Spanish explorers were excited by the well-protected, deep water bay. They recommended settlement, and in 1559, Tristán de Luna y Arellano arrived at the bay and founded the first European settlement in the United States. He named it... Puerto de Santa Maria.  It failed miserably. He sent his men on worthless scouting missions into the desolate pine forests, lost all of his ships in a hurricane (with the supplies still on board!), and was so incapable and uninspiring that his men mutinied. He lived, thanks to the intervention of Catholic missionaries in the town, but once Spanish ships arrived a few months later, the remaining Spaniards quickly abandoned the settlement.

Spain didn't return until 1698. They had rediscovered the bay five years earlier during a mapping expedition. Since the bay was still a tempting harbor, and there were many old growth pines at the nearby Blackwater River that would be perfect for shipbuilding, Spain decided to resettle the bay. This time, the settlement was named Bahía Santa María de Filipina. Still not Pensacola! However, the name 'Panzacola' was written on explorer's maps for the area, and the name was starting to gain informal use. The settlement was poor, small, populated mostly by prisoners, and suffered many setbacks.

In 1719, France, led by the governor of French Louisiana captured Pensacola from the Spanish at the outset of the War of the Quadruple Alliance. There was almost no resistance from Pensacola: no one had bothered to tell the Pensacolians that they were at war! The befuddled city greeted the French with open arms, expecting the ships from Mobile to trade supplies, not bullets. After taking control, they didn't do much with the city. The French burned Pensacola during their retreat in 1722, and the Spanish resumed control of the (pillaged, charred) city...

Until 1763, when Great Britain won Florida from the Spanish as a concession following the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War. In exchange, Spain was allowed to keep Cuba, and was also given Louisiana as a gift from the French, in exchange for their help during the war. Not a bad trade. Great Britain was proud of its new city, and they put a lot of effort into improvement. It was declared the capital of the new colony of British West Florida, and they built most of the streets in downtown Pensacola that are still used today.

This period of British prosperity didn't last too long though, because in 1781, Spain recaptured Pensacola, along with the rest of Florida, as an ally of the United States in the American Revolutionary War. Bernardo de Gálvez, the general of Spanish Louisiana, was instrumental in winning the city during the Battle of Pensacola. When the Spanish fleet commander lost a ship and refused to send any more into Pensacola Bay, Gálvez used his powers as governor to commandeer one of the ships from Louisiana and personally sailed it into the harbor, under constant cannon fire from the British. The other ships in the fleet soon followed, somewhat emasculated, one imagines. With Florida now in Spanish control, Spain controlled all of the Gulf Coast, and parts of the Mississippi River, which resulted in a lot of discontent among United States settlers in the south. They wanted water access, and their agitation for a seaport eventually inspire a young general named Andrew Jackson.

In 1821, Jackson finally succeeded in capturing Pensacola, and Florida, for the fourth and final time: it was now owned by the United States of America. The Adams-Onís Treaty made the acquisition official, giving Pensacola and all of Spanish Florida to the Americans. This was a boon for Mississippi and Alabama, which finally gained access to the sea. It wasn't so great for General Jackson, who was made Governor of Florida, a job he hated, and later quit. By this time, Pensacola had become the largest city in Florida, and was one of the most important ports on the Gulf Coast. In 1845 the territory became the 27th of the United States. The United States invested a lot in Florida, building forts here, increasing a military presence. They built shipyards, which a hundred years later would become Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola.

In 1861 Florida seceded from the United States to join the Confederate States of America. For four years, Florida fought with the South as part of the American Civil War. Contrary to initial expectations, this war did not end well for the South. Even worse for Pensacola, the Confederacy single-handedly destroyed the city's economy. Confederate Colonel John Beard, afraid that Union troops would capture Pensacola, ordered his men to "destroy every foot of lumber, all saw-mills, boats, etc.," along with anything else that may be of use to "the enemy." The city's economy never fully recovered.

