Obama tours Pensacola Beach with Crist

PENSACOLA BEACH, Florida (WALA) - PRESIDENT OBAMA VISITS PENSACOLA BEACH

President Barack Obama started his day on Pensacola Beach where hundreds of people were waiting. At 9:00 Tuesday morning, the president strolled to the surf and spent exactly two minutes surveying the water. All the while, folks hundreds of yards away desperately tried to give the commander in chief a message.

Many carried signs of protest, covered with powerful slogans. Kim and Paul Stagner's signs called for a takeover.

"We just feel like the government needs to take control of the situation. Right now we feel like BP has total control and it's just wrong," Kim Stagner said.

"Let's get some international help in here, get the oil slicks. Why do we have to wait to they hit our beaches? Why don't we do it now?" Paul Stagner said.

Scuba diver David Benz said the red tape has hampered the whole process.

"We are so frustrated at the government's inept ability to get things done," Benz said.

Monie Russo brought pictures to describe her feelings.

"This picture [of tar balls] I took after Memorial Day weekend and it made me cry. This [a picture of an oiled pelican] makes everybody cry," explained Russo.

THE PRESIDENTS BRIEF STROLL

President Obama took his stroll on the sand alongside Florida Governor Charlie Crist. The beach he saw was clean, with no oil in sight. After just a few minutes he returned to Pensacola pier for breakfast, as onlookers chanted a refrain.

"SAVE OUR BEACHES! SAVE OUR BEACHES!"

That simple, but powerful message is what folks on Pensacola Beach wanted President Obama to take away from his brief visit. Save our beaches: three little words that mean so much in the face of this disaster.