Saturday, November 26 - Destin

I love Destin!  The marinas, really docks, are for commercial boats, not pleasure craft, so there is lots of activity.  This is different from The Wharf, where most boats were private.  Everything here is for hire and ready to go, so there is always something going on.  I realize that the reason I am able to enjoy this so much is because it's comfortable weather, it's off season, we don't have to worry about traffic or parking.  It is great fun!

We still had the rental car, so went out for breakfast, of course.  We tried Another Broken Egg, but got tired of waiting for a table so went back to our same Waffle House.  We did eat different things this time, though!

Our tourist activity was the Destin History and Fishing Museum.  It was awesome!  Displays of old fishing lures, fish found in the area, a stuffed alligator, lots of local history pieces and pictures, and old motors, my favorite.  Well worth the $4.00 admission (Senior discount).

Back at the boat, we watched SO many rental pontoon boats and jet skis go out from our pier.  I can't imagine how busy it must be in the summer.  We enjoyed the excitement, and screams, of groups going out.  Between disappointing football games, we cleaned the Eisenglass AGAIN, and sprayed off the salt water.

Scoreboard for the annual month long fishing tournament. This is some serious fishing stuff!

At my request, we took a night walk along the Boardwalk.  One of the restaurants had the coolest Football Watching area.  I would go there every week if I lived in the area.

  

We also ran into a man in a pirate costume making balloon swords for the kids, then saw him again in the bar where we ate dinner.

More fish cleaning admiration, then dinner at The Boat House, with music.

All my football teams lost today.  Bummer.

Friday, November 25 - Destin

There is a Waffle House across the street here, too!  After breakfast, we walked to The Boardwalk and explored. David, the marina guy, called it "The Circus."   There was certainly a lot going on, and lots and lots of people.  Even Santa was there, set up under the palm trees.  We checked out a few of the charter fishing boat piers on the way back and admired the fish cleaning skills of the captains.  There was a barge of crates down one of the piers.  I guessed they were some kind of fish trap, but we found out they were cages that had been used to transport chickens.  The fishermen take the Formica out of them (yes, the guy said Formica), then drop one or more cages in a secret location to increase the fish habitat.

We had reserved a rental car (we were out of adult beverages).  Thank goodness Enterprise picks you up.  In addition to shopping at WalMart, we had to get some cash.  We have not used an ATM in years, and none of the codes we had written down would work.  Bank of America came to the rescue since we had a VISA debit card.  And we bought one year Florida fishing licenses.  For $100.00 we got two little slips of paper, not even a card

Danny grilled the turkey breast after dark (which could have been 5:00, it gets dark so early), but it was too late to eat, even for us, so we just tasted it and watched football.

Thursday, November 24 - Thanksgiving

 We got up early so we could dock before the wind picked up, and it worked!  Danny backed in on his first try, and we got tied up.  The only problem was exiting the boat - for me, not Danny.  There were no side walkways, and an obstruction behind the boat prevented us from getting close enough for me to step on and off,  When the tide is in, it's easier.  When it's out, I have to sit on the dock to step down to the boat.  And no matter what the water level Danny has to hoist me up to the dock.  Maybe I should apply for a Handicapped Boater tag.

Our Thanksgiving Day plan was to grill a turkey breast, cook butterbeans, and roast sweet potatoes.  David the marina guy here, told us about a free Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant just down the road so we decided to go there for lunch, then maybe grill for dinner.  The dinner turned out to be a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity in its 22nd year.  The restaurant donates the food, Habitat volunteers provide the staff, and people make donations to Habitat.  It was such a happy group of folks, and we ate on the back deck looking out on the water.  AND they had dressing!  It was different than mine, but I was grateful for it.  We didn't get around to grilling our turkey.

We checked out the Boardwalk, which David, marina guy, called "The Circus."   There was certainly a lot going on, and lots and lots of people.  We checked out a few of the charter fishing boat piers on the way back and admired the fish cleaning skills of the captains.

There was a barge of crates down one of the piers.  I guessed they were some kind of fish trap, but we found out they were cages that had been used to transport chickens.  The fishermen take the formica out of them, then drop some in a secret location to increase fish habitat.

Monday, November 21 - Moving Again!

After three days lost to repair, and two days to windy weather, we were ready to hit the road this morning!