Pensacola rejoined the United States in 1865, beginning a long decline for the city. The lumber industry began to rebuild, but by the 1930s, every old-growth tree in northwest Florida had been cut down, leaving nothing but small, newly planted pines. Pensacola Bay, the entire reason for the city's existence, was unable to accommodate modern ships, which required deeper water. The city council declined to dredge the bay to make the water deeper, and the harbor declined to near nothingness. Most of the shipping moved to Mobile, Alabama.

Today, the military is a driving force in Pensacola's economy. The Pensacola shipyards were re-purposed, and became the first naval air station in the United States in 1913. NAS Pensacola is home to the Blue Angels and the National Museum of Naval Aviation. All naval aviators are, at some point in their career, trained at NAS Pensacola. The base employs more than 23,000 people.

Climate
Often described as having three-and-a-half seasons, Pensacola has a subtropical climate with short, mild winters and hot, humid summers. Typical summer conditions have highs in the low 90s °F (32-34 °C) and lows in the mid 70s (23-24 °C). Afternoon or evening thunderstorms are common during the summer months. Due partly to the coastal location, temperatures above 100 °F (37.8 °C) are rare, and last occurred in June 2011, when two of the first four days of the month recorded highs of over 100 °F.

In winter, expect brisk, cool, dry days. The average high in January is 61.2 °F (16.2 °C), and the low is 42.8 °F (6.0 °C), though freezing temperatures occur on an average fifteen nights per season. If you come from a northern climate, you can survive a Pensacola winter with nothing more than a sweater or light jacket. Pensacolians, on the other hand, drag out the parkas when it hits fifty degrees.

Spring and fall are both mild times to visit. The temperatures tend to stay around sixty to eighty degrees, there's less risk of tropical storms, there's less humidity, and the thunderstorms are less powerful. It's a good time to sunbathe too, when the sun is bright but mild.

No matter what time of year you visit, you should bring an umbrella. Pensacola is one of the rainiest places east of the Mississippi, and there is no dry season or wet season: rain can hit at any time of the year. The city receives 64.28 inches (1,630 mm) of precipitation per year, with a rainy season in the summer. The rainiest month is July, with 8.02 inches (204 mm), with April being the driest month at 3.89 inches (99 mm). Spring and summer have 'popcorn showers,' a peppy euphemism for thunderstorms that seem to exist solely to soak you unexpectedly, then disappear, leaving you to enjoy the sunshine again. Always, when visiting Pensacola, have some plans for indoor activities, in case your outdoor plans get rained out. There are many popular indoor activities that will keep you entertained.

June to November is known as hurricane season. Hurricanes are powerful tropical storms with high wind speeds, rain, and coastal flooding. They also make it really difficult to get a good tan. While Pensacola is vulnerable to hurricanes, they don't hit every year, and most of them are pretty weak. After nearly 70 years without a direct hit, Pensacola was hit directly by Hurricane Erin (category 2) in August 1995 and major Hurricane Ivan (category 3) in September 2004. Hurricane Dennis brushed the area in July 2005 causing moderate damage. Visitors will usually have plenty of notice if they keep up with the media.

By plane

 * American Eagle/American Airlines (Charlotte (CLT), Boston Logan (BOS), Chicago O'Hare (ORD), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW),Miami (MIA), New York LaGuardia (LGA), Philadelphia (PHL), Washington Reagan)
 * Delta/Delta Connection (Atlanta (ATL))
 * Frontier (Denver (DEN))
 * Silver Airways(Orlando, Tampa)
 * Southwest Airlines (Chicago Midway, Denver, Kansas City, Dallas Love Field, Houston Hobby, Nashville, St Louis)
 * Spirit Airlines (Orlando, Ft Lauderdale)
 * United (Houston Bush Intercontinental (IAH); Chicago O'Hare (ORD); Denver (DEN))
 * United (Houston Bush Intercontinental (IAH); Chicago O'Hare (ORD); Denver (DEN))

Click here for list of taxi companies (and their rates), car rental companies and shuttle/Limousine companies at the airport. Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT) #63 bus serves the airport from the east gate of Saufley Field (Naval Airbase) in Bellview. Passengers can transfer to 31, 43, 52 at the nearby Pensacola State College (PSC) Transit Center to reach other destinations by public transportation.

