Vegan Friendly Review of Pensacola, FL

Vegan Friendly Review of Pensacola, FL

(End of the Line Cafe, featured above.)

When I travel, I like to feature the “vegan friendliness” of the city I am spending time in. I like being able to share with other like-minded people where they can go to eat, showing them they do indeed have healthy options. Here’s my video I made for this occasion…

And I’ve done this before in other cities… Vegan Friendly Review of Asheville, North Carolina; Vegan Friendly Review Of Atlanta, Georgia; Vegan Friendly Review Of Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe; Vegan Friendly Review Of Ponte Vedra Inn And Club At Pompano Beach, FL…

Now it’s time for me to feature Pensacola, where my family took a mini vacation recently while driving a 2015 Toyota Sienna.

I can assure you that if you are wondering whether you can make a plant-based diet work in Pensacola, you’ve got nothing to worry about… whatsoever.

Vegan Friendly Review of Pensacola, FL

If you’re going to be there for a few days like we were, I definitely recommend stopping first at Everman Cooperative Grocery and Café. It’s a lot like Whole Foods, just a little smaller.

You can stock up on all your essentials there. For us, that was things like Larabars, coconut water, and Kombucha.

But while you’re there, you’ll realize what a great place it is to actually eat a meal at. Their café provided so many options for our family’s diverse tastes. We ended up having at least 3 or 4 meals there. My wife particularly loved their smoothie bar.

So whereas Everman Cooperative Grocery and Café makes for the perfect base if you’re unable to cook your own meals, there are 3 other obvious options in Pensacola…

Vegan Friendly Review of Pensacola, FL

The first is Mellow Mushroom. Obviously, this pizza joint is known for catering to the plants-based crowd. My wife and I never have to worry; we can easily order a vegan cheese pizza with veggies. (We actually dined at the one in Destin, but there is one in Pensacola as well.)

Vegan Friendly Review of Pensacola, FL

As far as the other two options, they are both artsy. At Sluggo’s, we enjoyed meatless, dairy free, “meaty” sandwiches.

Vegan Friendly Review of Pensacola, FL

Vegan Friendly Review of Pensacola, FL

And at End of the Line Café, we enjoyed some meatless, dairy free, “meaty” burritos.

Vegan Friendly Review of Pensacola, FL

There’s no question that all of these places served delicious and fun food. After all, they are very focused on healthy eating, therefore the quality is there by default.

Vegan Friendly Review of Pensacola, FL

Actually, there was one more that I almost forgot about. Jaco’s, in downtown Pensacola, right there on the pier. They are absolutely not a vegan or vegetarian restaurant by any stretch; however, they were very accommodating to our dietary restrictions; my son is a vegetarian, not a vegan. My wife said it was her favorite and that we definitely have to go back there next time we’re in the area.

Vegan Friendly Review of Pensacola, FL

So there you have it: Yes, you can totally enjoy a vegan and/or vegetarian experience in Pensacola, Florida. Thanks for reading!

Vegan Friendly Review of Pensacola, FL

Dear Jack: Mother’s Day 2015/Adirondack Chairs

4 years, 5 months.

Dear Jack: Mother's Day 2015

Dear Jack,

This year for Mother’s Day, Mommy decided she wanted a new ceramic cup for her coffee she makes each morning, some Adirondack chairs for our porch, and quality time as a family.

So that’s exactly what we made happen this weekend.

We started off with your next-to-the-last soccer game of the season…

Dear Jack: Mother's Day 2015

Then we had a fun lunch at Whole Foods, where they were having a special promotion in which 100% of the proceeds went to benefit the victims of Nepal; since their recent earthquake.

Mommy and I really enjoyed our vegan hot dogs the workers grilled for us!

Dear Jack: Mother's Day 2015

After your nap back at the house, you and I practiced our shooting into the lot across their street where they are building one of the last houses of our immediate neighborhood.

Dear Jack: Mother's Day 2015

Then, we all just hung out on the front porch. Mommy and I enjoyed the new Adirondack chairs, while you were perfectly content to play in your newly purchased (with your birthday money from last November) sand box.

So it sounds like Mommy got just what she wanted for Mother’s Day this year.

Not to mention, you and I made this little video for her…

 

Love,

Daddy

Interactive Mother’s Day Quote Finder By ProFlowers.com

http://www.proflowers.com/blog/80-mothers-day-quotes

As Mother’s Day is just a few days away, I thought it might be helpful for me to share this “Interactive Quote Finder” for just the occasion.

