Pensacola, Florida, is located on the Gulf Coast, which probably makes you start dreaming about summer vacations at the beach.  In actuality, Pensacola is a great place to visit at any time of the year!

Winter in Pensacola – Just Cold Enough to Want to Stay Inside

In the past week or two, the temperatures have finally dipped down below the 70s.  This is the time for us to dig out our sweaters and head downtown to take a trolley ride for Winterfest.  There are 12 stops where local performers act out holiday favorites that everyone will recognize like Rudolph and the Polar Express.  There is a free musical performance and you can visit Santa while you are there.

If it is too cold for you outside, you can stay warm in one of the great museums around town.  The National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola is one of the largest Naval Aviation museums in the world.  Everybody loves climbing in and out of the plane and helicopter cockpits where you can pretend to fly.  See an IMAX movie or take a spin on the simulators.  The TT Wentworth Discovery Gallery is a great place to let the kids run around indoors.  The children can learn more about colonial life in Pensacola through interactive play and hands-on activities.  There is a general store, a fort with costumes, a pirate ship and more.

Spring in Pensacola – My Favorite Time of Year 

Spring is my favorite time of year in Pensacola.  It is the perfect time to spend the weekends hiking the many different trails around town.  When I let them choose, my children always pick the Edward Ball Nature Trail on the University of West Florida campus.  There is a short boardwalk where your kids will spy turtles, fish, and maybe even a snake or alligator.  The Arcadia Mill Archeological Site is another great boardwalk to explore.  As you wander along the boardwalk, read the signs describing the different areas of this former industrial complex.  There is also a small swinging bridge to walk across.

We take full advantage of the spring weather and check out some of our favorite parks in the area.  Parents will enjoy the peaceful view at the Sanders Beach-Corrine Johnson Park.  The park overlooks the water, much of the playground equipment is covered, and there are benches and picnic areas to enjoy a snack.  Though there isn’t much by way of playground equipment, Aviation Park sits right on the Pensacola International Airport flight line.  There is a pretend air traffic control tower that you can sit in and listen to the real air traffic controllers.  The speakers are linked to the Pensacola International Airport tower.

Summer in Pensacola – Build castles in powdery white sand

Our summers are humid and hot so we spend a lot of time at the beach.  After a long day of splashing in the waves and playing in the sand, we always have to make a trip to Ft. Pickens on the Gulf Islands National Seashore.  This pre-Civil War fort has lots of walkways and nooks to check out.  Bring your flashlights because some of the halls are dark.  We leave a pair of headlamps in our car for the kids just in case we make an impromptu stop at the fort.  Our family beach trip wouldn’t be complete without an early dinner at Peg Leg Pete’s.  The kid’s meal comes with a pirate eye patch in a bright blue sand bucket.Plaza de Luna Park

If the beach isn’t your thing, visit Plaza de Luna in Downtown Pensacola.  There is a small splash pad, a great concession stand, and a pretty view.  This is a favorite spot for fishermen so you just might see them pulling up their catch.  Wander in and out of the shops along Palafox when you are finished.

The summertime is when the farms open for U-pick and the blueberries are perfectly plump and sweet.  Pick pounds of blueberries as a family.  Of course, if your children are anything like mine you will probably find them hiding in a bush eating all their freshly picked blueberries.  A& N Blueberries is a family friendly farm that offers inexpensive U-pick berries and is a great family outing.

Fall in Pensacola –Festivals Every Week

For me, fall has officially arrived when we attend the annual Pensacola Seafood Festival.  There are hundreds of arts and crafts vendors and lots of new seafood to try.  There is a children’s area with arts and crafts.  Santa Rosa County’s Beaches to Rivers offers all sorts of great fall events, too.  There are corn mazes to get lost in and pumpkin patches to visit.

Whenever we want to get out of the house but can’t seem to come up with a plan, we head to one of Florida’s state parks.  There are a five state parks within a 45 minute radius of Pensacola.  See the endangered pitcher plants at Tarkiln Bayou or Yellow Marsh River Preserve State Park.  Big Lagoon State Park has lots of walking trails by the beach.  There is an observation tower that you can climb up to get a great view of the water or you can canoe or tube down the river at Blackwater River State Park.

You will be sure to find plenty of family friendly activities no matter when you visit Pensacola, Florida!

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Navarre Beach, Historic Milton, and the Blackwater River are all part of Santa Rosa County, Florida, located between Pensacola and Destin. I have lived less than 45 minutes from Santa Rosa County for years but I haven’t done a lot of exploring in the area.  During a tour of the area where I got to play tourist for a long weekend, I was excited to visit some old tried and true favorites but I was also surprised to find some family friendly activities that we hadn’t yet visited.

Navarre Beach

During our visit, we were hosted by Resort Quest by Wyndham Vacation Rentals at   Summerwind West.  The  condo we stayed in made me want to sell my house and move out to the beach.  The three bedrooms were tastefully decorated and the living area was comfy and welcoming.  The kids immediately claimed the room with bunk beds for their own.  Both the master bedroom and the living area had large sliding glass doors that opened up to a beautiful balcony overlooking the beach and the pier.  We had a fully stocked kitchen and had we been there longer, we would have brought groceries to save money. Though there are many property choices on Navarre Beach, we liked the location of Summerwind Resort.  We were just a few steps away from the Navarre Beach Pier and several restaurants.