A dolphin escorted us as we left the marina.  We had watched them playing from the back of the boat, but this was the closest view.  They are so much fun to watch.

It was wonderful to be back on the water!  Just the sound of the engines made me happy. We were on the GICWW only a short distance, then in larger bays which were not always well marked.

We had heard about the Pirate's Cove Restaurant from several sources so decided to check it out.  The cheeseburgers are reported to be the inspiration for "Cheeseburgers in Paradise" but we were not impressed.  The restaurant had character and sand, I will give it that.

As we pulled out, it took us a while to find the right path.  The guidebooks are not as good as our Tennessee River Chart Book!  We cruised through Perdido Bay then Big Lagoon, then along Perdido Key for a long time.  The dunes to our right, neat houses and boats to our left.  We stopped for the night just before entering Pensacola Bay.

We can see the ocean through the dunes to the south, watched a whole pod of dolphins play, and hope to see a beautiful sunset tonight.

Tuesday and Wednesday, November 22 - Ft. Walton to Destin

We are still cruising beside Santa Rosa Island.  The island is 40 miles long, from just west of Pensacola to Ft Walton Beach.  Most of it is very narrow, and much of it is protected seashore.  On the north shore of the GICWW we saw some beautiful homes.

Wednesday we pulled in for gas at Ft. Walton Beach around noon, not knowing where we would stay that night.  David Enfinger has a friend who owns a marina in Destin, but we hadn't been able to get in touch with him, and Destin marinas are pricey.  The facility in Ft. Walton had  a few transient slips but it was under a bridge with no people or activity around.  Not my idea of the ideal place to spend Thanksgiving.  When the marina guy was trying to talk us into staying there, he told us there was a Waffle House across.  Well, of course we had to go there to eat.  It was lunch, but Danny still ordered his Fiesta Omelette.

As we headed out, we got in touch with David's friend who offered us a great deal, so we headed toward Destin and Choctawhatchee Bay.  The wind had been blustery all day, and seemed to pick up as we approached the dock, and of course it was blowing from the wrong direction.  In addition, the slips were very narrow with only poles, no decks between slips.  We decided to anchor in the bay and wait for calmer weather to attemp the docking.  There were lots of other boats anchored out, and we were entertained by sightseeing boats until sunset.  Then we were treated to a beautiful sunset and a panoramic view of harbor lights!

Sun - Nov 20 - Last Day at the Wharf

Cold!  I had to put on jeans, and I had not planned to wear them until we got to Canada next summer.  The forecast shows a low of 34 tonight, sure hope they are wrong.

David drove us to Brick and Spoon again, and it was just as good as our first visit!  Then he took us on a tour of Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Foley and Rogersville. We were searching for rope lights to go under the galley cabinets, finally got them at West Marine just down the road from the marina. 

David brought us a picture of Danny when he visited them in Birmingham.  Doesn't he look young and cute?  

I have always thought I would like Marina Life, and the stay at The Wharf has affirmed that.  I love the water, the breeze, the sunshine, the boats.  This is AWESOME!  We so miss cruising and are anxious to resume tomorrow.

We ended the day watching the  day close with beautiful scenery!

Nov 19 - David Arrives

We were excited that David Enfinger could meet us today!  He arrived early afternoon, and took us to ACME Seafood for lunch.  Great seafood and wonderful company. 

He also drove us to WalMart and then a second grocery store when WalMart was out to Milwaukee's Best Light.  What a friend.  He even drove us to a souvenir store at the beach to look for postcards for the grandkids.  Back at the boat, we ate shrimp from Blalock's and played dominoes until 12:30 am!  

Nov 17-18

Thursday we waited for the repair guy, admired the huge boat behind us, and took a long walk.  Be sure to look at the guy changing the windshield wipers on the huge boat. 

Repairs were completed .  We are now the proud owners of  a custom tool for torquing the transmission seal. 

The evening view from our boat through the condos to the retail area of The Wharf was beautiful.

Friday we took another bike ride.  Duck's Diner for breakfast, Ace Hardware, and Blalock's Seafood for oysters, shrimp, and tuna dip.  We spent the late afternoon watching dolphins play behind our boat. 

Bike Day - November 16

Danny found out from a guy at the Boater's Lounge that the marina has loaner bikes.  We needed to go to West Marine, and Danny needed breakfast, so we checked out two bikes and set off.  Danny does not enjoy bicycles, so this was a big step for him! 