Mobile Regional Airport is an hour's drive from Pensacola, in Alabama. It is usually more expensive than landing at PNS, but can occasionally save you a couple of hundred dollars on flights. Typically, any flight that requires a layover in Atlanta will be cheaper at Pensacola; if a flight doesn't require a layover in Atlanta, it may be cheaper to land at Mobile. From Mobile, rental cars are available at the airport, or a Greyhound bus can take you to Pensacola for about $20. To get to the Greyhound station via Mobile's public transportation system, use van route 19, which connects with bus route 1, which connects with bus route 9, which will take you to the Greyhound station.

By car
By car, Pensacola is about three hours west of Tallahassee and three hours east of New Orleans via I-10, and three hours south of Montgomery via Hwy 29 and I-65. Interstate 10 travels east-west through Pensacola, and is the easiest way into the city. However, the I-10 corridor through the Southeast U.S. is considered one of the most boring stretches of road in the nation; nothing but pine trees for miles and miles.


 * US 90.svg Highway 90 is a smaller road that travels parallel to I-10, and meanders through many small towns. If you don't mind a slightly longer drive in exchange for better scenery, Highway 90 may be worth the extra driving time.  Travellers on 90 should note that the road forks in Pensacola; the local name of the northern fork of Highway 90 is Nine Mile Road, and it mostly avoids the city.  The southern fork goes by many names; Mobile Highway, Cervantes Street, and Scenic Highway.  It's longer, and travels through the heart of Pensacola, but the view of Pensacola Bay from the bluffs along Scenic Highway is one of the nicest vistas in town.


 * US 29.svg Highway 29 is a rural highway that connects Pensacola with Interstate 65.  If you're travelling south the Pensacola, through Alabama, using Highway 29 as a shortcut from I-65 can save you about two hours. Highway 29 come into town as N Palafox Street


 * I-110.svg Interstate 110 is a 6-mile-long north-south interstate spur that connects I-10 with downtown Pensacola.

By bus
Greyhound offers service to Pensacola from their old station on Pensacola Boulevard, reported as permanently closed as of March 2024. The buses still stop in the front parking lot for passengers, but there are no shelters nor chairs, just a parking lot outside a boarded up building.

The Greyhound route through Pensacola is east-west, and travels along I-10. Anyone wishing to travel north will have to make a transfer in Mobile, Panama City, or Tallahassee. From the Greyhound station, city bus service from ECAT is available via route 50, though you will have to walk to Pensacola Boulevard, and cross the busy street. The ECAT bus arrives heading southbound to the ECAT central bus station every 30 minutes after the hour, from 6:30AM to 7:30PM. Do not take the northbound ECAT route 50 that arrives twenty minutes after the hour; the northbound bus will add another hour to your travel time.

Get around
Driving is by far the best way to get around the Pensacola area. With the exception of downtown. Downtown has street parking and a few parking garages, most of which have small fees M-F 9AM-5PM. Downtown parking is free on the weekends, but may be scarce during special events. Travel through the city may be confusing for the first time driver; some of the major streets have multiple names, the most notorious of which is FL SR 296, which also goes by Bayou Boulevard, Brent Lane, Beverly Parkway, Michigan Avenue, and Saufley Field Road! In addition, many major thoroughfares curve, or run at odd diagonals. A map will come in handy. I-110 is a major interstate running north-south through Pensacola, and provides a very handy guidepost for travel through the city.