Read my full review of Summerwind West.

The Navarre Beach Fishing Pier is the Gulf of Mexico’s (and Florida’s) longest pier at 1545 feet.  My kids loved walking along the pier and over the ocean.  We spent time looking for turtles and sting rays but all we found were fish.  We wandered up and down the pier and watched the fisherman pull up their catch.  There is a restaurant at the beginning of the pier that serves up a pretty good fish sandwich, but be prepared to wait for your food if they are busy.  Throughout the year there are various festivals that are held at the beach.  We happened to be there during the Navarre Beach Sand Sculpting Festival.  Staying in Summerwind Resort allowed us to wander over and watch the sculptures progress from piles of white sand into amazing works of art throughout the weekend.

Just over the Navarre Bridge, there are a number of restaurants, shops and one of our favorite places to visit in Navarre, the Panhandle Butterfly House.  From April or May to Labor Day, the Panhandle Butterfly House is open to the public where you can learn about butterflies and watch over 200 seasonal species float around you.  In October, celebrate the monarch migration with the Monarch Madness Festival.  During the summer months, visit the splash pad next door and there is also a gigantic playground perfect for entertaining the kids year round.

The Gulf Breeze Zoo is located just a short drive from Navarre Beach down Highway 98.  After sustaining major damage during a hurricane, the zoo is now under new management.  This was my first visit to the zoo in months and I was pleasantly surprised by the growth and cleanup that has occurred since the last time I was there.  Feed the baby goats in the petting zoo or the giraffes.  Ride the train or walk the boardwalk to get a better view of some of the animals.

Historic Milton

Milton is one of the oldest towns in the Florida panhandle, established in 1825 as a trading post on the Blackwater River.  As you drive into Milton, you can’t help but find yourself slowing down a little bit.  We love to explore nature in Milton at Arcadia Mill.  Arcadia Mill is one of the largest antebellum complexes in Northwest Florida.  There was a silk cocoonery, a sawmill, textile mill and much more but the structures are no longer standing.  As you wander over the boardwalk that surrounds the grounds, stop and read the signs to learn more about this complex and enjoy walking over  a small swinging bridge.  There is also a visitor center and museum with guided tours available.

If you have a child fascinated with all things trains, you won’t want to miss the West Florida Railroad Museum.  This small museum pays tribute to the depot and the trains that traveled through Milton over the past 100 years.  There is a large model train display where children can watch the trains chug along on the tracks and railroad cars that kids can climb in and see as well as a children’s steam engine ride.  The steam engine ride doesn’t run every day so call ahead.  Our favorite part is timing our visit to watch a real train zoom by the depot on railroad tracks that have been there for years.

Blackwater River State Forest

There are lots of hiking opportunities in the Blackwater River State Forest as well as a number of swimming options.  Our personal favorite is a trip down Coldwater Creek in an inner tube, a kayak or a canoe!  You can camp but if tent camping isn’t for you there are cabins that you can rent.  I have yet to try the more adventurous tour, a guided canopy tour where you zip line across the river with Adventures Unlimited.  Our kids haven’t reached the height requirement for this activity yet but when they do I am going to muster up the courage to try myself!

It might have taken us years to do some in-depth exploring of Santa Rosa County, but I can assure you it won’t take us years to drive back over that county line to explore some more.

Thank you to Santa Rosa County for hosting me on this tour.  All opinions are my own with no outside influences.

Jen Close is the Gulf Region Destination Guroo for Trekaroo.

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On a quiet Saturday morning among orange groves and oak canopies in Winter Haven, LEGOLAND Florida opened with a flurry of colorful Lego-shaped confetti.  LEGO fans from around the world came to see what the Model Citizens, LEGOLAND employees, created.

Amongst the thousands of park goers that made up the grand opening weekend crowds were several local Floridians who grew up visiting Cypress Gardens, Florida’s first theme park which opened in 1936. LEGOLAND Florida was built on the former Cypress Gardens grounds and sits on 150-acres, making it the largest of the five LEGOLAND theme parks in the world. The unique landscape and sprawling banyan trees set this theme park apart from all other LEGOLAND locations.  Architects and park designers carefully built the new park in harmony with the historic natural surroundings and restored the world famous botanical gardens.  Each of the zones, or theme areas, offers amazing views of Lake Eloise.  Throughout LEGOLAND, hundreds of moss-lined oak trees were preserved and offer shade from the hot Florida sun.  As a tribute to the Cypress Gardens Southern Belles and their hoop skirt dresses, we found two LEGO Southern Belle figures in the park.   I overheard an older couple commenting on how wonderful it was that LEGOLAND created these pieces.  It turned out that the lady had once worked as a Southern Belle at Cypress Gardens.  We could not resist posing alongside these and other life-sized LEGO figures.