Took off from our anchorage last Friday after some fog lifted.  Seas were super calm.

First run along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.  Lots of dolphins, which we’ve missed.  Beautiful homes and scenery.

Got into Homeport Marina, Gulf Shores, AL late morning.  Our slip was the last one in the deepest part of the marina, aka…a sea wall slip.  Thank God for thrusters!  Backed our girl into the slip, and headed to LuLu’s for lunch.  LuLu’s is owned by Jimmy Buffett’s sister, Lucy.  Super bitchin place with a sandy beach resplendent with a beach volleyball court.  Also boasts an arcade, an outdoor kids’ sandy playground, and huge gift store.  We split a BLT with fried green tomatoes.  Very delicious.

Did some walking afterward, thankfully.  I was going to cook dinner on the boat, but was too full from lunch.  Went back to LuLu’s for live music.  Weather got a bit cold, so an employee lit a huge propane standing patio heater INSIDE.  God love Florida (this would never go down in CA.)

The Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival was going on, so we were treated to numerous live acts, all of which were fantastic!

Following morning was super cold with some strong winds, but beautiful blue skies.  Mike and I decided to walk a couple miles to breakfast.  I froze my ass off!  Mike laughed at me the whole time.  In line with everyplace we’ve been to thus far in the south, there are no sidewalks!  What is it folks have against sidewalks???

Awaited some rain and thunderstorms later in the day (thunderstorms are much more the norm seemingly everywhere we’ve been).  Got some laundry done.  Sunday morning, took off around 9:00, pumped out, and made the trek toward Pensacola.  Really interesting trip along the GICW.  Again, had a lot of dolphins on the trip which is always wonderful.

Finally made it into Florida!  Ensured a bottle of champers was in the fridge for when we got to port.

Colors one would only find in Florida.

Once we passed Orange Beach and were about to enter Pensacola Bay, we saw the opening to the Gulf of Mexico.

I’m a crummy photographer, but there were white beaches on either side of this.  Being an ocean girl, it was so cool to see open water.

The trip across the West part of Pensacola Bay was beautiful.  We arrived at Palofox Yacht Club and Marina around 1:30.  Mike gave our girl a good, soapy wash, and we trekked out into town around 4:00.  This was Sunday, Veterans Day, so we walked to the Pensacola Veterans Memorial Park.  Wow!  What a wonderful place, and on an appropriate day.  For those who don’t know, Mike is an Army Vet.  My dad is a Navy vet.  My dad’s dad was a career Naval officer.   I am perpetually humbled by and appreciative of those who serve in our armed forces.  Some students had left notes on many of the memorials which were so touching and thought provoking.  Kudos to their teachers.

Pensacola has their marathon on Veterans Day every year.  Somebody left their finishing medal on this Vietnam wall this date.  Pretty damn moving.

Sunday night would be our last snippet of decent weather in Florida.  It started to rain, and hasn’t stopped!

Monday morning, there was a tornado watch.  As I was making breakfast on the boat, this turned into a tornado warning.  The meteorologist on the local news was telling viewers to stop watching tv and get into their basements.  I was freaking out, yelling at the tv that I don’t have a basement; I’m on a boat!  Thankfully, there was no tornado in our marina.  I have not experienced one, but still don’t like tornadoes.  There was a bit of a break in the weather later that day, so Mike and I grabbed our foul weather gear and umbrellas and hit the streets of downtown, historic Pensacola.  What a charming town!  Beautiful older homes and buildings.  Lots of restaurants and bars.  Really a lovely seaside town.  Was raining too much for me to take many pictures, but I snapped one of a beautiful church.

Yesterday morning, we had a little respite in the weather and were able to walk around downtown a bit more, albeit dressed in our foul weather gear.  There are beautiful buildings that were built in the 18th Century that still house businesses and homes.  Pensacola is ~ 450 years old, and has been under 5 different flags: Spain, France, Britain, US and the Confederate States Army (CSA).  There is also, of course, the history of the Native American Pensacola who were here before.  They were a Muskogean speaking tribe.

Last night, our friends from Heartbeat and Alysana drove to Pensacola from Mobile to meet up with us.  We walked to the Old Hickory, a whiskey bar recommended to us from our bartender at Jaco’s.  Place did not disappoint.

By the way, we all walked here from the marina, and it was FREEZING!  In Florida!  After we left the whiskey bar…long story short…a local recommendation for a great BBQ place had us walking about a mile and 1/2 in the cold and rain to a place that had just closed, for us to grab an amazing LYFT driver who changed our 2nd dinner destination to Urban Swinery in downtown Pensacola.  Place was amazing.  I should have photo’d the menu. Suffice it to say, they have a copper pig outside, and brag on everything pork.  And, an epic wine and beer list.  My kind of place.  (Gretchen…you would have totally approved!)   Thankfully, the evening ended well.

Mike and I rented a car yesterday to hit West Marina and Publix grocery to provision.  More importantly, we wanted to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum.  It was incredible.

This is the first plane to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean (with stops…Lindbergh was the first “non-stop”):

And, of course, The Blue Angles who fly out of here.

(Mike’s notes:)  An awe-inspiring exhibit was of a restored Korean War era McDonnell F2H-2P Banshee (referred to as a “Photo Banshee).  This plane had a nose full of high res cameras that could photograph high value targets from a much higher altitude (15,000 ft, vs the 5000 ft of its predecessors).  This capability produced a much greater photograph, and had an added benefit of keeping the pilot higher & thus safer from ground fire.  The plane was basically a stepping stone towards the SR-71 Blackbird, and the U2 Spy Plane in the mission of flying high-altitude reconnaissance.  This model was first introduced in 1948 and flew until it was “retired” in 1959

Enter some individual who recognized the plane for what it was (one of the last surviving members of its breed), and the plane was accessed by the Museum in 1989.

Museum volunteers spent thousands upon thousands of hours chipping concrete from the plane, sourcing original and period parts, and restoring her to her original beauty.

Wow….

The highpoint of the day was at the end.  We unbelievably met a Lieutenant General (Ret.) of the Marine Corps while in the museum, and he showed us some of the exhibits.

Lt Gen Thiessen was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1974 and flew V-8A Harrier (“Jump Jets”).  Before his retirement in 2012, Thiessen would be the Commander of all US Marines in the Pacific region.  Thiessen is currently the President and CEO of the National Naval Aviation Museum.  A nicer gentleman could not be found, and Wow…what a tour guide!

An important discovery for us was a replica of the USS Pensacola, a “Heavy Cruiser” that participated in many important naval battles in WW2, including Iwo Jima.

My Uncle JR served aboard the ship during many of these battles, during which the ship was repeatedly bombed and strafed.  At one point he lost 125 of his fellow shipmates when the ship was bombed and torpedoed.  Uncle JR carried shrapnel in his back for the rest of his days.

General Thiessen took us to a display in a corner of the museum where a scale model of the Pensacola was located under glass.

Nearby was a stand with the actual bell taken from the Pensacola prior to the end of her days (Google USS Pensacola and learn how the war couldn’t stop her, and what her final disposition was).

Thiessen asked for our camera and took a photo of us standing beneath the bell.  Super humbling, and so very cool.

This museum is incredible, and we wished we had more days to see it.  We will definitely be back.

Did some laundry tonight.  Still raining.  Plan is to take off tomorrow morning, if the wind mellows, in the frigid Florida weather toward Destin.  Have really loved Pensacola, sans the weather.  Bummer that such a cool place is vulnerable to both Hurricanes AND tornados.  Could almost live here.

Happy Hump Day!  God Bless America!  M&M