The Rest of Florida to Georgia in Photos

 

After our visit to Harpal & Jeannie (no photos sorry), we spent 3 nights with my cousin Joanie and her husband Kent. Here we are out for dinner in downtown St. Petersburg. We really enjoyed the  Museum of American Arts & Crafts Movement nearby. It was so interesting and huge we need to return for a second visit next year.

On another day we went down to Sarasota to the
Ringling Museum. We've been there before but there
is so much to see, it was great to go again. The detail
of the Howard Brothers Circus Model is jaw
dropping. This is just one small piece. Every animal 
and person is unique!

From the second floor you can see down to the
Model - so you can get an idea of the size. We
spent the whole afternoon in the Circus Museum
alone. 

We spent a night in Punta Gorda with Breck Thomas, a fellow cruiser from Tortugal Marina and part of our reunion group. Also visiting were Don & Rosie, formerly of Chickcharne, and hosts of the second Tortugeezer Reunion at their home in Montana. 

Breck, Don and Scott preparing to dock at a 
waterside restaurant for dinner 

Rosie and I enjoyed the view from the bow.

We had dinner overlooking Jupitar Outlet and Lighthouse with our friends and neighbors from Vermont, "Weezie" and Stan Duda during our visit to them. 

We had a wonderful visit with Diane & Mitch Korbey. Diane has been a friend for over 50 years. They were an inspiration to us, as they cruised on their sailboat for 20 years before we bought our boat. They joined us for our first trip south of the Bahamas, all the way down to the Dominican Republic. Our first night we enjoyed Jesus Christ Superstar at the Vero Beach theater and later had a great day at the 
Under the Oaks Art Festival. We were so impressed with the area we made reservations for two weeks at the Road Runner Travel Resort for next March!

PBS had 3 episodes of Antique Roadshow at the 
Georgia State Railroad Museum in Savannah. 
It's a huge place, the most complete antebellum
railroad complex in the U.S. We rode the train
around the property and made friends with our
guide. 

On the train in Savannah

With our guide we got had a private tour of
The Survivor, built in 1926 for Jesse Donahue,
heiress to the Woolworth empire.

The lighthouse at Tybee Island is the fourth one
at this site. The first was in 1736. This one was
first part was built in 1773 and an addition
put on in 1866 bringing the height to 154 ft. It's 
long climb and very steep and narrow as you can
see. Many people expressed surprise that we old
people made it!

Debra Boileau, formerly of Tango, has been a 
friend since we met in Trinidad back in 2006. 
She lives in nearby Hilton Head and spent the
day with us on Tybee.

The view over to the beach from the top

There were 3 lighthouse keepers and their families
housed in 3 houses - all beautifully maintained. I 
loved this kitchen, looking like someone just 
stepped out! 

Our favorite restaurant Vic's On the River in
Savannah. We come every year. Scott let me 
off so I could get our table and the couple next to 
me asked if I wanted to join them, thinking I
was alone. I explained and we had a nice long
chat until Scott arrived. They were from Georgia 
and also had a boat. They left while we were
eating and just said good-bye. At the end of our
dinner our waitress had surprise for us. They
HADE PAID FOR OUR MEAL.   They didn't
say anything and we can't thank them. Wow! It is
a very expensive place. Life is amazing and
people are mostly just wonderful. 

Around Pensacola

 

The trail from our campsite to the beach overlooking Pensacola Bay.

The beach on the Bay side was empty except
for a couple of fishermen.

From Santa Rosa in Navarre we drove only 40 miles west to Fort Pickens at the very tip of Santa Rosa Island. We had two nights there in the Campground. The Fort is the largest of the 4 forts that defend Pensacola Bay and was completed in 1834. One of the four forts in the south which remained in Union hands in the Civil War, it is now included in the Gulf Islands National Seashore Last year we had looked at the Fort from the Pensacola Lighthouse across the way. This is the start of the Florida Hiking Trail which ends 1400 miles later in Key West! We saw a number of hikers with their backpacks either starting or ending the trail. 

Fort Pickens was rebuilt many times ending with
batteries used during WWII. It remained in use
until 1947. 

I love the patina on the walls! I'm off in the shadows.

One of the 200 lb 15 inch Rodman smooth bore
cannons at the fort. 

Some of the walls of the old fort were demolished
when preparing for WWII guns.

Captives from the Indian Wars in the west were imprisoned here including Geronimo, the famous Apache War Chief from 1896 - 97. 

 From our campsite we could walk a short distance to the beach facing the Bay and in the other direction to the pristine white beach on the ocean side. About a mile further north is the fort. We toured the fort and walked the beaches. Our second night we brough chairs down to the beach and watched the sunset. It was glorious as you can see from the photos. 

