Kicking Back

Yesterday morning I headed to the Gulf Breeze Flea Market to buy some fresh produce and look for a windsock.  I bought peaches and cherry tomatoes but couldn't find a small flag or windsock.  On my way back, I stopped at a couple of tourist trap junk stores and still couldn't find one.  I'm going to keep looking.

We packed a lunch and headed out to the beach.  There were lots of paddle surfers there.

We had a nice lunch of ham sandwiches, cherry tomatoes and of course peaches.  The black flies were out in full force.  We moved closer to the water thinking that would help but after an hour, the flies were just too much.  We decided to pack up and go get some Off.  Of course, there are 3 cans of it already in the MH, we just had forgotten to put one in the beach bag.  So off we go to the Tom Thumb store to grab some Off and then back to the beach.  It wasn't to be.  The store was sold out of Off, the lady tells me, because the black flies are so bad at the beach.  Oh really, no kidding?

Okay, Plan B.  We drive west along SR 399, which runs alongside the Gulf.  It runs right through the Gulf Islands National Seashore. It was a beautiful drive and we spotted lots of beach areas to try another day.  Before we knew it, we were in Pensacola Beach.  A festival called Taste of the Beach was being held there and the pedestrian traffic was unreal.  We hit that festival last September when we were in this area.

We drove back to Navarre along US 98 and stopped at an antique mall.  A few things were interesting but I didn't buy anything.  When we got back to the MH, Doug took a nap and I sat outside reading.  There's a bit of barge traffic on the Sound.

Before I knew it, the sun was setting.

I just love the fact that I don't have leave our spot to watch either sunrise or sunset.  This place is a keeper and I know we will be back here.

Now it's Sunday morning.  Time for a Sunday breakfast with my favorite beverage, coffee, of course!

We Started and We Started Again

Two weeks ago yesterday, we left home for a 7,000 mile trip out West.  Montana, Idaho, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.  We got to Duck Lake, WI (about 750 miles from home) and Doug got sick.  We decided to wait it out a few days to see if he got better.  He didn't so we turned around and headed home.  When we got back, we went to the ER.  Turns out he had pneumonia.  They admitted him as an inpatient for 2 days.  He spent a few days recovering at home and then we decided to salvage something a vacation.  7,000 miles was out of the question by then, so we decided to head to the Florida Panhandle to Navarre.

When we left on Tuesday, we drove to Horse Cave, KY and stayed at a KOA.  It's near Mammoth Cave.  It was an okay RV park, good enough for an overnight stop.  It was a bit like Green Acres in that they had chickens, roosters and a turkey running around.

On Wednesday, we drove to Montgomery, AL and stayed at an RV park called The Woods. We had full hookups and the rate was less than $30 but it was a bit of an odd place.  Can't quite put my finger on it, but I just had a weird feeling there.

While we were sitting outside that evening, my dear, sweet Jesse got stung by a bee.  He was sniffing around in the grass, I saw him jump backwards and then he started rubbing his nose on the ground.  We checked him out and couldn't find a stinger or anything but he acted different until we left there.  He laid around, wouldn't take a piece of cheese and when he wanted to go outside, he would go to the door but then wouldn't go out unless I practically drug him outside.  The next day he was eating again and seemed to feel better.  I think he was just freaked out.  Our other dog, Jackie, is the one who is always chasing the bees at home.  I always believed it would be Jackie who got stung, but it was Jesse.

Thursday morning we headed out for the final leg to Florida.  It was a nice, easy 3 hours from Montgomery, AL to Navarre, FL.  The last time we were in this area, we stayed a very nice RV resort at Ft. Walton Beach.  We really liked the place there, but they built the new Fudpuckers right next door to it.  Inside dining, outside raw bar, live gators, entertainment, etc, etc.  We decided that it might be a bit too busy for us and that maybe we'd better find a different place.

Man, am I glad we did that.  We found an RV park at Navarre that's only been open about 18 months and they have sites right on the water.  The park is St. Rosa Sound RV Resort and this place is GREAT!  Beautiful water front sites, a fabulous pool, laundry, free and fast WI-FI and tons of cable channels.  We would highly recommend this place.  Here's a view from our site.

