Pensacola - FL

Pensacola, FL
We are now in Robertsdale, AL which is between Pensacola, FL and Mobile, AL. Sue has former classmate who reside in Pensacola with her husband. On Friday, January 29, we went into Pensacola and milled around the old historic district visiting the local Archeological Museum. We then met with Pete and Maryann Federovich at a lovely restaurant which looks over Pensacola Bay called the Fish House. Peter was a retired Navy man. He and Maryann had traveled extensively on military hops as their family was growing up and it made for an interesting night of good conversation.
National Naval Aviation Museum is located on the Navy Air Station in Pensacola. The museum is over 300,000 square feet with more than 150 aircrafts indoors. The Blue Angels are based here but were currently in CA for training purposes. The tour that we took was given by a retired military person in his 80’s and he did an outstanding job explaining the involvement of aircraft from the beginning to now with the Navy. This is the type of museum that you could go back to time and time again. The planes and artifacts are displayed in a manner that most items can be touched and handled by visitors. If you are ever in the area, you should set aside time to visit this museum.

Oysters - FL

We usually get a good fill of oysters while we are in SC but it just didn’t work out on this trip so we were in the mood for oysters. Apalachicola Bay is known for good oysters in Florida. A local stand near the campground was selling them. We bought a l/2 burlap sack of oysters for $20. It seems, as we travel, we are never certain what we are going to get for our dollar. The lady at the stand assured us that l/2 a sack was $20 but we had no idea that we were going to get 10 dozens of oysters for that price. We ate oysters raw on 2 different days until we had our full. Sue made oyster stew and we had some left over to freeze for another meal. They may not have been as sweet as the oysters in SC or CA but they were certainly good.

Florida Beaches along the Panhandle

We have always heard how beautiful the beaches along the Florida Panhandle are. They are part of the Gulf Island National Shore. The weather temperature was in the high 60’s and it was windy but there were people walking and enjoying the beaches. There were some surfers but they were in wet suits as the water temperature was in the 50’s. You could see all of the high rises along the beach indicating that, in season, the area must be very crowded.

Stormy Ride

We are never in a rush so we should not have to travel in bad weather. On 1/21 on our trip from Woodbine, GA to DeFuniak, FL, across Rte. 10, we hit one hell of a storm. The night before, in Georgia, there was torrential rains and thunderstorms but by morning it had cleared. Bob looked at the radar dopler on the computer and it appeared that the storm was above Route 10. As we got west on Route 10 we hit severe thunderstorms and rain where the skies appeared as dark as night. Some areas got 9 inches of rain and the drainage ditches and ponds were overflowing. There was one point, on Route 10, that the eastbound lane was under water. You know that it is rough weather when the truckers slow down to 30 or 40 mph. When we took a ride the next day you could see the streams and river overflowing. We stopped at a picnic area and took these pictures.
This is definitely the worst weather that we have driven in since the snows in Donner’s Pass.

St. Marys, Georgia

St. Marys, Georgia is a quaint and historical city. The city is where one can catch a ferry to explore Cumberland Island which is part of the National Seashore of Georgia. It was a fishing village many years ago. Now it survives as there is a large Navy Submarine base in the area. Many of the residents are retired military personnel. It has a beautiful public park right on the Intercoastal Waterway. St Marys Submarine Museum is the largest of its kind in the South. Bob realized that he knew nothing about the efforts of the submarines throughout the years of their existence.

Fort Frederica National Monument - Georgia

Fort Frederica National Monument - Georgia
Fort Frederica was established on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia between 1736-l749. England established the fort to protect the colonies from the Spanish. At this time, Spain controlled Florida. In June of 1742, the Spaniards sailed north to invade the English colonies and regain land which they considered rightfully theirs. In early July the Spaniards
Ran by the guns of Ft. St. Simon’s. The Battle of Bloody Marsh on July 7, 1742 took place between Ft. St. Simon and Ft. Frederica. The Spaniards believed that the British had too great a foothold in the area and retreated to Florida.
Fort Frederica was disbanded in 1749 after the Treaty between England and Spain. The town of 500 settlers could not support itself after the fort closed and in 1758 a fire destroyed many of the buildings and the rest fell into ruins. After visiting a number of forts and battlefields we realize that the history of this country was not made by one battle or one campaign alone.

Jekyll Island

Jekyll Island holds glorious natural beauty for the senses. By law, 65 per cent of the island, owned by the State of Georgia since 1947, will remain undeveloped. There are over 10 miles of beaches, accessible to the public. There are 20 miles of bike paths which may also be explored on foot. It is a unique place since there are no fast food restaurants, movie theaters, gas stations or other amenities that we have become accustomed to. The Georgia Sea Turtle Center was established on Jekyll Island in 2007. There is a modern campground, with over 200 sites which allows monthly camping from Oct. thru March and Sue and I hope to spend the month of October there some year ahead. One has to make reservations at least a year in advance.
We were very impressed with the island itself. The driftwood, along the beaches, was stunning to see.

National Seashore Georgia

Happy New Year

We hope that this is a happy, healthy and prosperous year for all. As planned, we left South Carolina on Jan. 15 and now we are near the southern Georgia coast. This part of Georgia's coastline is designated as a National Seashore. We have had the opportunity to visit St. Mary's, Georgia which is an historical area along the National Seashore. From St. Mary's we could see an old sailing ship in the bay. We are excited about being on the road once again making our way to the West Coast. The photo of the children was taken on the last day that we picked them up from their daycare. The photo shows Scott Henry, Sarah and Noah. Scott is Noah's buddy who lives next door to him.