On this trip we celebrated a bunch of things wrapped into one: our first wedding anniversary, completing a marathon and half-marathon, Daniel’s birthday and Easter!

I have great memories of Navarre Beach and the Pensacola area when my family vacationed there when I was younger. I took Daniel to some of the spots we used to go as a family which was neat to see him experience for the first time. Some of those places were Joe Patti’s Seafood Market, McGuire’s Irish Pub and Flounder’s Chowder House.

The last time my family went to Navarre I remember briefly meet a young married couple that was staying at one of the condos at The Pearl. We had to drive past The Pearl on the way to our condo and I always thought the building was so pretty and told myself that one day I’d stay there with my husband. Dreams do come true, people!

On Daniel’s birthday, we drove to Pensacola and bought fresh salmon and tuna at Joe Patti’s and along with some veggies at the nearby produce stand for dinner “at home”.

We had so much fun flying kites, hitting the volleyball back and forth and searching for sea shells. Because the waves were so big, they carried in a ton of big, colorful shells that you usually wouldn’t find washed up on shore.

Pearl was our vacation mascot. When we first arrived at the beach we went for a short walk before checking into our condo. I found a little green toy dinosaur halfway buried in the sand that a kid accidentally left behind. I kept it, named her Pearl and made her the guardian of our sea shells that we collected each day. She has since retired from guarding sea shells and enjoys a quiet life sitting on a bookshelf at home 🙂

The day we headed home was Easter Sunday. Before beginning the drive back home, we agreed to wake up early in the morning to catch the sunrise on the beach. It was still dark outside as we walked down the beach to the pier and the moon was shining bright in the sky. Once the sun began to rise, it lit up one half of the sky in pretty pastels while the moon was at our backs with the other half of the sky still dark. It was a really peaceful, serene moment and the most beautiful Easter sunrise I’ve seen so far!

Four months after our trip and I still get the vacation blues after looking through these pictures! Visiting Navarre Beach with Daniel only added to the long list of happy memories I have of this little stretch of sand.

Do you have a favorite vacation spot that your family visits every year?

Thanks for reading,