Because the back end of the motor home is facing South, we have views of both sunrise and sunset.  Here's the sunrise this morning, which I enjoyed with a cup of coffee and only had to walk out our door.

This afternoon, we packed a lunch and headed to the beach.  It's only about a 5 minute drive from where we are staying.  

We ate, got some sun and Doug even managed a short nap.

How does he sleep like that?

It's time for some coffee.  Think I'll have some of the cold stuff over ice!

We Didn't Fish But We Had A Great Time!

On Sunday, we drove to Jupiter for our annual fishing trip with Erol, Kemal and Idyl on Captain Jim's boat, Country Club Fishing Charters.  When we got there, the winds had picked up so much that we were not able to go.  Can't do anything about the weather.

When we left the docks, we headed to Jonathan Dickinson State Park which is just a short drive from Jupiter.  We ate the sandwiches that we had brought for fishing and the Borek that Idyl had made.  Borek is a Turkish meat pie made with phyllo dough.  It's great and we took the left overs with us.

When we got back to Erol and Susan's, I took a few photos of some of their beautiful plants.  I just love the plants in Florida.  I don't know the names of most of them, but they are so different from what we have in the north and the flowers are just gorgeous.

Susan made us a great dinner of steak, baked potato, corn on the cob and Key Lime pie for desert.  It was a wonderful last night there.

Thank you, Erol and Susan, for your great hospitality!  It was a great visit, but went by far too fast.

This morning we left Delray Beach and started our journey north.  We got to Valdosta, GA.  It was 89 degrees yesterday in Florida.  When we got to the RV park this afternoon, it was 60 degrees.  BIG change.

'

Doug and the dogs are already asleep, but Dancing with the Stars isn't over yet.  I'm going to finish this cup of coffee and get to bed.  We're hitting the road at 8:00 tomorrow morning.

Delray Beach and Ft. Lauderdale

On Saturday morning Doug and I headed to the Coconut Creek Casino for a bit of slot action.  We both made a small donation.  We stopped for some groceries and headed back to Erol's house.

When Erol got home from work, we drove down to Ft. Lauderdale for the Auctions America Collector Car Auction.  We saw lots of great cars.

We even ran into a couple of celebrities.  Doug and I were standing outside where the cars were coming out after being auctioned when we ran into Rick and Corey from Pawn Stars.

We left the auction without buying a car (thank goodness!) and headed for a drive along Ft. Lauderdale Beach.  As many times as we have been to Florida, neither Doug nor I had seen the beach there.

It's a beautiful beach but there's lots of traffic and tons of people.  This little stretch above was quiet and not too many folks, but most of the beach was just jamming.  

Last night we had dinner at Two Georges which is on the water at Boynton Beach.  It was great!

Today is our fishing trip on Country Club Fishing Charters.  The winds are blowing a bit (20-25 mph) and the seas are supposed to be 2-4 near shore and 3-5 in the gulfstream.  It will likely be a bumpy day but we ALWAYS catch fish off of this boat.

My coffee needs a refill and I need to get moving for fishing.

"Coffee is the best thing to douse the sunrise with." ~ Terri Guillemets

Fishing In The Everglades

We left the Keys on Wednesday morning and drove towards Everglades City.  First stop was at the Miccasoukee Casino.  Not much of a casino and both of us made a small donation.  It was a nice drive across U.S. 41 and we saw lots of wildlife.  The only gators we saw were as we drove past one of the rest areas.

We got to Larry and Robin's place in Everglades City around 3:30 and our friend, Erol, was already there.  They live on a canal that connects to the 10,000 Islands region of the Everglades National Park.  They have lots of flowers blooming.

When I asked Larry why their Pink Flamingos were blue and orange, he said "Because we're Gator fans!"

We had a great meal of stone crab claws.  Here's some shots of the cracking of the claws.

Thursday morning we headed out into the water for some fishing.  

