A nice tiltable umbrella is the cheapest answer but the pergola with the cover is certaily more permanent or do what we do get some great outdoor lighting and eat when the sun goes away

Baileysr- where did you get your pergola? What brand is it?

Hi, our pergola itself was built by our GC as part of a bigger reno project. The awning is the magic, and the brand is Durasol and it was procured through Window Works in Livingston NJ. A couple of tips, if you go that way. 1) I recommend a solid fabric, because the pergola itself provides plenty of pattern and interest on the top. 2) don't power wash it! My husband managed to force high pressure water up and under and inside the motor....not good. This is one of many reasons why I hate power washers.....

While looking up my awning supplier, I noticed that there are other prefab options for pergolas with awnings. I don't know how good they are. Just google "pergola retractable awning" and options come up.

If the late afternoon sun is an issue, the angle covered by the awning may not be enough and you can get retractable solar screens that roll down vertically from the end of the awning (or overhang, structure, pergola).

Here's an example of one:

Yes, we did add a vertical blind this summer, a Coolaroo brand that we bought from Amazon. Simple, manual, not very expensive. We only use it for about an hour each day when the sun comes across and into the side of the porch. Before we had it, we would just move the chairs over to the shaded side, which wasn't a big deal, but now we just lower that shade and it's even better.