Downtown Pensacola: 9/11 Monument

I was headed home from Gulf Breeze yesterday and decided to swing through downtown. As I turned the corner of Garden and Palafox I saw this, the 9/11 monument mottled by the shadows from the fabulous mottled myrtles. It's a stoneware piece by Peter King & Xinia Marín of Stonehaus. The building in the background is the Federal Courthouse.

Aquarium Fantasy

I caught this scene through a doorway on New Year's Eve. I think the fish looks very funny, like it just happened to be swimming by.


"Yellow Submarine" by The Beatles is today's song.

Are You Lookin' at Me?

I caught this well-groomed pelican catching an itch on the roof of the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida. This is the real deal, unlike the pelican for the New Year's Pelican Drop. Maybe that was a good thing, this one looks a little wild-eyed.

They're incredibly flexible, so funny to watch their head and neck contortions!

Today's song is a little silly but somehow felt right, Monsieur Pelican, although, this could be a girl pelican. '~)

Let Nature Heal You Sunday

I was recently given the advice you see above and I have taken it to heart. This is from a recent trip to Marcus Bayou Water Reclamation Facility. The walkways are spectacular, I can bring my dog, Ranger, with me, and I love visiting there knowing they're reclaiming the water and creating a sanctuary for wildlife. I like to think of it as an outdoor church.

Vibe Irie, Sunday Drive and ???

During the New Year's Eve celebrations in downtown Pensacola we listened to several bands and I liked them all. Any of them would be great to spend an evening with.

These first two photos are of a really energetic reggae band called "Vibe Irie". Their manager, Susie Quint, let me go around the barriers and take some close-ups (Thanks, Susie!). The lead singer is Octavius Wright and he was always in motion. The other members all had their own look and I'm going to be looking for them around town.

"Sunday Drive" played some really good boogey and had everybody rockin'. I loved that the lead singer look like a repair man with his shirt patches. I didn't think to look for his name but I'll bet it was on there.


This next band was very young and extremely enthusuastic. Not only did they have a look going on but also had a whole lot of energy given they didn't have a stage or decent lighting. They didn't seem to notice and gave it their all. I don't know their name but wish I did. Anyone know who I'm talking about?

New Year's Eve Celebration: The Pelican Drop

A while back I blogged about a new hotel in downtown Pensacola, Solé Inn and Suites. They used some of those photos on their website and in return they gave me a free room for New Year's night. Who said blogging is a waste of time? Not me!
Pensacola put on a spectacular New Year's Eve celebration and we were able to walk to and from all the events over the long evening that finished up with "The Pelican Drop". We also enjoyed several bands, got to see local newscasters Sue Straughn and Bob Solarski close-up, and got to party on New Year's Eve with about 30,000 close friends.

This band is called Kiss Army and they had the main stage during the Pelican Drop (it was suspended by a crane). They were wonderful to photograph.

Tomorrow we'll some other bands who rocked "The Drop".

Today's song is Rock and Roll All Nite.

"Sunrise, Sunset": Theme Day: Best Photo of the Year 2008 and Sky Watch Friday #25: Under a Blood Red Sky

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2009 is a special and peaceful year. My very best wishes to you all.

For Theme Day: Best Photo of the Year 2008, I had two or three photos that I really liked but today I had two memes to take care of so I went with one that meshes with today's Sky Watch Friday meme. I previously posted it here.

For more fun Click here to view thumbnails for all participants of this month's fabulous Theme Day.

This new photograph for SWF is of sunset on this past Thanksgiving Eve. I was at Big Lagoon State Park sitting on a bench beside the Intercoastal Waterway when I took the photograph. It's straight from the camera but doesn't really do it justice as my eyes weren't seeing any yellow at this point, just pure red. Beyond the tree line is the Gulf of Mexico.

This was one in a million as far as I'm concerned. Someone else must have thought so because the next day I was told that it had made the news. Go here to see the rest of this week's SWF postings.

So, what color was your sky the last time you saw the sun setting?

Today's song is "New Year's Day" from U2's "Under a Blood Red Sky".