Pensacola to Fort Walton Beach

We had heard there are docks right in the middle of town at Fort Walton Beach and being municipal docks –they were free for one night. So, we left out of our wonderful anchorage at English Navy Cove around 8am and shot for Fort Walton Beach before the expected rain. It is cold and overcast but the water was as smooth as glass. We got to the municipal docks about 2-2:30 and they are really nice, downtown and from what we can tell home to Northwest Florida’s homeless. I guess you get what you pay for. A stroll through the district also lets us in on the fact that all restaurants with “Bistro” and “Grille” in their name are closed on Monday. This is 95% of the restaurants. It is still cold and overcast but we are little over half way to Panama City and we are making progress.

Running with the Dolphins!

Today was a perfect day (but it could have been a tad warmer). We left out of the Wharf at around 11 am because the weather people promised cool but sunny skies after noon. These same forecasters indicate that we will have cold rain the rest of the week. We continued down the ICW and about noon the sun did start burning off the cloud cover. Then the darnest site—dolphins started swimming with the boat! You would have thought Santa Claus had just joined us on deck. No pictures –they are shy suckers—but it was very exciting. After about 30 miles, we passed the cut to the open seas and we can see how rough it is out in the open water. Then just past Pensacola we anchored in English Navy Cove. This is outside Santa Rosa Beach and said to be a good secure anchorage. This will be our first anchorage since we have been out of the Tombigbee and it is in sand—new territory. We had a fabulous sunset--first of many on the ICW. We are now one of those people—how many times have Fitz and I stood on a beach and looked out at boats passing and said we would someday be there. Here we are.


Sunset by Santa Rosa Beach

The Wharf at Orange Beach, Alabama



Christmas at the Wharf



Ice Skating in Orange Beach



Sunny Days with the yachts

We have lots of rain and wind today so we are hanging here at The Wharf. They are still decorated for Christmas and even have an outdoor ice skating rink (not much use today though). I went shopping and Terry started a project of putting in an extra bla bla bla down in the engine compartment and was just as happy to have me out of the way. The shopping was fun but this close to Christmas I was not tempted by much. I did find a really good Italian restaurant –Villaggio Grill—and we went back for a late lunch. It was wonderful. It is nice to be here among the yachts and glad we aren’t fighting the wind and rain on the water.

Back in the Saddle again!

It feels good to be back on the water. Christmas was awesome at the Barksdale’s annual party with family and our closest friends. Then Nick, Terry and I went with the Norris’s in Cookeville to enjoy Santa’s coming. We were all very good last year. It was everything we could hope for but now we are back to our dream and traveling the waterways. A quick trip to Mobile the day after Christmas and we found Sunny Days in great shape. She was well protected at Turner Marina and ready to go. We went to a restaurant that our Loop friends, Elvy and Roy Short told us about—The Mariner—it is close to Turners and their specialty is fried crab claws. OMG—they were terrific. Today I went to the store to shore up on groceries, Terry made a pilgrimage to West Marine, we gassed up and left around noon. The sun peeked out for about 45 minutes this afternoon and felt great but it is still chilly. The brisk 45 degrees we had this morning was a vast improvement to the frigid 17 degrees we left in Nashville. We are making our way out of Mobile Bay and onto the Inter-Coastal Waterway (henceforth the ICW—we will be on the ICW for 70% of the trip) It was exciting to enter this waterway. Passed Lulu’s (Jimmy Buffets’ sisters place and Tacky Jack’s on the way here to The Wharf where we are going to ride out the forecasted storm that is to hit tomorrow. We are eating soup on the boat (remember we gassed up –it will take us a while to forget that bill). And The Wharf is a big complex and promises a light show tonight. Fitz note: Lola is known here at the Wharf as “Olaf”. Notes: Local radio was a rock station with morning personalities Cue tip and Blondie—I was amused. When they gave an update on the Jersey Shore people, Fitz turned it off. Seagulls followed the boat all afternoon- cool.

Good restaurants --passed right by this time