I bought Danny's Christmas gift at West Marine, a marlinspike.  Everybody knows what that is, right?  We also found the 2017 edition of Waterway Guide South, which we needed before heading further east.  (The Gulf is so shallow, you have to steer by the charts.)  The manager even loaned us a screwdriver to lower the seats on the bikes.  She also recommended a breakfast place just down the road, Brick and Spoon, which was wonderful.

We have not been shopping in several days, so when we got back from our biking adventure Danny pulled out the breadmaker and made some cheese herb bread.  It ended up being our dinner.  At Dany's suggestion, I pulled out my folding backrest and read on the front of the boat.  Delightful!!!  After my failure with The Scarlett Letter, I have read The Incredible Journey and Walking Across Egypt, both of which were delightful!

In Danny's words, the sky darkened in the late afternoon.  A boat pulled up to the dock behind us - all 92 feet of it!  The pictures don't do it justice.  This thing was huge!  Three floors, 6 staterooms plus staff quarters, $10,000,000+.  It was amazing.  The gas tanks hold over 4,000 gallons!  Talking about a fuel bill!!!! 

Our final adventure of the day was making margaritas, or attempting to make them.  We had brought MeMa's drink mixer "thing" with us without trying it out.  The motor wouldn't run, into the trash it went.  So I pulled our my food processor.  Big mistake!  I put too much liquid in the bowl and we had a big mess!  Danny managed to rescue enough for two drinks, and we put a blender on our Christmas list!

,Monday, November 14 - Relaxation

We are hanging out in hopes David Enfinger can come see us.  And it s a great place to hang out!  We have quickly adjusted to the life of leisure, so hanging out is good!  An old Gene Autry and DanDan's cereal helped get the day off to a good start.

There are more tows than I had expected on this part of the GICWW.  We have a front row seat which has been really great fun, both for watching the tows and the big boats.

Big milestone - we read the first newspaper since starting the loop.  It was a USA Tody.  Does that count?  Our timing for being out of the mass communication loop was perfect.

I talked to Mom today.  Emory goes to see her every Monday and Thursday and usually calls me from there so I can talk to her.  She chats briefly, then is ready to hang up.  I think she knows it is me on the phone, but she doesn't have any idea where I am.  At least she is content and healthy.  Thank you, Em for all you do.

No pictures today.  As I said, we are getting pretty good at doing nothing.

Tuesday, November 15th - Repairs Part 2

Things have gotten complicated for David, so we decided to move east and hope he can join us later.  When Danny went in the engine room to check everything, transmission fluid was still leaking, so we called another mechanic.  He came by late in the afternoon to look, said he would order parts and be back tomorrow.

On our way into the office to get a mechanic referral, I counted the steps between our boat and the marina office - 584.  And our kids were worried about us not getting exercise!  We walk it several times a day plus walking around the retail area.  It's such a distance, the employees ride bicycles to get around on the docks!

I had my first Shrimp and Grits of the trip at lunch.  They were delicious.  I think I could eat them every day, except for the price.  And the calories.

The highlight of the afternoon boat viewing was a humongous barge and tow.  I toook its picture in 3 sections.  Hope it shows up.

For my friends worried about our social life, we had nine people on our boat for Docktails.  We sat on ice chests, steps, stools, anything we could find.  Danny had invited two couples while we were walking around in the afternoon, they had invited a couple more.  It's really fun to hear others people's experiences, and we will keep running into most of these people as we travel The Loop.

Huge Christmas balls at The Wharf seem a little out of place with the bright sunshine and very warm temperatures.

Another use for beach towels!  It's really cool in the mornings.

He liked the bacon, but it was still a fru fru breakfast.

Docktails on our boat.  People from Ontario, Michigan, West Virginia.  Everybody brings their own drinks and those who felled bring food.

The fishing boats amaze me!  Look at these reels.

We watched several  parts of this contest.  The Grand Prize was $100,000!

We thought we were leaving today, so Danny did routine maintenance - filling the water tank and pumping up the dinghy.

This young lady was plating her dish for competition.

Danny enjoying shopping for once in his life!

How's this for a fishing boat?  

We keep looking for a place to take a good picture of the marina.

Zac Brown and his Southern Ground Tailgate set up.  Quite a rig.