There are bicycle lanes throughout town along most major roads, but they're not easily noticed unless they are actually being used; look for small lanes on the side of the road with a bicycle symbol painted on the asphalt. Downtown Pensacola is great to see from a bike, especially the old Seville area and the historic district.

By bus
ECAT provides public bus service to Pensacola and the immediate area, stopping at shopping centers and hospitals. The bus service doesn't serve the entire city, budget cuts have reduced the availability of routes, service is curt, and the routes are long and slow, but the buses are almost always on time. Route maps are available on the bus, and the bus driver can answer simple questions about how to get to most major destinations in Pensacola. For route planning, call the ECAT bus office ahead of time.

To board an ECAT bus, arrive at the bus stop at least ten minutes early; buses can't be flagged down. Have your money or ticket ready, and ask for a transfer before paying; the bus driver doesn't have to give you a transfer if you forget to ask. You receive one transfer for free, which is good for two hours; additional transfers are ten cents. Tickets are $1.75 per adult, $1.25 for older children and students with a valid student ID, 85¢ for Medicare card holders, and free for young children; make sure to have exact change! Unlimited day passes, seven-day passes, and thirty-day passes are available at the transit center. Bicycle racks are available on all ECAT buses, but make sure to remind the driver when you're disembarking that you need to retrieve your bike!

By taxi
Taxi service in Pensacola can be expensive due to the long driving times required to get from one end of town to the other. Don't expect to find a cab when you need a ride, nor to hail one; usually you'll need to call the cab company, and expect a wait. A few taxi-stands are located in downtown Pensacola (good luck finding them), and at the airport. Rates for taxi cabs are set by city ordinance, and are as follows: There is also a minimum charge of $11 for any taxi ride from the Pensacola Regional Airport, plus a $1 surcharge if the cab fare is over $11.
 * $2 for the first one-ninth mile.
 * .25¢ for each additional one-ninth mile ($2.25 per mile.)
 * .50¢ for each bag of luggage over two bags.
 * .50¢ for each passenger over the age of thirteen.
 * .50¢ for trips between 9PM and 5AM.
 * $18 per hour for waiting



Do

 * The beaches of Pensacola, with their famous sugar-white sand, are the city's most popular attractions. However, while the city of Pensacola is surrounded entirely by water, there are no beaches in the city limits. Instead, you'll have to travel to one of the beachside communities, which are a short drive away. Pensacola Beach is nearby, and very popular with both tourists and locals, with many restaurants, hotels, amenities and shopping, while Perdido Key is just a short drive further, and is more quiet and pristine.
 * Diving opportunities here are mostly sunken ships, which are not only historically interesting, but provide homes for entire ecosystems. The most popular dive is the newly "reefed" aircraft carrier Oriskany approximately 24 miles southeast of Pensacola Pass; the wreck is nearly a thousand feet long! Another dive includes the USS Massachusetts that was used as a target for artillery fire after being decommissioned in 1919. She sits in 30 feet of water near Pensacola Pass and is known to be an unpredictable dive. For spearfishers, the Russian Freighter is a popular dive, with grouper, snapper, and lobster available. Travelers interested in diving should check with one of the four dive shops in town for more information and for boat charters.

Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras in Pensacola is a time to let your cookie jar down, dye it purple, then march into the streets or bars for shiny beads, moon pies, liquor and fun. Don't go too wild though! As a family-friendly Mardi Gras destination, excessive drunkenness and exposing yourself will earn you a visit from the city police, which isn't worth a few extra good 'throws'. Also, Pensacolians like to keep their partying confined to the weekend, so there is no parade on Fat Tuesday. The odd scheduling does give a unique benefit: you can see all three parades in the Pensacola Area on the weekend, then travel to Mobile or New Orleans for their spectacular, and ribald, Fat Tuesday parades.



The Krewe of Wrecks Parade, the last of the three Pensacola Mardi Gras parades, is held at 2PM on Sunday afternoon at nearby Pensacola Beach.

