Emerald Coast Cruzin

This trip across the Panhandle of Florida has been one of my favorites! Yes, Rita Dick I do say that about everywhere we go. I guess the point is our trip just keeps getting better and better! The next phase of our trip will have us stopping for months at a time- December-February in Longboat Key, and March and April in Marathon. Conceivably, Loopers do this to "rest" from the hard work and angst of doing the locks, the river systems, dealing with the big tugs and barges and just the uncertainty of it all. Me personally- I don't need to rest. This trip has rejuvenated me physically (yes even with all calamities Ben) but spiritually as well. There isn't a part of this trip that I don't see God and all his handiwork. I have learned to relax and go with the flow of life (well okay- this may be a stretch). I am grateful to God every day for allowing us to have this experience- but I also grateful to my husband Dave who worked so hard on our "home" that we can cruise worry free. I am also grateful for all the people that we have met along the way. Any of them would do anything in the world for us- but there are some very special ones who just "get me." I have made life-long friends on this trip that I know will remain our friends forever. I guess you can say this is my "Thanksgiving" post! Thank  you all for reading and encouraging us all along the way!

We leave at 3:00 to make our Gulf crossing to Clearwater Beach! Our first 21 hour trip overnight! Cannot wait to see the dolphins, the moon and the stillness of the night!

Beach buddies on Ft. McRae Island

The Blue angels practicing while we enjoy the beach

It's cool what the camera does all by itself sometimes.

Sunset at the McRae anchorage

Gus scoping out the sunset too.

This warship at Pensacola Naval Station just looks plain mean.



Unidentified sculpture on the Pensacola Nava Base. We went to look for it but couldn't find it. Dave Fitz?



Enjoying the evening with Tom and Jane on Elizabear at a beautiful anchorage.

Dave Fitz our friend from Maryland was the communications director for the Blue Angels before coming to Calvert Cliffs. Through his stories we got so much insightful information about the Navy and the Blue Angels!



Elizabear on anchor



We had the privilege to have a private tour by our new friend Frank at the Naval Aviation Museum. This man has logged over 14,000 volunteer hours scanning and creating permanent discs of all the various Navy and Air Force planes. We enjoyed our day with the Fitz family and were very grateful they picked us up at the marina and took us all over Pensacola!

Fort Walton Beach- we just passed on by!

Being our navigator! As you can see it was very cold that morning- notice enclosure zipped and I had on 2 layers plus my coat!

 

 

 



Christmas in Sandestin! What a gorgeous resort area! While expensive compared to our usual docking- they were very good to Loopers taking $1.50 a foot off price and let us use their golf cart for free. I loved it there and Captain Ron is one of my favorite dockmasters ever!



Christmas display at Sandestin 

 

We never get tired of these guys playing in our wake. This was one of two dolphins that "accompanied" us for almost 5 miles!

 

This was our anchorage across from Apalachicola! Very peaceful and teaming with life! Incredible ecosystems here in Florida!

 

Slappin leather , Fulton MS to Mobile AL 11/11 - 11/16

After falling behind all of our Looper friends- we decided to make up some time and try to get further south as fast as we can. Our friend Jon calls this slapping leather. We put in some very long days but we made it to the GULF! We were traveling most of the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway by ourselves after leaving Ditto Landing, Huntsville AL. We finally found a group of Loopers at Demopolis (Kingfishers Marina) and decided to move out with them at "o-dark thirty"- 5:30 in the morning. We went through the Demopolis Lock with 8 other boats. FRYEDAZE appreciated our organizer Ed for getting us through the lock in a timely fashion and then the fleet started splitting up. Three of the "go-fast" boats moved out ahead and three fell behind as they were going to an anchorage in Bashi Creek. We were encouraged by the faster boats to push through and get to Bobby's Fish Camp all in one day- 98.6 miles our longest run ever. But it so was so worth pushing through and gaining a day in our schedule! We enjoyed the seafood with 6 other Loopers.. What a fun time! Bobby's is a no frills fish camp with great food. We rafted up with Gallivant along a simple floating dock right off the center of the river. The next day we pulled out in the ground fog and pushed through another 88 miles to a beautiful anchorage on the Tensa River with Gallivant. We made it to Mobile Bay the next day and were thrilled to see the beautiful city of Mobile and about 25 tows and barges! It is the busiest port on the Gulf Coast. We made it to Eastern Short Marina in Fairhope, AL where we reconnected with our friends on Velomer and Gallivant!

