Summer trip to Pensecola, Florida and the Holiday Inn Resort

At the beggining of this school year I went on a beach vacation with my parents, 2 of my sisters, and my daughter. We went to our favorite beach vacation spot, the Holiday Inn Resort right off of the beach in Pensecola Florida. We made a couple stops on the way up including the Rest Stop at Florida State Line, which sports a large Navy jet which appears to be flying over the welcome sign, which is adorned with beautiful multicolored lights, and also a neat area with animal footprints carved into the ground with signs giving info about each animal. It was a cute little free display to check out while getting a stretch break in and making a bathroom run.

When we arrived the resort was just as beautiful and peaceful as it was when we had previously gone there 7 years ago, when our daughter was 3.

The hotel features a lazy river, hot tubs, a kiddie pool, shows and games for the kiddos, a large pool with water features, a gameroom, and much more, plus direct access to the beach via a bridge, and outdoor showers to rinse the sand off when you come back "home".

The view looking down at the lazy river from your hotel room is in itself such an enjoyable thing, then to look out and see nothing but water as far as the eye can see before you is a wonderful experience. I believe that if you rent a room on the opposite side of the hotel the charge per night is a bit lower, though I'm not sure as my parents have treated us both of the times we've stayed there.
During our stay we visited several of the gift shops across the road and ate at Hooters, which was my first time eating there, and the food was amazing! We also ate at Crabs on the Beach (formally Crabs! We Got Em!) which was good, but for the cost is not my favorite choice of a place to eat. I felt that the menu was very limited and they didn't have regular small crabs, just huge crab legs. Heading back to the hotel, my favorite parts of the stay were drifting along the lazy river and soaking in the hot tub. I did get a severe sun burn despite layering sun block multiple times though, so I would suggest staying out of the sun during the hottest hours and putting on more sun block than you think you need. Another amazing experience I had while on this trip was waking up early enough to see the sun rise on the beach for the first time! When I first walked out to the beach it already seemed pretty light out, and I thought perhaps I had somehow missed it coming up, but when it finally did come up I fully understood why people are always talking about watching the sun rise on the beach. It was stunningly beautiful!

Aside from the amazing colors of the rising sun was the feeling of the cool sand on my feet as I waited for morning to arrive. The sand at this beach is so soft and fine, definitely my favorite of any beach I've been to so far.

The view of the back of the hotel looking up from the pool area is also beautiful and colorful. It really is a great place to vacation if you want to relax the whole time rather than running non-stop.

I'm certainly looking forward to our beach vacation coming up this summer, which I will share at that time!