Pensacola in 72 Hours or Less: A Road Trip to the Emerald Coast Updated 1/20: Fort Barrancas About This Page:

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This trip came about as a result of DH Kevan being asked to come to Pensacola for a position in social services, after having had two phone interviews. He asked his mom to allow me to come and help with the lengthy and what would be lonely drive. Also, it would serve as a chance for both of us to become reacquainted with an area once very familiar to us- Kevan and I met in Pensacola when we both attended the University of West Florida. Kevan’s mom agreed to watch our two kids for two days so we could do all of this.

The week prior to our journey was filled with obstacles that presented themselves and then cleared eventually. One reared it’s ugly head on Saturday, the day before we planned to leave. A major ice storm had hit Oklahoma and was heading for Arkansas. The only thing to do now? Beg for pixie dust from my Passporter friends and pray- that weather would not prevent DH from an opportunity he desperately wanted to seek out.

When we woke up Sunday morning, there was miraculously no ice- just rain. We immediately called Kevan’s mom, packed in a hurry and got Matthew and Emily ready for Sunday school. After we picked them up and got them back home, MIL met us and we packed up the car. Quick hugs and kisses goodbye and we were off.

The goal for today’s drive was to make it to Biloxi, Mississippi. Our path would take us down Interstate 40 through Little Rock and to Pine Bluff. Once there, it’s a very back road style journey through extreme Southern Arkansas with a small crossover through Louisana and then on through Mississippi and Alabama before crossing the Florida border and on into Pensacola.

Here's a map of the journey!



We’ve made this drive lots of times, however the last time we did it? On our move from Florida to Arkansas just about 7 years ago. Normal drive time hovers around 11-12 hours and it’s not exactly the easiest drive to make. Still, we were undaunted and looking forward to being able to talk for an extended period of time uninterrupted- and just spend time together even if it was in a car for a looong time!

Noon and we are on I-40, heading towards Little Rock. The rain, as we expected was constant but traffic still moved easily and we hit the capital city in a good two hours time.

Our drive takes us through downtown Little Rock and right by the Clinton Presidential Library- however the rain and fog were a big problem in trying to get a photo of it. We did get this photo of the fog as seen over downtown:



South of Little Rock, we arrive in Pine Bluff a short time later. Kevan suggested stopping for gas and a little snack- which we did and I took over driving responsibilities.

This portion of the drive can be quite tedious as it’s going through lots of very small towns – and the speed limits are much lower than on interstate roads. Most of the towns have populations of 5000 or less and you can see a lot of poverty in many of the communities. Most of the income (or what little of it) is generated by the agriculture industry and there’s miles and miles of cotton fields and rice fields. Miles and miles of flat land and the occasional house or two. Most of the bigger towns (and I use that term generously) do have a small Wal Mart, a few fast food places and the like- but that’s about as big as it gets.


Southern Arkansas scenery

The last town in Arkansas before we cross over to the Louisiana border is Eudora. And the Bank of Eudora is an ATM:



We are coming off the two lane, sometimes four lane stretch through Tallulah, LA as night begins to fall:


Louisiana sunset..

Finally, promised land of interstate approaches and we pick up I-20 just near Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vicksburg has a stretch of casino resorts along the Mississippi River and is a pretty big tourist spot for the immediate area. We’ve stayed here before but not tonight- we want to get as far as we can.

About 6:15 pm and we are crossing through Jackson on our way to merge on to State Road 49- not quite a back road as it is four lanes but definitely not interstate. By this point, we are positively starving and begin to consider options for dinner, hoping that a good meal would get us a little farther. About 7:45, we reach Hattiesburg, MS and decide to stop at Shoney’s for dinner.

It felt great to NOT be moving and we enjoyed a pretty decent buffet there for $17.99 before the tip. It was a lot of Sunday dinner kind of stuff- homestyle kind of fare.

Back on the road by 8:30, we decide to stop off for gas and a dessert in Gulfport, near Biloxi. This had been the planned place for our overnight but neither of us was tired and we decided to get to Pensacola. By 10:00 pm, we had reached Mobile, Alabama and just about 11:00 pm, arrived in Pensacola via Interstate 10.

We had absolutely NO reservations for a hotel here which is very unusual for us. We stopped in and checked rates at a Fairfield Inn, which was a whopping $105 but did better at the Holiday Inn Express next door- a comparable room for a more reasonable $79. We went with the latter and were really pleased with the room- spacious, roomy and the beds very comfortable.

By 11:30 pm- we were relaxed and almost out, pleased at how far we made it in 10 or so hours- which was record time from Arkansas to Florida for us.