Up to this point on Road Trip 2019, we have been in what we call “travel mode.” That is, any destination thus far was a short-term stay of only two or three days. Although we might have taken advantage of dining or sightseeing opportunities, we were stopping to rest up and take a little driving break before continuing to where we’ve been dreaming about for months… Pensacola Beach!
We splurged at Pensacola Beach RV Resort (our Stop #8) in a couple of ways. First, we booked a premium site closest to the beach on the Santa Rosa Sound. (The famous white sand Pensacola Beach is a short walk across the street.) Second, we booked it for 5-1/2 weeks. It’s important to know that we did this one year in advance. It’s getting harder and harder to get into this place!
Yes, it was pricey and indulgent. But…we no longer have a mortgage and house-related expenses having just sold our house in April 2019. And when we factor in our expected site costs over the coming year, the average cost per night works out fine. Sometimes you just gotta live a little and have a treat – and that’s what we did here!
We knew that there was a Tiki Bar between us and the beach prior to arriving. Dean was looking forward to it, while I was dreading it. I had read some reviews from other RVers who complained about the noise and the drunk people and so on. The Tiki Bar leases the beach area from the Pensacola Beach RV Resort, so it’s not exclusive to RVers. The general public is welcome here and they do arrive in droves sometimes!
Now that I’ve lived through the Tiki Bar experience for multiple weeks, I have to say it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined. We arrived on Waggie Wednesday, which means the girls got to go hang out with us at the bar. Actually, dogs are always welcome, but the Wednesday happy hour provides treats and bandanas for the pups. And there was music!
The noise factor was not a problem at all during our stay. Even without a band playing, practically in our backyard, the Tiki Bar did play music over speakers in the area. However, the music didn’t start until noon on the weekdays and 11 am on the weekends. For us early risers, that mean we got a lot of quality time on the beach by ourselves. We celebrated a wedding anniversary and a birthday this way.
Pina colada mimosas for the birthday boy 
Domaine Carneros bubbly for the wedding anniversary
And music was played at a lower volume once it got dark outside, and everything was shuttered up — bar, music, and all — by 10 pm every night. If we got tired of the action outside, we went indoors and I can assure you that I could not hear a thing with my air conditioning running at top speed!
But before we went inside, we enjoyed this beautiful sunset each night. Sometimes we just sat behind our rig, where we could bury our toes in the sand. Sometimes we wandered over to the beach chairs, while other times we sat under the tiki huts. A couple of times we were even in the water to get cooled off!
As for drunkenness, we did see some situations get out of hand once or twice during our extended stay. But that’s people for you. Especially young people who have been drinking. Overall, however, I don’t think it was disruptive. The environment was just a bit livelier than we typically find at an RV park.
Despite the numerous signs around discouraging people from walking through RV sites, it still happened way more than we would like. And dogs were off-leash more than they should have been.
By the way, be prepared for a lot of people wandering around in the barest of clothing. Swimsuit attire (or something barely there) at the local bars is quite common. Some people wear it well, and some… erm… have a lot of confidence in themselves. But it’s all good. Sunshine has a way of keeping people in a good mood most of the time!
We enjoyed this place a lot. So did the girls. There are a couple of dog runs in the RV park, but we didn’t use them. The girls and I preferred walking around the beach.
Tessie and Mimi enjoying the beach by the Tiki Bar 
Mimi rolling in the sand by our rig
In fact, we didn’t just enjoy this place, we loved it! Jennifer, owner of the Island Culture Tiki Bar, and her wonderful crew of bartenders made us feel like family. They exude positivity and ensure everyone is having a fun (and safe) time! We miss them all.
Of course, over such a long period of time in this area, we did a lot of things. Too much to cover in this post, so I’ll create another one to cover the highlights.
After Pensacola, our road trip carried us northward into Ozark, Alabama.
