Day 193 & 194- October 26 & 27 Fair Hope, AL to Pensacola, FL


Back into Intracoastal waterways and crossing back into Florida!


Back in the land of sand and sea birds!!


Coast Guard too.

The channel markers are bigger too.


The ICW markers are back.

People!  Something we haven't seen much of on the rivers.


Lots of people and boats.


Lots of people require lots of living quarters, in pretty colors.


... and new bridges.

LuLu's Restaurant.  Judging by the crowd we saw, it must be good.  Its notoriety is enhanced because Lulu is the late, great Jimmy Buffet's sister.


LuLu's looked like fun, climbing rope courses too.


Sights along the way...



More on this guy later in the blog.


Part of the buildings on the Naval Air Station Pensacola.


A few young sailors learning to sail next to the
 Bayou Grand Marina where we will park the Goose.

DAY 194
October 27

Ah, the yachting lifestyle!  Cocktails, sunsets and palm trees!
Not Quite. 
 The self serve "Brown Betty" pump out experience is not to be missed!






Many lighthouses have these lenses.  This is the coolest demonstration I have ever seen about how a Fresnel Lens actually works to amplify and concentrate a single light source.

This video shows a red light beam being reflected as I turn the light source.

It's only 177 steps!


This is the actual Frensel Lens.


The view from the top is always magnificent.



More proof of life photos.

This might be a good place to watch the Blue Angels on Friday and Saturday!


As we were leaving the lighthouse another tourist pointed out this "moving gecko". You have to watch the video to understand what teamwork is.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Paul comments in this font
Cheryl comments in this font


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Almost READY

Thanks for stopping by to check on our progress on the Great Loop. This is Cheryl writing today. Grady, the gray house/boat cat is now on board and getting adjusted to the new sites, smells and sounds. The plan is to depart the dock on Wednesday morning! Seems like we have been planning for a while and are almost ready to go. Tonight will be the first night sleeping on board. So far the boat is very well equipped and comfortable. Paul has done an excellent job of seeing that it is ready. For those who want more information on the Great Loop click on this to go to the FAQ section of the official site AGCLA. Check back for the next blog after we are underway. Let the fun begin!!
Read more

Year End Summary

Image
  Wow! Amazing! Incredible! Life changing, maybe not. Life changing is a comment that several people have made about this trip. But, we have learned that they had never lived on a boat before. They had hardly ever planned a route, anchored, docked, slept at anchor, handled lines, encountered weather and done all the things that Paul and I took for granted because we had both done many times in the past.  For this we are both thankful for the history we brought into this trip.  Paul's knowledge and past experience and research made the trip safe, fun and easy. Was it a once in a lifetime trip, YES! We met a lot of very friendly folks. Ate a lot of really good food. Laughed our way around the miles.  Saw so many sights we have to look back on this blog to remember them all. Any way about it we are part of a very small group of people to do this trip. I will be eternally grateful to Paul for inviting me to join him on the Loop. It was a simple question.  "Do you wa...
Read more

Days 184-186- October 17, 18, & 19 Iuka, MS to Midway Marina, Fulton, MS to Columbus, MS

Image
Tennessee River, Tenn-Tom Waterway, Tombigbee River A 525-mile long river that flows through the states of Mississippi and Alabama. The name Tombigbee, comes from the Choctaw word for "coffin makers," referring to tribesmen who prepared the dead.  Welcome to fall on the rivers!  Chilly nights and relatively warm water means fog, fog fog.  The treetops could be in sunshine, but that first 40 feet above the water reminds me of Maine. Tippy toe slow, radar on, autopilot driving on a route.   As the first hour or so passes, the sun does the job. That bird ever so kindly flew across the sun as I took the photo. Yay, it is burning off. Well, maybe not quite yet! Ok, now it's gone for the day. ...and then, one more patch of it. These structures show you where a river or a creek  enters the waterway from a higher elevation.  The 'teeth' break up the flow of water so it doesn't cause a problem in the channel.  All the ones we saw were dry, but spring ...
Read more