Fort Walton Beach and Panama City

Thursday, September 22, 2016

On the move again!  We depart Pensacola and head east down the length of Santa Rosa Sound, past our previous anchorage.  The waterway transitions to "The Narrows", with dense vegetation along the shoreline.

As we near the outskirts of Fort Walton Beach, we see some lovely homes along the north side of the ICW.

 The south side is mostly undeveloped.

Soon, civilization appears with Fort Walton Beach in the distance.

Closer to Fort Walton Beach and it's outlet to the Gulf, the homes and boats get larger.

We are tied up for two nights at the Fort Walton Beach Yacht Club.  This is a delightful, laid back spot with friendly, welcoming club members. This sandy beach, also on Club property, was perfect for a swim.

We are able to walk in this residential neighborhood to give Boka a long overdue squirrel fix.  We also got some much needed exercise.  It has been a challenge to get enough exercise as we travel, but hopefully that will change as the weather gets cooler.  It's just been too hot to be out and about during the heat of the day.

Our view and another perfect sunset!

Saturday, September 24, 2016

After departing Fort Walton Yacht Club, we cross another vast, open bay.  Destin lies on the barrier island in the distance.  The bays in this area are quite deep compared to Texas bays, with most waters 25' - 40' deep. 

Once past Choctawhatchee Bay, we enter a man-made canal connecting to the next large bay.

Sand dredged to create this stretch of the ICW was piled on the sides, creating high banks on both sides.  Dense vegetation makes for a lovely, if isolated, passage.








We are now tied up at the Panama City Municipal Marina for a couple of nights and more great sunset views.  We plan to leave Monday for Port Saint Joe.

Florida!

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Finally!  We depart Dog River heading east.  Here we are along the Intracoastal near Gulf Shores AL. 

Concrete artificial reefs await deployment offshore, compliments of funding from BP as remediation from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  More than 6 years later, BP is still paying.  We have heard lots of stories from locals in this area of scams to get part of the settlement money.

We tie up for the night at Barber Marina, across Bay la Launch from Orange Beach.  This first class facility was built a few years ago by George Barber Jr., a successful but eccentric businessman whose father started Barber Dairy in the 1930s. The marina is his dream facility.

Extensive grounds boast a mixture of manicured landscaping and natural woods.  This grand fountain graces the entrance from the road.

Across from the fountain lies a helipad.

The grounds and woods display a variety of sculpture including a Stonehenge replica, nature subjects, and whimsical figures.

The vast grounds were dog heaven!  Note the very large dry stack storage barn in the distance, which has a 400 boat capacity.

Barber also built the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham.  The marina ship's store, shown here, houses an impressive collection of vintage outboard motors, all beautifully restored.

A whimsical "crab" chair on the patio of the ship's store.  Note the resident cat.

Friday, September 9, 2016

The next day we made a leisurely cruise to Perdido Key, passing Orange Beach along the way.

We tied up for the night at the Perdido Key Oyster Bar and Marina.  The marina staff had gone to a boat show, so the restaurant manager helped us tie up (in a lovely lace dress, no less).  Now that's a first!

Saturday, September 10, 2016

On the move again, we pass Pensacola en route to Santa Rosa Island, near Pensacola Beach.  A bridge in Pensacola is barely visible in the distance.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

We anchor out behind Santa Rosa Island for three nights.  Here we reflect on the tragic events of 15 years ago while we watch a fabulous sunset.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Finally we must leave our peaceful anchorage and head back to civilization.  We pass condos and tourist boats off Pensacola Beach.

We are now tied up at Pensacola Shipyard, a working boat yard on Bayou Chico in Pensacola FL.  This facility dates to 1917 and was founded to build ships for WWI.

Today it is still a busy shipyard.  The matriarch of the owner's family lives on the premises.  Quite elderly, she made a point of meeting us soon after we arrived, and encouraging us to "Uber" to eat at her favorite local restaurant.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Time for a break and a very special occasion!  We drove a rental car to Nashville TN for our niece's wedding.  

Robert's brother's daughter, Alex, married Alexander (yes, really!) in a lovely outdoor garden at a historic home.  Belle Meade Plantation was once a horse farm and the reception was held in the Carriage House, which is also a museum.

Dauphin Island AL

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Here we are, still in Mobile!  Unfortunately, the boat work is STILL not finished.  Fortunately, we were safely away from any impact from Hurricane Hermine.  We hope to be on our way by mid to late week.

Meanwhile, we have made the best of the situation, playing tourist as much as time permits.  Here we are having dinner at a restaurant across Dog River from our marina.