Ball season begins in January and lasts until the parades before Fat Tuesday, with a very high concentration of balls centered around Valentine's Day. These balls are a great excuse to Balls are one of the most important fundraisers for Mardi Gras Krewes, and some of them can be very lavish indeed! It's a great excuse to dress up, socialize, dance, drink and nosh. Some of these balls are restricted to Krewe members only, while others are open to the public: the best way to learn where and when is to check the 'Local' section of the newspaper. Make sure to follow the dress code, which is usually either black-tie formal or costume. (Hint: the more sequins on the costume, the better.) Balls are always limited to those 21 and older.



Buy

 * Yard sales are very popular in Pensacola on Saturdays, and it's common to see a half-dozen fluorescent signs fighting for space on an electric pole. Start early, around 7AM, before the best buys are snatched up! Popular yard-sale destinations include the affluent homes on Scenic Hwy, the old neighborhood of East Hill, the subdivisions of Nine Mile Rd, and the city of Gulf Breeze, just south of Pensacola.
 * Yard sales are very popular in Pensacola on Saturdays, and it's common to see a half-dozen fluorescent signs fighting for space on an electric pole. Start early, around 7AM, before the best buys are snatched up! Popular yard-sale destinations include the affluent homes on Scenic Hwy, the old neighborhood of East Hill, the subdivisions of Nine Mile Rd, and the city of Gulf Breeze, just south of Pensacola.
 * Yard sales are very popular in Pensacola on Saturdays, and it's common to see a half-dozen fluorescent signs fighting for space on an electric pole. Start early, around 7AM, before the best buys are snatched up! Popular yard-sale destinations include the affluent homes on Scenic Hwy, the old neighborhood of East Hill, the subdivisions of Nine Mile Rd, and the city of Gulf Breeze, just south of Pensacola.
 * Yard sales are very popular in Pensacola on Saturdays, and it's common to see a half-dozen fluorescent signs fighting for space on an electric pole. Start early, around 7AM, before the best buys are snatched up! Popular yard-sale destinations include the affluent homes on Scenic Hwy, the old neighborhood of East Hill, the subdivisions of Nine Mile Rd, and the city of Gulf Breeze, just south of Pensacola.
 * Yard sales are very popular in Pensacola on Saturdays, and it's common to see a half-dozen fluorescent signs fighting for space on an electric pole. Start early, around 7AM, before the best buys are snatched up! Popular yard-sale destinations include the affluent homes on Scenic Hwy, the old neighborhood of East Hill, the subdivisions of Nine Mile Rd, and the city of Gulf Breeze, just south of Pensacola.
 * Yard sales are very popular in Pensacola on Saturdays, and it's common to see a half-dozen fluorescent signs fighting for space on an electric pole. Start early, around 7AM, before the best buys are snatched up! Popular yard-sale destinations include the affluent homes on Scenic Hwy, the old neighborhood of East Hill, the subdivisions of Nine Mile Rd, and the city of Gulf Breeze, just south of Pensacola.
 * Yard sales are very popular in Pensacola on Saturdays, and it's common to see a half-dozen fluorescent signs fighting for space on an electric pole. Start early, around 7AM, before the best buys are snatched up! Popular yard-sale destinations include the affluent homes on Scenic Hwy, the old neighborhood of East Hill, the subdivisions of Nine Mile Rd, and the city of Gulf Breeze, just south of Pensacola.
 * Yard sales are very popular in Pensacola on Saturdays, and it's common to see a half-dozen fluorescent signs fighting for space on an electric pole. Start early, around 7AM, before the best buys are snatched up! Popular yard-sale destinations include the affluent homes on Scenic Hwy, the old neighborhood of East Hill, the subdivisions of Nine Mile Rd, and the city of Gulf Breeze, just south of Pensacola.

