I recently got back from a trip to Pensacola, Florida to visit my friend Elle. Elle has been my best friend for over 12 years but she is in the Air Force so we only get to see each other about once a year and mainly stay in touch by phone. She was stationed in Pensacola for some training so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to spend some time together! I wanted to share some of my favorite things we did and restaurants that we ate at while in Pensacola.

WHAT TO DO

Palafox Street

Palafox Street is like the heart of downtown Pensacola. This quaint street is lined with trendy boutiques, coffee shops, and amazing restaurants. I loved admiring the historic architecture of the colorful buildings on Palafox with their wrought iron balconies and large windows. Palafox Street reminded me of New Orleans’s French Quarter which I loved! This is definitely an area you will want to explore while in Pensacola.

Waterfront

We walked all the way down Palafox street to the waterfront. This is a great spot to sit and admire the waterfront. I loved watching the waves and admiring the sail boats. I’ve spent a lot of time around boats because my dad loves them. There is something so chic about them. I like to pretend I own one!

Pensacola Beach

Pensacola Beach is absolutely beautiful! The white sand and beautiful teal water made me feel like I was on a beach in Greece. The best part is that the water is actually warm! I’m used to the Oregon Coast beaches which are always cold so Pensacola Beach was a really nice change. The tourist part of the beach has a boardwalk with stores and restaurants but we choose to visit a quiet part of the beach towards the end. There were only a few people there which was really nice! Elle and I had a yummy picnic on the beach and took a dip in the water after. We spotted four sea rays swimming around the shore which was so cool!

Pensacola Historic Village

This is something that I didn’t get the chance to do! The Historic Pensacola Village has a lot of museums and tours of the historic homes that you can do. There are even period-dressed living history interpreters! Rocio and I did something like this at a castle in Ireland and it was so fun.

WHERE TO EAT

Restaurant Iron

Restaurant Iron on Palafox Street serves delicious, contemporary Southern cuisine. Alex, the amazing chef and owner of Restaurant Iron, trained at a culinary school in New Orleans. We sat at the bar and watched him at work while sipping on the yummiest cocktails. We had several courses but my favorites were definitely the Black Garlic Butter Escargot and Gnocchi and the House Made Veal Ragu Agnolotti. Honestly, everything we tried was absolutely fabulous so you really can’t go wrong here. Elle and I were raving about everything we ate!

Khon’s on Palafox

Khon’s on Palafox is another gem on Palafox street. It’s a modern sushi restaurant but they also serve stir fries, asian salads, and more. We really loved the delicious Pork Dumplings and Crispy Pork Spring rolls. We got to try several delicious cocktails and even saki which I’d never had before! My absolute favorite part was dessert (of course). We had the coffee pudding and cheesecake spring rolls. I totally could have gone for seconds of each. The service was also amazing and everyone was so nice! I definitely reccomend this spot.

I want to say a big thank you to Elle for helping me take all of the photos for this blog post! She is a rockstar. I hope you guys enjoyed this post!

Also, don’t miss my Pensacola Travel Diary YouTube video:

XOXO