Taste of the Beach

Casino Beach was hoppin' this weekend as more than 20 island restaurants turned out for the third annual Taste of the Beach.


Each business offered small plates of their signature dish or drink. Prices ranged between $2.00 - $5.00.


And at the end of the festival a People's Choice Award was presented to the restaurant which received the most votes.

The Dog House Deli received praise from my husband for their Red Beans and Rice.

There were several new participants this year, including Margaritaville Beach Hotel, Frank & Lola's Love Cafe, Castaway's, The Grand Marlin, and Beach Pops.

This is becoming a very popular event, so be sure to bookmark the new Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce website and watch for the dates next year!

Pensacola Beach Sand Sculpture Contest

The Beach Community Bank Sand Sculpture Contest took place at Casino Beach yesterday. It's one of my favorite events on Pensacola Beach. Below are some of the photos I took, heading east to west.


Skull and crossbones.


The contest had several divisions: Youth, Teen, Adult, and Open Pro.


So what do you think the gas mileage is on this sporty entry?


If only I had a wide angle lens..


A sea turtle!

I loved this sculpture with all its sea creatures.

The kids did an excellent job on their shark and other creatures. I especially loved the way they used sea shells for shading on their sculpture.

Looks like someone took a bite out of this Hershey bar...

A creepy-crawly - look at its tongue sticking out.

I would never be creative enough to add dimension and the appearance of movement.

Yikes! Dead man's chest.

Excellent job! A wonderful sand sculpture of Tristan de Luna, in celebration of our 450th anniversary!

Do you recognize this? Hint: it sailed into port last week! This recreation of the Juan Sebastian de Elcano was sculpted by Sarah and Hannah Stendebach, visiting nieces of Jim and Lila Cox

That's quite a castle!

Fiesta of Five Flags!

And of course we all recognize this famous beach icon!

Oooohhhh....it's the Loch Ness monster!

Ahhh...King Neptune and his sea creatures. Unless you're Greek, then it would be Poseidon.

This was one of my favorites, sculpted by Kevin Nail and Mark Flynn.

I loved the arches in the castle!

The Great Pyramid and the Sphinx!

I think I might be able to learn how to build castles this way, but don't bet the farm on it.

Ah ha! So they keep spraying it down with water to keep it from drying out and crumbling!

If I stick around long enough, I might learn the tricks of the trade.

The kids enjoyed having their own class and worked very hard on their sand sculptures.

What do we have here? It appears to be a sort of shark submarine hybrid. Would that be called a sharine or a subark?

Another one of my favorites is the sweet couch potato -- or should I say a couch sweet potato. [Note from a blog visitor, 'Barefootnikki': This is actually Patrick Starfish, a friend of SpongeBob SquarePants. Thanks, Nikki!)

The creative artist found a way to make the cup of coffee 'steaming' hot. Excellent!

I'm sorry I didn't stay around long enough to get the names of all the winners for you, but getting around on the sand was not easy in this cast, plus, I managed to get it wet while photographing one of the sculptures close to the water. Still, I wouldn't miss this event for anything!

A B.I.G. thanks to Beach Community Bank for sponsoring the contest.

Bands on the Beach

The Gulf of Mexico was beautiful as the crowd gathered for Bands on the Beach.


Smiling couples listen to Southern Breeze tonight.


And children played in the sand at Casino Beach.


Beach chairs or blankets, it doesn't matter. Just chill out and enjoy a wonderful evening on Pensacola Beach.


There's plenty of room for you on Tuesday night's Bands on the Beach.


You could be relaxing just like this!


Or spending quality time with the family and making wonderful memories.



Mom sways to the music with her little one.