Eat
Located on the Gulf Coast, with good harbors, Pensacola has access to a wide variety of fresh seafood, and many restaurants in the area proudly use fresh-caught fish and shellfish in their meals. Red snapper is bountiful in the waters here, but good luck finding it; most of it is shipped to New York City, where it can fetch a higher price. Locals in the know often hit the docks when the fishing ships come in, when a small bribe can net you a beautiful snapper at bargain prices. Gulf shrimp are cheap and plentiful here, and most dining establishments have it on the menu in some form or another. Mullet fish are an oily, strong-flavored species of fish, popular only because of its dirt-cheap price. It can be bought for a dollar a pound, and is always served deep-fried, like catfish; locals often eat the tails like they eat potato chips. And although Pensacola is a little late to the raw fish party, incredible sushi can be found here, made with fish caught from the docks.

Being in the southern United States, Pensacola also features many restaurants that specialize in traditional southern cooking; having grits, a ground corn porridge, for breakfast is a source of pride for many Southerners. Pecans and peanuts are grown by many farmers in the Florida panhandle, and Pensacolians put them to good use in pecan pie, pecan ice cream, roasted peanuts, and especially cajun-spiced boiled peanuts. And all this southern food is washed down with sweet iced tea; the best places boil sugar and water into a syrup, and add this to their brewed iced tea, along with oranges or lemons to make a true Southern-style sweet tea.

Budget
Offered at convenience stores, country fairs, high school football concession stands and farmer's markets, boiled peanuts are an ubiquitous snack food in Pensacola. Usually using fresh peanuts from farms in the north part of the county, the raw nuts are boiled in salted water until soft in the middle. Both spicy and plain varieties are available, and are usually just a dollar or two for a bag. If you've never had them before, expect your first reaction to be "slimy."

Grits are offered anywhere breakfast is served; even the fast food chain Whataburger has them in the mornings. Expect to pay just a dollar or so for plain, buttered grits, and more if you want any fancy ingredients added, like cheese or bacon. Hominy grits, made from lye-soaked corn kernels, popular in other parts of the south, are hard to find in Pensacola.

If you're lucky, you might find yourself invited to a southern fish fry. Do not turn down this invitation. An important part of southern food tradition, fish fries can be used as fundraisers, as celebrations, or just a cheap way to bring friends and family together. Traditionally, catfish is the main course, but in Pensacola, mullet fish is popular too. Fried fish is usually served with hush puppies, and coleslaw, french fries, baked beans, and grits can all make an appearance. Plates usually run $5 or less at fundraising events, but unless you have really cheap friends, it's free at fish fry parties.

Mid-range
You can find chain restaurants, like Applebee's and Olive Garden in the Cordova Mall area, near the intersection of Bayou Blvd and 9th Ave. Local restaurants are more scattered, but you can find a few hotspots downtown, and along Scenic Hwy.



Splurge
What seems expensive to the average Pensacola eater may seem pretty cheap to out of towners. Even the best meals in town rarely top $30 a person, and seafood in Pensacola is dirt cheap compared with some parts of the country. Take advantage of this; there is incredible seafood to be found at the finer establishments in town.

Drink
One drink that's a Pensacola favorite is the Bushwacker. This frozen drink, made from Kahlua, rum, coconut, and ice cream, is more associated with Pensacola Beach, but every bar in town knows how to make it, and many have their own special versions.

International travelers, when going out to drink, bring your passport. Doormen at some bars, Seville Quarter in particular, may not recognize an international driver's license, and will call the police after confiscating it as a fake ID!

Sleep
Pensacola offers dozens of hotels, from small weathered motels to full-service resorts. Vacation rentals are also a popular option for large groups or extended stays. Since Pensacola often has a large influx of evacuees from other cities during the hurricane season, there are a large number of extended-stay hotels and suites available in the city. Outside of hurricane season, you can often find a great deal on these rooms.

