Compact, Historic Downtown
Meeting attendees in Pensacola always have the beautiful beaches and the Gulf for activities such as swimming, boating and fishing.
“It’s unspoiled, yet it doesn’t stay in the past. It has grown up,” Mathews said of the city. Pensacola’s downtown is compact and uncongested. “There’s more of a laid-back, relaxed feeling here, less traffic,” Mathews said. “When I do site tours with people, I joke by saying, ‘I apologize for our traffic,’ when, in fact, even during our busy season, we don’t have too much traffic downtown.” That makes it easy for attendees to walk most everywhere, from meetings to hotels to restaurants and entertainment.
The place to be most nights is the Palafox district downtown. Hayes is fairly new to Pensacola and was quickly impressed with the neighborhood’s resurgence in the past five years.
“One thing I’ve really enjoyed is the culinary aspect,” he said. “You’re not going to find just chains and chains of restaurants here, but places that are unique to Pensacola.” He mentioned popular stops in town that specialize in seafood, delicious Italian cuisine and the ever-popular burgers.
Great Southern Restaurants runs four theme restaurants in Palafox: the Fish House, Atlas Oyster House, the Deck Bar and Jackson’s Steakhouse. In addition, it operates the Palafox House, a 1912-era event venue that can accommodate 100 people. Maria Goldberg works for the restaurant group and is a big civic booster.
“The historic district in the past few years has really seen a wealth of development to create a more vibrant downtown scene,” she said. “We are glad to be part of it.”
Seville Quarter is another frequent stop for meeting attendees out for a night on the town. The Quarter opened for business in 1967 in an old warehouse, and it is still going strong. It has upgraded and expanded over the years and now has seven individual entertainment rooms.
The Seville Quarter complex includes a Rosie O’Grady’s, a club music scene, a pub, a large atrium, an intimate bar and open-air courtyard, a pool hall and a cafe.
Pensacola is home to the magnificent Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s hotshot flight demonstration squad. Every week, March through November, visitors to the area can watch the air show or practice sessions. They can also meet the pilots, see the aircraft up close and snap photos. It all takes place at the National Naval Aviation Museum, one of the biggest air and space museums around. Nearby is the National Flight Academy, whose flight simulators are open to the public. It’s a good place for receptions and team-building activities.
Even More To Do
Want the best view in Pensacola? Then hike the 177 steps of the circa-1859 Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum. At the top, enjoy great views of the city skyline, the Navy Yard and Pensacola Pass, where the bay meets the gulf. The museum tells the story of how Pensacola, one of America’s oldest settlements, came to be.
Pensacola is sometimes called the City of Five Flags because five governments have ruled it over the centuries: the United States, the Confederate States of America, Spain, France and Great Britain. The area doesn’t just host a few seasonal festivals; it has them going on year-round. Spanish, French, Native American, African-American, Jamaican and Greek festivals are just a few of the festivals presented each year. Meeting attendees can usually carve out time to enjoy one of them.
Many visitors stroll through Plaza Ferdinand VII in the historic district, a park and garden named after the king of Spain. It is where general and future president Andrew Jackson accepted the cession of Florida to the United States from Spain. Jackson made a speech that day. A bust there commemorates him and the event.
