John W. Lewis II

Meet & Greet – Friday, September 18, 4 – 8 pm

Whether you are local to Pensacola, or traveling in, come by, enjoy a plate of fish (while supplies last), and visit with family and friends. Capacity is limited so we will provide the location to confirmed attendees as we approach the date.

Memorial Celebration – Saturday, September 19,  1:30 – 7 pm

Sanders Beach-Corinne Jones Resource Center
913 South I Street
Pensacola, FL 32502

Come celebrate John’s life in one of his favorite places to relax.  We will have a program/presentation from 2-4 with continued celebration afterwards.

• 1:30 PM
  Doors Open
  Please come early to share your memories, fellowship with other guests, and enjoy light refreshments.
  
• 1:45 PM – 2:00 PM
  Welcome
  Please take a seat as the family welcomes you.
  
• 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
  Memorial Program
  Memories and tributes to John’s life
  
• 4:00 PM – 6:30 PM
  Dinner & Celebration
  Before dinner we will have group photos! Please participate so that we can memorialize your presence. During dinner be sure not to miss the sunset over the water. There will also be music and activities, and opportunity to fellowship
  
• 6:30 PM – 7:00 PM
  Farewells

Many of you will have photos or memories of our dad that we don’t have access to. Please share them with us so we can add to our family library of memories.

Send an email to jwlmemorial@gmail.com or let us know if you need an alternate method.

Thank you, from his family.

The Pensacola Airport is PNS. Please also note that Pensacola is coastal and the event is during hurricane season. No one can see the future so please keep that in mind and ensure all travel plans can be rescheduled, cancelled or refunded without hassle.

Many of you have asked for lodging information. What follows is a general information dump. It can be very tricky to recommend lodging without knowing your particular needs and restrictions so I recommend using this to narrow down what you may be looking for and then asking me for more specific recommendations for your particular needs.

There are three basic options for staying in Pensacola.

Option 1: Hotels

I recommend a hotel if you have specific accessibility requirements, or if free breakfast and access to housekeeping are a deal breaker for you. Even you aren’t interested in a hotel, all of the information about areas of town also applies to the other options.

This is a map of the google search for hotels in Pensacola but some of the information below is  also relevant for the other types of lodging.

Group A:  Downtown Pensacola. These will be close to the venue but they are also more expensive. If it’s under $110/ a night it’s probably not very nice but it won’t be uninhabitable.

Group B: Warrington/Naval Air Station (NAS). These tend to be more functional and less expensive. They cater to folks visiting the base. They also aren’t very far (10-15 minutes from the venue/house)

Group C: Airport. Prices can be great or ridiculous but the places are generally newer and nice looking. These will be 15-20 minutes from the venue/house depending on time of day. 

Group D: Interstate 10. The quality is mixed and some of the lower priced ones have been there a very long time. Prices can be better than those further in town though, especially at the extended stays. These are 15-30 minutes from the house/venue depending on traffic but its a straight shot down 110 to get to group A location.

Group E: Gulf Breeze. 15-40 minutes away because you have to cross the bridge. Probably pricier and also probably a little nicer. I’ve never actually known anyone that stayed in gulf breeze because if you are going that far you might as well go to…

Group F: Pensacola Beach. Sometimes you can get a good deal (especially off season) but you are paying for water views and beach access. Also any of these will be 20-45 minutes from the house/venue because you cross two bridges. This is the area where you can find a good beach vacation rental although sometimes it’s less expensive further east.

Option 2: AirBnB (or other shared stays)

If you have several families or couples willing to coordinate and share space, that will almost always give you more bang for your buck than a hotel. The links below are for AirBnB because that’s what I use but any of the available options should be similar. 

If you find something that works for you and need us to give an opinion or need help coordinating the sharing let us know.

NOTE: Look for options with free cancellation and BOOK NOW. Things will only get more expensive and less good as September approaches.

AirBnB options within 5-10 minutes of the venue (34)

AirBnB options within 15-20 minutes of the venue (275)

Option 3: Vacation Rentals

If you want to be on the beach, I recommend a vacation rental agency. It can be easier to see the rentals on platforms like AirBNB but if the host is a rental agency, it’s usually less expensive to go directly to the source rather than through the platform.

List of Vacation Rental Agencies