Between dodging the summer's intense heat and the frequent downpours, staying entertained this summer has been tricky. 

Pensacola is a great place to explore outside, but there are some hidden gems when it comes to indoor activities. 

Here's an exhaustive list of things to do indoors in Pensacola when it's too hot or wet to enjoy the great outdoors. 

Rock climbing and Pensacola are two things that don't seem to fit well together. Unless you're looking to drive a few hours to a more topographically diverse area, you're kind of out of luck. But if you don't mind climbing on indoor walls then there are a few places that might catch your interest. 

Lily Hall:Here's an early look at Lily Hall, a Pensacola lodging house, speakeasy opening this fall

Located inside Weatherford's Pensacola, The Outback is a small facility that was built in 1992 and was actually the first of its kind in the Southeast. There are 10 routes on top ropes that include several overhangs and a chimney. The highest point reaches about 35 feet and there is a 55-foot overhang open to experienced climbers during slower times. Additionally, they've got a climbing tower available for lead climbing to practice multi-pitch climbing. It costs $15 for new climbers and gear can be rented for $12. 

The UWF Health, Leisure and Sports Facility has a 36-foot-high climbing wall that sports 1,500 square feet of climbing space. There are 8 top ropes, a bouldering-only space and the center is open to all skill levels. Nautilus Card holders can get climbing gear at no additional cost. HLS members can sponsor two guests per visit, and guest passes can be purchased for just $8 a day. A shared Google Spreadsheet is also used to track climbers' progress.

Pensacola has a blossoming food scene that began in the downtown area and has since expanded to other parts of the county and neighboring Santa Rosa County. 

The News Journal keeps track of all the latest restaurants opening in the area — there were four new ones in July alone, and we've written about three in the first week of August. All that is to say that there is absolutely no shortage of new restaurants to try in Pensacola. 

Pensacola was established in 1559 by Don Tristan de Luna by Spanish settlers, making it America's first and oldest multi-year European colonial settlement. This makes Pensacola a hot bed of good museums. 

The Historic Pensacola Village is an 8.5-acre area that has 28 historical properties located where the Spanish and British forts were originally located in downtown Pensacola. Here's a look at some of the more popular museums, but click here for a full list. 

The African-American Heritage Society aims to preserve, promote and integrate African-American history, heritage, culture and diversity in the Pensacola area. The organization puts on several events, but if you're looking for a way to check out what they have to offer on a regular basis, you can visit its retrospective exhibits at the historic Coulson House, located at 200 Church St. 

The Pensacola Children's Museum features exhibits designed so parents and young children can learn and play through interactive spaces that include a colonial classroom, a Publix Super Markets exhibit, a kiddie corral and more. 

The oldest building in Pensacola still in its original location, dating back to 1810, the Quina House Museum can be toured free of charge Tuesday through Saturday.

The Pensacola Museum of History is the flagship museum located in the former Pensacola City Hall building that was constructed in 1907. It's a self-guided tour featuring general historical galleries with permanent and rotating exhibits. 

Note: The National Naval Aviation Museum and Pensacola Lighthouse are extremely popular attractions that aren't listed because they're currently closed to the public. Department of Defense ID card holders can still access these attractions.   

You might have thought that the escape room trend is dead and buried, but the four locations in Pensacola alone beg to differ. Escape rooms are games you play with a group of friends. The goal of the game is to discover clues, solve puzzles, accomplish tasks and ultimately escape the room(s) your group is in — all within a time limit. 

Here are the local rooms, but feel free to branch out as there are plenty in the surrounding area, too. 

Pensacola's first escape room features three rooms: The Museum Robbery, It's all WIRED! and Haunted. Each room gives you 60 minutes to solve the puzzles and escape.

Escape Zone 60 has several rooms scattered throughout the Gulf Coast. The Pensacola room is called Crime Scene "The Bank." 

Where: 1757 N. Tate School Road

Escape LOL (standing for lots of locks, not laugh out loud) is another escape room located toward the north end of the county. It features a haunted mausoleum room and a prison escape room. 

Exithis Pensacola is a larger escape room with three rooms to pick from. There’s the assassin’s lair, the temple ruins and the oval office. 

Looking for something new to try? How about axe throwing? Grizzly Axes is the area’s first axe throwing range and rage room. Yes, you read that right. It conjunction with being able to throw axes at a target, guests can also suit up and pick from a suite of rage packages that will let them destroy small, medium and large objects.

Lastly, let loose in one of the Messy Murals rooms. Anyone can play in the room and you’ll fling and sling paint to create your own artistic masterpiece. 

Prices depend on what you’re looking to do. Axe throwing starts at $20 per person, rage room packages start at $20 and messy murals start at $30 per person.

Art runs pretty deep in Pensacola. One of the area’s best festivals is the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival. So, it should be no surprise that there is ample opportunity to let your creativity flow. The best part is that you don’t actually need any observable talent to create something cool.

Trust me, you can do this. 

First City Art Center is a nonprofit art center that offers a huge range of workshops, classes, studio space, gallery exhibits, youth camps and a ton of other opportunities. On tap now are drawing classes, yoga and art classes, glass blowing, clay sculpting, kilnforming glass, art labs and more. 

Step 1: Browse the selection of paintings available on the Painting with a Twist website.

Step 2: Secure your preferred beverage (alcoholic or non).

Step 3: Blow your mind with your innate artistic abilities.

Most people are probably familiar with the Painting with a Twist concept, but for the uninitiated, it’s a BYOB art class that teaches you how to paint a picture you’re absolutely sure you’re going to massacre. But, through camaraderie, laughs and some liquid courage, you can persevere. Classes start at around $40 and include all the necessary arts supplies.

Where: 2400 W. Michigan Ave., Suite 19

Maker’s Loft is a workshop-style craft studio open to teaching kids and adults how to make tons of various crafts. You can book classes now to make barn quilts, use acrylic pour paint, create silhouettes, mosaic windows and more. Many of the projects would also make for great decoration for the home. 

Speaking of art running deep, check out some of Pensacola's many art galleries--most of which can be visited for free. 

The Quayside Art Gallery is the largest co-op gallery in the Southeast, and it's open free to the public. On display, you'll find 3-D works in clay, glass, fiber, precious metals, woods and more; plus oil, watercolors, photography, inks and mixed media formats. 

Blue Morning Gallery offers a collection featuring over 60 local artists, including many award-winning artists. 

The Artel Gallery is a nonprofit gallery run by volunteers that was founded in 1993. It features several quality experimental and contemporary art exhibitions.

Waterboyz Skatepark is a 5,000-square-foot indoor skate park that has air conditioning. You can get skate lessons or even enroll your kid into a summer skate camp. It doubles as a retail store and you can even grab a bite to eat at Café Single Fin, located inside the park. 

Open your web browser, type in “youtube.com” and search for “paint along” or any other artsy project you’ve been thinking about doing. Chances are, there is a fantastic video out there that will teach you, step-by-step, how to bring that idea to life. It’s a great thing to host at your own house and a bit cheaper than going out — all you need is the supplies, which you can grab with the help of a Michael’s coupon. 

The Facebook "events" page is usually teeming with various art-based events. A secondary source is following your favorite brewery on social media. Oddly enough, there are fairly frequent workshops hosted at places like Odd Colony.