Creative Telescope

We embarked on this journey back in October this year. As I only find time during my winter or summer break to work on my blogs here we go. After a lot of back and forth between me and my husband we settled on Pensacola for reasons I do not remember now. Since we had not been to a beach this whole year, a beach vacation was on the must do list so Pensacola it was. After a drive of almost seven hours we were there and quite unexpectedly I was not at all excited to be there at the beach. In my mind beach experience has spoiled all my future beach experiences for me so I was just relieved to reach our condo. But I was about to be proven wrong and how!

This was my first view of the ocean from our condo.

And I would lie if I say I was not already getting the feeling of exhilaration and couldn’t wait to feel water and sand on my toes. Minutes later after feeding our empty stomachs we were there.

The sunset had begun and we decided to sit on our chairs and just look at the sun going down only to surprise me with its breathtaking views the next morning.

And at 6am the next day I am up to do my beach ritual. Stroll on the beach just by myself, enjoy the peace and observe and capture things one doesn’t get to see when it gets crowded later and wait for sunrise. As long as I can remember I have always been a skygazer. One can click on my instagram profile on this site to go through few of my skygazing captures.

Skygazing refreshes my mind and body and always gives me a perspective that there are things much bigger than us who constantly want to feel entitled.  Anyway, no time to preach here. Safe to say I was quite enthusiastic about watching this sunrise as it was a clear sky kind of day. But before that happened, I was simply floored by the drama that was going on before sunrise in the majestic skies above me. It looked as if the sky was completely overpowering the waves and would come and engulf us all inside what appeared to be like a big cloud of smoke caused due to volcanic eruption.

The sun is yet to rise anytime now. Till then, I enjoy the waves crashing against my feet, walking behind birds looking for food inside gorgeous white sand while they leave their tiny little footprints and collect sea-shells(another beach ritual).

While I was collecting sea-shells I could notice the sand turning from white to a very lighter version of gold and I turned around to see this.

I will let the pictures and videos do the talking for me.

I was so engrossed by the sunrise that minutes later I realised my foot has sunk deep inside the sand.

I sat there for sometime to absorb it all while getting sun-kissed by its glistening golden rays. As I decided to walk back to my condo I was met by a flock of birds who were lounging around like the rest of us early risers. By now I was in love with Pensacola.

We decided to setup our beach umbrella while it was still a bit early in order to secure a good spot and left to have breakfast while keeping an eye on it from our balcony. We were concerned it would blew away due to strong winds but it passed the wind test and stayed intact till we nestled ourselves inside it with our chairs, books, water etc etc etc. In case you are wondering what kind of umbrella we used, it was a ‘Sport-Brella Portable All-Weather and Sun Umbrella. 8-Foot Canopy’ which you can easily find on amazon.

Our day was spent making all kinds of sand castles for dinosaurs(we live for them), playing in the ocean, reading books, taking naps and then heading back to our condo only to come back in the evening to watch a beautiful sunset and find a couple of shining jellyfish washed up on the beach. That was our Day 1 at Pensacola which for us was nothing short of extraordinary.

Day 2 – I started with my beach ritual but today the sky was in a gloomy mood. The sun it seemed was not fully prepared to show up. Clouds were ruling the sky and sun-rays were straining through them. An amalgamation of ocean with sky was taking place for as far as my eyes could see.

 

 

 

Nevertheless we got ready to explore my husband’s most anticipated place to visit in Pensacola(no, it wasn’t the beach) – ‘National Naval Aviation Museum’. Once I was in the museum I could understand why my husband had the child like enthusiasm to come and see this place. If you are in Pensacola, this museum is a must go even if you are not into air-crafts. It is the world’s largest Naval aviation museum which has more than 150 aircrafts restored beautifully that represent Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Aviation. We toured the museum on our own but one also has the option to take a guided tour. The place exudes so much history that we spent around three hours without realizing for a second that it has been that long. Even for someone like me who is not an aviation fanatic like my husband, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. If one wants to get all soaked up in history about world war I and II, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm wart, one is at the right place. Admission is free and this place is absolutely worth your time.