Twilight view of the entrance to Dog River Marina, below.

Our boat was hauled out of the water two weeks ago as repairs continued.  We rented a car and drove to Pensacola Beach for a day.  Had lunch and took Boka to a dog-friendly beach.  We also toured the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, visiting Fairhope, with it's nice waterfront and quaint shops and restaurants. Dinner at the Wash House in Point Clear topped off a long day.

 
Saturday, August 27, 2016

With another weekend looming and still out of the water (and camped out in a motel), we found a vacation rental on Dauphin Island and moved there for what turned out to be almost a week.

Here we are visiting Fort Gaines that once protected Mobile at the entrance to the bay.

Blacksmith demos three days a week - nicely done!

Dauphin Island is the barrier island closest to Mobile; very interesting to compare to Port Aransas, where we lived for 21 years. 

Sunday, August 28, 2016

The island is densely forested, unlike most of the Gulf barrier islands, which are flat and support only grasses and small shrubs.  This ancient live oak was in Indian Shell Mound Park, a hill created by burial of oyster shells discarded by Indian tribes occupying this area seasonally in the past.

Here's a typical street scene.  Some development but lots of undeveloped and forested land.  Town feels more like Port Aransas in the 1960s - early 1980s, except for the trees.

Woods contain lots of slash pine with live oak, magnolia, yaupon holly and palmetto understory.  Beautiful!  And providing good protection from hurricane winds, we are told.








Here we are walking along a trail in the Audubon Bird Sanctuary.

The city "fishing pier" was left high and dry from sand deposited by Hurricane Katrina.

Boka loves going to the beach so she had ample opportunity here.  Below is a link to a video of her chasing bait fish at the beach.  It's overly
long (I don't know how to edit it - sorry.)  But if you are interested in watching it, watch her stub of a tail - it never stops wagging.

Bellingrath Gardens

Sunday, August 14, 2016

The rains have finally ended and we are still in Mobile waiting to have some fiberglass work done on the boat. 

Today we took the opportunity to tour Bellingrath Gardens before the heat returns.

The Gardens and home were built as the weekend, then retirement, home of Walter and Bessie Bellingrath in the 1930s.  Walter was the first owner of the Coca Cola bottling franchise for southern Alabama.

Always an avid gardener, Bessie oversaw the establishment of the gardens.  First opened to the public in 1932 just for the spring blooming season (lots of azaleas),  the gardens were so popular, they were
opened year round in 1934.  With no children as heirs, their estate was dedicated to maintaining the gardens and home.  The home today is filled with their original furnishings and Bessie's extensive porcelain collection.

The home overlooks the Fowl River from a high hill and enjoys cool breezes.  This view shows the boat dock at waters' edge.



The immaculately groomed gardens were lovely, even in the August heat.

Coleus

Ginger

Banana

A tropical conservatory housed numerous plants not winter hardy in Mobile. 

 The Japanese American Garden was an especially tranquil spot.

We expect to be in Mobile for another week or two while the boat work continues.

Sunsets!

Monday, August 1, 2016

After a short trip from Gulfport across Mississippi Sound, we arrive at Ship Island.  This is a deserted strip of a barrier island, heavily eroded by Katrina.  We anchor a short distance from the beach.  The sailboat is visible past the island, in the Gulf of Mexico.






We take the dingy ashore to explore.  Boka loves the beach and played hard in the water and sand.








One of the benefits of cruising, especially anchoring out, is the 360 degree view of sunsets.

This one was spectacular from every direction.  Ocean Springs MS is barely visible in the distance.







Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Today we are moving about 35 miles to another anchorage by Petit Bois Island.  This island is similar to Ship Island but the anchorage is more protected from wind and ship wakes.  As we left Ship Island, we spotted a shark keeping an eye on us.  En route we passed one of numerous Pogy boats operating in this area.  Google "menhaden boats" to learn more about this commercial fishing operation, common in the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.  The catch is used to make fish oil.

Here's a view of Petit Bois Island with Boka enjoying a swim.  Our first beach destination here was altered when we saw an alligator slide off into the water to watch our approach.

Sauvy B looks like a ghost ship in the haze.  Calm seas are most welcome!

Lots of Portuguese Men of War in the water here.  The bubbles are from our generator exhaust.

 And another fabulous sunset!

The last thunderstorm of the day moves toward Gulfport.  Lots of lightening!  Fortunately we did not have any rain.







Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Today we return to civilization.  After a 5 hour cruise, we arrive at Dog River Marina in Mobile AL and another spectacular sunset.  We will be here for a week or two while we have assorted repair work done at Robert's favorite boat yard.