1-26-2011, We Live Here

The ride to Pensacola the next day was dotted with great thrift store stops, so the 3 hour drive ended up taking all day. Especially once we hit Panama City Beach, now the Spring Break Capital of the East Coast. Too early for bikinis and keggers, we tried to make it through as quick as possible.

It was dark when we finally got into Pensacola proper, so navigating our way in this 33 foot vehicle was made a little harder. That plus the fact that even though our turn signals definitely work, nobody can ever see them. Ward signaled to get into the left lane that was about to start, but a small sports car tried to whip around him to get there first. Girth can sometimes conquer speed, and we ended up in the lane first with an irate driver on our tale. At the next light, the car sped up on our right and stopped next to us. The young girl looked up at us, smirked, and, pointing to her dashboard, said “I live here.” Our immediate question was “So that means you can drive like an asshole?”, but after thinking about it for a second, we came up with a better response: “No, we live here. You might live across town, but this is our house, and that means you're in our front yard now. Locals ONLY!” Since then, we have used the same logic for all aggressive drivers; you're in our yard now, you play by our rules.

Dinner at the new Sluggo's location in Pensacola was perfect. They serve a completely vegetarian menu, and everything we've ever had there has been delicious. Ward had the Culture Club sandwich, and Stephanie had a Tempeh Rueben. When Ryan got off from behind the bar, we took him home to walk the dog, then he took us to The Elbow Room, a throwback bar from the 60s. All of the décor has been there for decades, and it has a real speak easy feel. The lighting is so dim that they give you a reading light with the bill. They also have a list of rules and regulations including, but not limited to the following: Always use coasters, even on the tablecloths; You have to drink your beer from a glass, not from the bottle (the waitress will periodically come by to re-fill your glass); Same day service guaranteed; Overuse of the F word will not be tolerated. If you ever find yourself in Pensacola and are on good behavior, we seriously suggest that you visit The Elbow Room.