11/20/2009, NE Arkansas
Well, this being a sailing blog I must confess I haven't been on the water all year!
Our youngest son and family came down from the Great North for two weeks - and we immediately gave them H1N1 - so they were down (literally) for most of the first week. We had good visits and took good pictures. Enjoyed our time together. Christmas will be hard again this year I'm sure - but life goes on.
The wife broke down this week and did what she has been tryin to get me to do for the last 3 months. We've been on dial-up since the internet was available. Our local cable company could not provide for us neither could the phone company above 56k. Around 3 or 4 months ago the phone company announced DSL available in our service area. Change comes slow. Don't know why. Anyway - she ordered the high speed modem and set it up yesterday. Its like 25x faster than our old dial up!
Maybe I'll do a better job of keepin up with the world now.
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06/30/2009, Arkansas to New Hampshire & back
more later
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04/03/2009, Florida Panhandle
We really didn't think we would be up to a Spring Break vacation but as the time drew near - we decided we needed the time away. Life is very difficult for us at the moment - but we are getting on with it.
It was at the last minute so-to-speak that we decided that we needed the time away. We had not made any plans so our options were limited. We really didn't want to spend time with family - just too hard at the present. Solution - Road Trip! Last summer as we planned to visit our youngest son in New England we incorporated an unscripted road trip through the Carolina Outer Banks and thoroughly enjoyed it. We figured it could work again.
Our Plan was to head to Mobile, Alabama - turn east and see where the road took us. We kinda figured Appalachicola would be the turn around. That was about all the planning we did.
We had intended to leave early but we didn't get around until late-morning. We intended to get past Jackson, Misssissippi and then play it by ear. I will drive straight through and overnight but its hard on the wife, so we usually stop - but usually pretty late. We got through Jackson before sundown and headed on down towards Hatiesburg. We got through Hattiesburg and stopped at a new Microtel. (Don't think too poorly of me - we sleep cheap but we look for nice cheap!) The hotel was brand new and very clean and very cheap. We slept well, got breakfast and were back on the road early the next morning.
Heading down to Mobile, Alabama we turned the gadgets on. My wife's Garmin Nuvi and my Palm. We had been to the west side of Mobile Bay and down to Dauphin Island few years earlier but had never been on the east side of the bay. Fort Morgan looked like a nice destination so off we went. It was a real nice rural drive down to the fort once we got through Mobile. We spent quite a bit of time at the fort, took some pictures, read up on the history of Mobile Bay and got us a bite of lunch at the onsite concession. The construction of the fort was really was neat - mostly concrete and earthen berms but the brickwork was really neat.
Leaving Fort Morgan, we went by both Perdido Key State Park and Big Lagoon State Park. Both were beautiful. One of them had elevated boardwalks and elevated look-out staions all around the shore. Really cool. We walked a bit but didn't stay too long. We drove up and around Pensacola Naval Air Station - we had intended to do the museum but got lost and didn't go back - so we took the bridge across Pensacola Bay down to Gulf Breeze and on down to Pensacola Beach. We had intended to go on to Fort Pickens State Park but the road was out and it was about a mile or so walk. It was getting late in the afternoon so we decided we'd miss this fort.
We drove as far out as we could on the Gulf Islands National Seashore before we had to turn back and take the interstate over to Ft Walton Beach. We had planned on stopping around Navarre for anight on advice from a friend - and maybe renting a hobie from the guy down by Juan's Pagoda - but it was Spring Break Crazy at Navarre!
We found a nice motel in Ft Walton Beach overlooking the bay - actually looking back over a pier to the bay. It was late in the day and we were hungry - boy did we luck out on this one! We drove right by Old Bay Steamers on Okaloosa Island - and stopped! I am familiar with Old Bay seasonings - but had never heard of the restaurant. The food was fabulous. We got this huge platter of shrimp, lobster, king & snow crab - and it really was awesome. Okay - so I live in Arkansas - but my wife's mother lives in Clearwater, Florida so I have eaten a bit of fresh seafood - this place was awesome.
Back to our hotel room we relaxed and decided to hit the road the next day and see where it took us. It took us through Destin (a nice looking place) and Panama City Beach (NASTY - it was wall to wall Spring Breakers on foot, on scooters, in electric golf carts, carrying drinks, puking in the street - and we were just DRIVING THROUGH! I can't imagine staying there). We drove through Port St Joe and on into Appalachicola. We saw a few of the museums and the water front. Decided it was time to turn around. We made it back to St Joe and stopped at St Joseph Penninsula State Park. It was a really nice - rustic - kick yer shoes off kinda place. We drove down the shoreline to an elevated observation area and then back through the campgrounds to see who was there. We saw a very nice alligator in one pond sneaking up on a duck - the duck didn't get caught but the gator came up on the bank to sun himself - my first wild aligator sighting. He was bigger than me so I just took pictures from afar. Real nice park. Need to plan a camping trip down here sometime.
Going back the other way, we decided to go back to Ft Walton beach and try to get the same room we had last night. We did - and we got it for two more nights. Nice view - quiet place - easy for the tow truck to find - what? Yeah, seems like someone turned on a dome light and left it on overnight. Go figure. No big deal - just call AAA. We settled back into our hotel that evening and did supper just across the parking lot at Red Lobster. It sure wasn't Old Bay quality stuff - but it was good. You get what you pay for.
Next day, we lazy around, sit on the dock, and go to Destin. Heard a lot about Destin but never been there either. We found this schooner - the Nathaniel Bowditch - about 70' long. Lotsa canvas (sails). Took a 3 hour sunset cruise. It was a bit chill and a bit crowded on the boat - but it was a blast. We even had a pod of Dolphiins that stayed with us most of the time we were out - including a little one. Coming back in, we see Harry T's. Looks like a good place to eat. It is a bit of a party atmosphere, but not too much. It is mostly seafood - fast food style - but the quality is good. Story here - a little over 30 years ago a guy I worked with went to a nice seafood place and had Oysters Rockefeller. He told me I had to try them if I ever got the chance. I have a good memory ... and they were on the menu - so I ordered them! And the wife LOVED them. Surprise, surprise! We liked our meal but we LOVED them oysters! Matter of fact - two days later as we headed back home we went back to Destin at lunch time and got us some more of them.
We basically rested and lazied around those last two days - but we found the respite we both so deserately needed. We still found some crying time, but all in all it was a very good road trip. We're gonna hafta do that more often.
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