It helps to add a thoughtful note to handmade gifts for mom.

This quote finder features 80 famous quotes with helpful filters, like funny or inspiring, as well as who is sending/receiving, like “from son” or “to sister”.

Here’s the link: ProFlowers.com Mother’sDay Quote Finder

 

Dear Jack: Our Homemade Jack-Man Commercial For The Toyota Sienna

4 years, 5 months.

Dear Jack: Our Homemade Jack-Man Commercial For The Toyota Sienna

Dear Jack,

As promised, I spent some birthday money on editing software and a nice tripod, so that I could start making my own videos as a way to enhance Family Friendly Daddy Blog.

Today, I officially debut my first real project:

“2015 Toyota Sienna Homemade Commercial: Jack-Man”

Last week while we took our mini vacation to Pensacola, Toyota provided a 2015 Sienna for our family to review.

But before I decided to make my official video for our trip, I thought it would be fun to make a homemade commercial for the Sienna which would also tie in our new upcoming web series: Jack-Man.

So Mommy helped you put on the super hero costume that your friend Madison had given you for your birthday, then you and I headed out to the driveway to film the footage.

From there, I wrote and recorded the Jack-man theme song; which I will slightly alter the lyrics to for the actual upcoming web series in which I will play the villain.

Then I put it all together. Granted, it’s one of my first video editing projects and I was my own teacher when it came to learning to how to do all this.

So I’m sure our videos will be that much better in the months to come. Still, I’m very proud of “2015 Toyota Sienna Homemade Commercial: Jack-Man”. I think it turned out to be a lot of fun.

I know that you enjoyed making the video with me.

It used to be that fathers would teach their sons a trade. Maybe blogging and video editing can be what I pass on to you…

Love,

Daddy

P.S.

Here are the lyrics to this commercial version of the Jack-Man theme song:

Jack-Man, who will fight for justice?

Jack can, he really loves bananas

That man gets his super powers from them

Jack-Man rides in a Toyota Sienna minivan

His getaway car is driven by his dad

Jack-Man!

Sesame Street: Elmo The Musical Vol. 2 Learn and Imagine- Family Friendly Review

esame Street: Elmo The Musical Vol. 2 Learn and Imagine- Family Friendly Review

My family has just returned from a 4 day mini-vacation to Pensacola, while we reviewed and tested out the new 2015 Toyota Sienna; which happened to be equipped with an awesome DVD player.

We packed several DVDs for our trip, but there was one that received much more airplay, at the request of my 4 and a half year-old son… Sesame Street: Elmo The Musical Vol. 2 Learn and Imagine (on DVD and digital on May 5, 2015 for $14.98 SR).

Something my wife noticed about this DVD that made it so attractive to our son is that he got to decide which Elmo musical he wanted to watch. There are 7 choices:

  • “Guacamole the Musical”
  • “Mountain Climber the Musical”
  • “Repair Monster the Musical”
  • “Bird the Musical”
  • “Cowboy the Musical”
  • “Detective the Musical”

While “Play All” would run them all together as one solid movie, my son appreciated the free will of deciding which episode he wanted to see, when he wanted to see it.

esame Street: Elmo The Musical Vol. 2 Learn and Imagine- Family Friendly Review

The concept reminds me of the way the 1980s Mega Man video games were designed; you got to choose which levels to play in the order you wanted; in other words, it’s not chronological but it is all connected.

My son’s favorite was apparently “Bird the Plane,” where Elmo flies Ms. Penguin to her wedding. He also kept asking for “Repair Monster the Musical” as well; where Elmo gets to use tools to help fix things for people.

I can confirm that Sesame Street: Elmo The Musical Vol. 2 Learn and Imagine is very good for road trips. Ours was 7 hours one way; so all together, with all the places we visited once we got there; we were easily in the car for close to 20 hours!

esame Street: Elmo The Musical Vol. 2 Learn and Imagine- Family Friendly Review

As expected, the DVD implicates learning into the music, fun, and silliness. I imagine our trip would have been a lot loss serene if we wouldn’t have had the 2015 Toyota Sienna with a DVD player, along with a copy of Sesame Street: Elmo The Musical Vol. 2 Learn and Imagine.

esame Street: Elmo The Musical Vol. 2 Learn and Imagine- Family Friendly Review

Infographic below courtesy of Brittany Dietz/Cheapflights:

travel-hacks-from-cheapflights-01