Land Cruising in Style!

This is the view right outside our RV site looking west along the beach. That's the pool deck on the right.

Last year we spent 4 nights at the Santa Rosa RV Resort and enjoyed it so much we opted for 15 nights this year and it has not disappointed.  Our site right on the beach has a lovely view over the water and we're right next to the heated pool. There's a lot going on here almost every day. We walk with a group in the morning at 8 AM weekdays. There is water aerobics twice a week, Bingo twice, card games, coffee & donuts, and a Pancake and Sausage breakfast! We enjoyed watching a fiercely fought corn hole tournament (we'll have to practice up for next year). It's easy to meet people at events or just around the fire pit in the evenings. We've been using our bikes as well and doing our Bone Builder exercises. 

A section of the Corn Hole Tournament

The view from our RV looking east (low tide). 
That is their fishing pier .

We had a great lunch at Red Fish, Blue Fish
over on Santa Rosa Island.

Several times we've taken excursions around the area. First to Eden Gardens State Park east of here with two other stops at Grayton Beach State Park and Topsail Hill Preserve. At Eden Gardens we toured the historic Wesley House and the lovely grounds. The other parks have campgrounds which we might want to extend our stay (more cheaply) in the area next year. They are both right on the beach. 

The Pensacola Lighthouse

That's the beginning of a very long
climb

The view looking east

The view looking down!

A number of people turned around due to the
difficulty, length and steepness. We were fine,
although I took a number of breaks!

Then we headed west on two days. First to the Pensacola Lighthouse, first built in 1825 as a 40 foot tower replacing a Lightship and then was in turn replaced with a 150 foot one in 1859. It was 177 steep steps to the top and we made it! There is a museum there as well with a reconstruction of the lightkeepers quarters. Our second visit to Pensacola was again to the military base, this time for the National Naval Aviation Museum, which is huge and took us a full day. Luckily there is a bar/cafe there so we could fuel up. Hundreds of planes from every era are represented along with artifacts, films, reconstructed vignettes of life at war (all of them) and personal stories. It is an excellent museum but not as good as the WWII Museum in New Orleans, one of my all time favorites. .

We still have a week here before heading west again. Tomorrow a Dolphin Boat Cruise with a group from the RV Park. More on that later!

The historic Wesley House at Eden Gardens - this is the back which faces Tucker Bayou. The house was bought by a very wealthy widow who donated it with all the furniture and possessions to the State after her health made it impossible for her. 

We enjoyed a very good lunch at a 
nearby hotel overlooking the water
afterwards. 

Sorry this is hard to see - it's a crossing the date line ceremony
on board an aircraft carrier. King Neptune and his consorts 
are testing the Polliwogs (first timers). These guys could try 
out for Rue Paul!

You are only seeing a small part of this huge museum!!!

I really loved these recreations of life during the wars - here WWII - but it's a little like the living quarters in MASH too.

Here's a little bar for the soldiers in the 
Pacific.

I always love the stories about women and 
minorities that served. Here an oil painting of 
the first woman Naval aviator, Barbra Allen
in 1974. 

When Subic Bay Naval Station was decommissioned in the Philippines in 1992, the Officer's Club Bar was reassembled here at the Museum and is back in use! I was at Subic Bay myself in 1967 while serving in the Peace Corps in nearby Tarlac. I was invited by a family member who was serving there.