Pensacola resettled
30/03/08 22:59
Now, 312 years after the permanent settlement of Pensacola, we have arrived in a Ramada hotel on Route 29 going all the way to Baltimore, Maryland. The old colonial feel seems to have diminished somewhat over the years, and we are left with a view of a heavily trafficked highway and a microcosm of archetypal American fast food and hotel chains.
I guess Kristian could sense my disappointment with the place. At least, he quickly suggested that we take a ride downtown to look for alternatives. When the scenery still had not changed for a few miles, we hung a left, trying to go by the salty smell of the sea. Soon we were lost in seemingly endless residential sprawl, our only hope of escape the raised highways arching their way across the horizon.
Suddenly the sea came into view. But not even the vast expanses of blue, nor the perfect whiteness of the beaches, could calm our sense of being cornered. Whatever trouble the Spanish had had in settling Pensacola back in the day, it seemed to have been somehow passed down to us. We hit the brakes, and made a U-turn in the middle of the road. It was our only option.
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