We caught a lot of trout, some of which weren't big enough and had to go back to the sea but we did catch 5 spotted trout a few silver trout that we kept for dinner.  We also caught quite a few small sharks.

We headed back in to clean the fish and take them to the restaurant.  Our dogs love fish!

Robin, Larry, Erol, Sonny, Doug and I had a feast.  You bring in your filleted fish and they cook them for you.

When we left the restaurant, the truck parked next to us had a guard sitting in the passenger's seat.

We had a great time!  Thank you Larry and Robin for your wonderful hospitality.  We'll be back next year so that we can get that personal tour of the Everglades museum.

Friday morning we headed to Delray Beach to visit with Erol and Susan.  We got here around 2:00, visited with Susan and her mother, Jonne, and then got set up.  When Erol got home, Susan served a great dinner of salad, croissants, shrimp etouffee and chocolate cream pie.  Susan is a great cook and it was better than a restaurant!

Our fishing trip with Captain Jim of Country Club Charters is tomorrow.  I don't know what adventure awaits us today, but I'm going to start my day with a fresh cup of coffee.

Last Day In The Keys

First, to catch up.  Saturday Doug and I went back to Curry Hammock SP.  We love that beach.  It's never really very crowded, it's a natural beach and it's close to the RV Park.

I'm going to miss this beach.

On Sunday, we decided to head to Veterans Park at the south end of Seven Mile Bridge.  Dogs are allowed on the beach there, so we packed a lunch, loaded up the dogs and off we went.  It was a bit busy but the beach area at the very end was open, so we set up there with the dogs for lunch.  Okay, this is perfect, we have our own private spot and the dogs are having a great time.  About 30 minutes later, a group of about 6 people took the picnic table next to us and began setting up.  Boy, they sure seemed to have a lot of food and coolers for only 6 people.  Soon after, another 4 people showed up to join their group and then another 6 or 8.  Pretty soon, we have a full blown Sunday family picnic next to us with kids running around and salsa music.  Dogs got a bit antsy, so it was time to pack up and move on.  I never even took a photo.  Oh well, it's all in the memory bank.

We drove a bit further south to look at the old train bridge from near Bahia Honda SP.  There's a nice area to view the bridge.

Lots of folks pulled out on Sunday and by Monday morning we were rewarded with a slight view of the water.  This was the view from the dining table window.  If you look real hard, you can just see the water.  

Maybe next year we can get one of the premium waterfront sites so we can see the water whenever we want.

Monday we headed to Bahia Honda SP.  It's about 20 miles south of here.  It's supposed to be one of the best beaches in Florida (not sure we would agree with that) and it was voted one of the United States best beaches in 1996.  It is beautiful.  It was windy and by 3:00, the clouds had moved in so we moved out.  But not without taking a couple of photos.

It was a nice afternoon, just not long enough.

Monday night, I headed to sunset even though it was mostly cloudy. I did get a quick peek at the sunset along with the ever present pelicans and conch shell blowers.

At 4:00 a.m. today I was awakened by the sound of rain.  Pretty distinct sound in an RV when rain falls on your roof.  I went outside with my eyes barely focused and pulled the chairs under the awning.  Back to bed I went.  It was still raining when I woke up at 7:00.  Come on, give me a break, it's our last day here.  I want a bump on my tan and want to have lunch at the beach!  Well, we did take a picnic lunch to the beach.  No one else was there because while it had stopped raining, it was definitely cloudy.  The sun did manage to come out around 5:30, so no tan bump.

I hit the water at around 7:00 for sunset.  It was beautiful, but made me a bit melancholy.  Last night in the Keys.  Well, until next year.

If you're ever in this area, we highly recommend this RV Park.  Jolly Roger Travel Park in the fabulous Florida Keys!

In the morning we are headed to Everglades City to meet up with our dear friend Erol and his brother-in-law, Larry, for some fishing!  The vacation continues, but say so long to the Florida Keys.

A cup of coffee and piece of Key Lime Pie awaits me now.