Looking east at the beach on the ocean side just before sunset.

Looking west. The beach stretches 50 miles and a good deal of it is part of the National Seashore.

Walking back from the beach to our campsite we 
enjoyed the full moon!

Our second stop was 3 nights at Big Lagoon State Park a stone's throw from Alabama. Acquired in 1977, it has a four story observation tower, several beaches, and kayaks for rent. Our first morning we walked around the park and as you can see from the photos, it's a lovely spot. 

It was only a 20 minute drive into Pensacola so we  did some exploring there over the two full days. We enjoyed the Pensacola Art Museum, the History Museum and had lunch at Bistrology - beautifully decorated and great food. Our the second day we took the Jolly Dolphin Boat Cruise around the harbor and then had dinner at one of our favorites, Flounders overlooking the route we'd taken off shore! We saw a LOT of dolphins and they played around our boat for ages. 

The 4 story viewing platform

Looking across the Lagoon 

And the view looking east.

The Jolly Dolphin

It was cool enough out on the water for jackets

Scott at Flounders

One of the great fabric pieces at the Art Museum
by Nonny Oddlokken.

My pulled pork eggs benedict at Bistrology.

Scott likes to interact with sculptures - here with
J. Earle Bowden, historian, cartoonist and 
community advocte.

Our next stops were brief - one night at Harvest Host Prestige Waghu Ranch and then Lake City RV Resort. We left our RV "Baby" there for 11 days while we drive around Florida visiting family and friends. 

We stopped for lunch at Ponce de Leon State Park
which has beautiful swimming fed by natural
springs - a little too cold for us given the air
temperature. 

Some of the young cattle around our site.

"Nomad" and "Baby" at Prestige Waghu Ranch. Our host was so nice! He didn't have any waghu beef to sell us so gave us FREE (refused to take payment) bacon, eggs and some ground beef!

Last Days in Navarre

Santa Rosa RV Resort from their pier. That's their Club House, bath house etc. in back of the pool. 
Our RV "Baby" is the first one to it's right - Site #1

And here's a close up of Baby and our beach. 

Our last night at Santa Rosa we met around the fire pit and here's our group shot: front row: Robin, Jackie, Heather, Faith and Marcy. Second row: Larry & Barbara, Lisa, Becky, Cindy & Scott, Chuck, Val. Back row: Chris, Dennis, Scott G. Matt, Missy & Richard, Dana & Steve. Our wonderful activities Director Karie had surgery that week and was missing from the photo with husband Jeff.

This month has gone by so fast and we got underway again on Sunday But far, only 29 miles to Fort Pickens. This was the largest of four forts built to defend Pensacola Bay and its navy yard. Completed in 1834 it was one of four Southern forts to remain in Union hands during the Civil War. It remained in use until 1947 and is now part of the National Seashore. The campground is run by the National Park Service. We'll will stay there 2 nights and then move to Big Lagoon Florida State Park, 10 miles southwest of Pensacola. This is a wonderful wildlife area and an entrance to the Great Florida Birding Trail. 

We head east from there, stopping one night at the Waghu Ranch, a Harvest Host location and then on to Lake City RV Resort where we will leave Baby for 11 nights while we drive around Florida visiting friends and family. I'll cover that in future entries. But now I'll finish up with photos of the fun activities here at the Santa Rosa. We've made a lot of friends here and look forward to coming back next year for at least 2 months. We've reserved January and February again.

A selfie with from left: Marcy, Karie, Missie, Becky, Elaine
and Heather

Scott shows off his painted napkin

Faith, Marcy and Heather with their tiny "beers",
actually liquor and cream.

The overed patio for the Super Bowl - we had
TVs outside and in.

Karie decorates the Club House for every event and holiday - here the Super Bowl. That's Chris and
Lisa front and center. 

Heather and Scott at the Mardi Gras party

Scott acting up at the "Murder at the Grill"
he played Dan Dragnet - an actor studying
up for a part as a detective.

Part of the audience for our the Mystery performance.

And here are the actors (and suspects) That's Karie in the center - she runs the show here and is a 
major reason we love it so much. 

Marcy shows off her painting. Heather taught
a Sip and Paint Class with 21 students - 2
sessions. An afternoon doing the drawing and
base paint and then finishing it off that night.

Scott enjoys oysters at our last dinner out with
our friends here - group photo to come.

Larry, Scott, Steve, Dana, March and Faith at our farewell evening at the fire pit

Barb, Larry, Beckie and Dennis

Dana, Steve and Jackie

Jay, Steve, Jackie and Marcy.