The Redneck Riviera…

Dec 26, 2021
2 min read

We didn’t know the Florida Panhandle was called the Redneck Riviera either. Ha! Two friends of ours told us within a half of hour of each other of the nickname. Thank you Dan LaRosa and Rick Minetti. Our stops in the Redneck Riviera included Panama City, Destin, and Pensacola Fla. We knew we had to drive through the Panhandle to get to Biloxi and New Orleans to head out west but we had no idea how beautiful the beaches were there. A true Riviera beach-wise. The Redneck part, more of a moniker. We really dug the experience.

The top three pics were in Destin, Fla. and the bottom three from Pensacola. We stayed at Henderson Beach State Park while in Destin. It was our first State Park overnight stay and it was a great experience. It had a cement pad and patio along with a very private and wonderfully manicured campsite. Plus, it had a campfire ring and grill. We hadn’t had a fire outside in weeks so we lit one up. Actually, we lit three up. One for breakfast and two at nighttime. We took a tour of the The Harbour Boardwalk and stopped in at Margaritaville. It was like the millionth Margaritaville we passed along our travels and the first one we stopped in.

Destin was recommended to us by two couples we ran into during our travels. Nice call!

We took a bike ride down to the the beach at Henderson State Park. We scouted out the beach. There was a nature trail just across from the beach that we hiked. The dunes were Snow White.

Pensacola was our next stop. We took a bike ride around Pensacola beach. Another beauty! The pics below are from Pensacola Pier. It was a doozy. There had to be 2 dozen surfers. All dudes and one lady.

We continued the bike ride and couldn't believe it could get any better...but it did. We went to the Gulf Islands National Seashore. My God! It was spectacular.

From there we put the bikes back on the car and drove the remaining 5 miles to Fort Pickens At the very end of the National Seashore. As soon as we got out of the car we were approached by a Pensacola couple who were from Milford and Sandy Hook, CT. We chatted it up for a half an hour. Then we toured the fort that was 150 years old.

We don't get out much at night but we made an exception and walked Palafax St. Downtown. We went into this placed called the Seville Quarter which was a block long venue with multiple bars and restaurants all under one roof. We didn't drink, we just cased the joint. Walked the street all decorated for the holiday that had neat shops, restaurants and bars. This is where the Woolworths that had months of sit-ins back in the 60's to protest racial discrimination happened.

Ohh, and the campground we stayed in was very quirky. Our campsite was laid out like a beachfront with sand, surfboards, fishing rods, bumpers and palm trees. The flag was the post office boxes and the dumpster, not one to put your trash in.