On Tuesday we rented a car and went to Pascagoula and Biloxi, Mississippi where Dave was stationed in the Navy. It was fun to go back and visit all the places he remembered from 36 years ago. He was even able to find his townhouse from back in the day. Pascagoula and Gulfport still have a lot of open waterfront properties that have not been rebuilt from Hurricane Katrina. Biloxi on the other hand has really been built way up from when Dave was there! All their casinos used to be on floating barges which were all destroyed. In order to rebuild their economy quickly after the hurricane, they legalized gambling on the land and the area has really grown. It was amazing to see all the high rise casinos and restaurants. It looked like Atlantic City but the structures were much higher off the ground in case another storm hits the area. We enjoyed eating a wonderful lunch outside in the 81 degree temperatures- knowing how cool it was getting on the east coast made it seem sweeter. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and the entire day.

After a terrible rain and wind storm in Fairhope, we left this morning to cross Mobile Bay and start on the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (GICW). We landed at a beautiful resort marina- The Wharf and have really enjoyed this beautiful day here. There are five restaurants steps from the docks, as well as boutique shopping, a ferris wheel, movie theater and a daiquiri bar! It was a fitting way to celebrate as today is our "half-way" day- we left Maryland exactly 6 months ago today. We have taken the time to look back and reflect on all our experiences and now are looking forward to the next "half" of our Loop trip. Our trip has been beyond anything we have ever dreamed and planned for! We appreciate all of you who has been following our adventure and sending us wonderful comments and questions along the way!

 

 

Rather than a dam, this lock had an overflow area beside the lock

We have seen so many pulp mills and the chips being loaded on to a barge

Huge pile of pulp chips waiting to be loaded




This barge was headed towards us and you could see smoke. We thought that is may have something to do with the asphalt he was hauling. As we got down wind we figured it out. The smell was delicious. The smoke was from a smoker and they were cooking up dinner.

We were surprised at the amount of invasive Hydrilla that was all around the Columbus, MS area. The non-native species started from aquarium plants gone wild!

We saw a lot of barges carrying the chemical Adipontrille which we googled and it is a dangerous chemical used to make nylon

We continue to see the changing leaves along the waterway

It was so cool seeing this eagle eating a fish that was way bigger than he was- or so it seemed! He worked hard at it and protected his dinner from a herring that was very near him on the river bank



Trees with lots of hanging moss all along the rivers

 

The beautiful White Cliffs of Eppes. I think this is the most commonly pictured landmark by all the Loopers



Saw this cool riverboat in dry dock coming into Mobile

This was the morning we left at 5:30 for the Demopolis Lock. The fog was sticking close to the water- it was beautiful!

The beautiful Dream Girl Kadey-Krogen that we were in the Sumter Anchorage with.

Maids in the mist.

Brand new Navy ships being built by Astral in Mobile

This tree was totally covered with Spanish Moss- just can't figure out how to turn it right side up!

We heard about seeing deer swimming in front of boats on the Tombigbee- caught this small one. Amazingly fast!

This checked off the last of my boxes- alligators! This big guy was sunning himself on the side of the river. Probably trying to get warm in the sun after our cold 41 degree morning

 

One of the biggest houseboats we have ever seen!

Just another beautiful morning on the river!



Our friend Bill on Corsair



Steamboat and beautiful museum at the Stennis Lock

It was so cold one morning that our balls were deflated!

Our new friends from Gallivant- Don and Pam at Bobby's Fish Camp. Not much on ambience but great food!



Gorgeous oak tree at Bobby's with my favorite Spanish Moss



Sunset on the Tensa River with Gallivant in front

A tall ship in dry dock getting refurbished

The view of the shrimp boats from our table at lunch in Biloxi.

 

Dave and our brother-in-law Chuck's townhouse in Pascagoula from their Navy days!

 

 

Our entertainment at the Shrimp Docks at Eastern Shore Marina. These individuals were incredibly talented musicians! We thoroughly enjoyed listening to them!

 

The sunset last night almost looked fake. It looked like the sky was on fire. We are thrilled to begin the next chapter on our Great Loop Trip.