If you're looking to spend a lot of time on the beach, you may want to look at hotels in Pensacola Beach or Perdido Key, which will save you a lot of driving. Also, if you are military, or have a military ID, you can stay at the Navy Lodge at NAS Pensacola. Rooms are spartan, but cheap, and the location is on a bluff overlooking the beach.

Budget
Many major hotel chains have a presence in Pensacola, including all the usual budget suspects. Most of these budget hotels are located along I-10 on Plantation Rd at the Davis Hwy exit, and at the Pensacola Blvd exit. The attractions of Pensacola are about a twenty-minute drive from here. Unless you're on an extreme budget, avoid the cheap motels along the portion of Hwy 90 known as Mobile Hwy; this is a high-crime area, and the motels there are rundown and unsavory.



Splurge
Pensacola's nicest sleeping options are almost all located downtown.



Stay safe
Tropical weather can be a hazard, especially during the Atlantic hurricane season from June 1 to November 30. In the event of an approaching hurricane or tropical storm, pay attention to television and radio news alerts, who will tell you what to do and what to expect. Typically when a hurricane is imminent, people staying at beaches, low-lying areas, and trailer homes will be asked to evacuate further inland. If your area is asked to evacuate, do so immediately, before traffic slows to a crawl; the most dangerous place to be in a hurricane is stuck in traffic. Hurricane-safe shelters, built inside public schools, will be opened to anyone who needs them.

Theft and crime are minor problems in Pensacola, and you'll be safe if you stick to the main tourist areas. Avoid the area of Pensacola known as Brownsville, on Highway 90 from D Street to Mobile Highway; although the sheriff's office has tried to curb crime in this area, drugs and prostitution still make it a dangerous area to linger in.

Traffic in Pensacola is tame compared to large cities, but some roads have a reputation for being especially dangerous. Be careful when driving along Gulf Beach Highway; the narrow road, with chronic speeders and blind corners claims a half-dozen lives a year. I-110 is under heavy construction, and speeding here is not only dangerous, it's very likely to earn you a traffic ticket. I-10 through Pensacola is notorious for being a speed trap; remember that the speed limit drops to 60 MPH while in the Pensacola area, not 70 MPH like it is in neighboring counties.

Go next

 * Pensacola Beach is just south of Pensacola, on Santa Rosa Island, and offers boardwalk shopping, hotels, white-sandy beaches, and Fort Pickens. Take the Pensacola Bay Bridge to Gulf Breeze, and turn right at the giant Pensacola Beach swordfish sign.  There's a small toll of $1 to enter the community.  While driving through Gulf Breeze, beware the speed limit; the police here are notorious for targeting tourists, and will ticket you for driving even a single mile per hour over the speed limit.
 * Perdido Key is about 15 miles west of downtown Pensacola, and is a great beach spot that is less busy than Pensacola Beach. Home to Big Lagoon State Recreation Area, Gulf Island National Seashore, the ruins of Fort Mcree, and the Flora-Bama lounge.
 * Mobile is about 50 miles west of Pensacola, and is a large city with French influences; their downtown usually has a festival of some sort every weekend. I-10 is the quickest route, if you don't mind speeding traffic, but if you don't mind the scenic route, try taking Highway 90.
 * Gulf Shores is a touristy Alabama beach town about 40 minutes from Pensacola with more great beaches, restaurants and tourist traps.
 * Foley is a rural town in Alabama, notable only for its large outlet mall and famous Lambert's southern restaurant. Head west on Hwy 98, across Perdido Bay until you reach Foley.
 * Milton is a small town about 10 miles east of Pensacola that annually hosts the Scratch Ankle Festival, which highlights musical talent, arts & crafts and children's festivities.
 * Adventures Unlimited is about 12 miles north of Milton and offers canoeing, kayaking and tubing through the Blackwater River State Forest.
 * Fort Walton Beach is an hour's drive east of Pensacola, and has sandy blue water, a vibrant boating community, and annually hosts the Billy Bowlegs Festival, celebrating pirates.