Patriot Dreams: November 7, 2014

Our “adult bingo” adventure at Toby Keith Restaurant was very profitable in terms of fun and winning. Out of 10 rounds of bingo, our table (Steve & Sheli & Jim & I) won the majority of prizes, with Sheli being the biggest winner. Our winnings included alcohol, food, champagne and “bucks” to be used at the restaurant. It was SUCH fun!

Blue Willow joined us at The Wharf on November 4, so we had an enjoyable evening catching up with them. The following morning 5 of us (Jim, me, Mark, Mary & Roger from TaTa) went for a long bike ride through the Orange Beach recreational area. This led us to the Gulf State Park where we celebrated a beach encounter. It was a beautiful sunny day so we went barefoot across the gorgeous white sand and dipped our toes in the Gulf. Ahhh! We have arrived in paradise. After our ride back, we said our good-byes to Steve & Sheli and left the marina for our next destination. We settled on an anchorage in Pensacola Beach, which turned out to be a great spot with plenty of protection from the wind. On our journey to the anchorage we enjoyed a Blue Angels airshow, as they were practicing for this weekend’s big celebration in Pensacola.

Bikers loving the adventure

Jim, toes ready for the sand

Powder-fine sand on the beach...sunny day. Ahhh!

Mary & Roger lovin' it!!

Officially in Florida!!

Sometimes 6 planes

Sometimes 4 planes, with the other 2 doing rolls and other tricks...a beautiful sight

Yesterday’s journey was a nature extravaganza…sightings of dolphins, eagles, and jellyfish. We had originally planned to stop along the way for a couple of hours on the beach, but rain kept us from doing that. Thus, we traveled along to the Fort Walton Beach City Dock, a nice location with slips enough for the 5 Looper boats docked there. It was in a great location, walking distance to Publix grocery store, boutique shopping and good restaurants. After our shopping trip we took a short rest, then went for cocktails on Freedom (Martha & Carey) before going to dinner with Karty Party (Paul & Lynn) and Blue Willow (Mark & Vicki). Had a great meal at Magnola Grill, with plenty of leftovers for today’s lunch.

Good times, good friends...all from Michigan!

One of the problems for these waterfront locations is that they are beginning to have a problem with vagrants purchasing very inexpensive boats and anchoring them just off the docks. Last night we witnessed a near disaster on one of the vagrant-inhabited boats when a guy left the dock in his small dinghy and tried to board his boat. He was obviously very drunk and nearly fell into the water. Police told us there have been a couple of drownings recently because of similar situations. We never felt unsafe, but did lock our boats when we went downtown and when we went to sleep for the night.

Alternative to the cardboard box for Fort Walton Beach's homeless

We left this morning at 7:30 a.m. for the next leg of our journey, heading toward Panama City, hoping to be in Appalachicola tomorrow, and anticipating a night crossing from Carabelle to Dunedin on Monday or Tuesday.

Because the waves were kicking up when we crossed Choctawatchee Bay, our windows and entire boat got pelted with salt water. Patriot was desperately in need of a bath, so that was our top priority after tying up to the dock in St. Andrew Marina in Panama City. Jim and I exercised, showered and then went with Mark & Vicki, Martha & Carey, and Al to HUNT's Oyster Bar, our favorite place in the entire world for fresh oysters. Several years ago, brother Jerry had introduced us to Hunt's, so it's always been one of our top points of interest.