Two Months on the Gulf

On Saturday, September 25th, we headed out for our annual trip to the Gulf Coast, spending the first week near Gulf Shores, Alabama and then shifting over to the Florida panhandle for a couple of months. Our first stop was Bella Terra RV Resort in Foley, AL. This is less than 20 minutes inland from the beach. We splurged as this was heading into our anniversary month (more on that later) and we checked into a wonderful site that had tons of amenities on its own, above what the resort itself offered. We had a gorgeous view of the lake out our front window, we were parked next to a shaded patio area that included a full kitchen (gas stove, gas grill, sink, wine fridge, ice maker, bar where you could eat) as well as several sitting areas and a gas fire ring that would come in handy on a few cooler days/evenings.

Not much to report during this week. We relaxed a lot, finally having down time with no particular plans or schedules to keep. We rode bikes around the resort, enjoyed the infinity pool, and walked the dogs a lot! We did enjoy several great seafood meals while in the area which would be just the start of a few months of yummy meals to come.

One unique amenity at this park was an indoor dog washing station which is really a purpose-built shower room for dogs. It was a fun and different experience washing the dogs at the station versus in our kitchen sink!

After a week on the Alabama coast, we were ready to head east to Navarre, FL. We have visited this area and park since we started full timing in early 2019 (and were there much longer than planned due to a particular “break down” – see posts from early 2019 if you don’t know the story). We have a great site where you can look straight south down to the Santa Rosa Sound. This will be our home thru the end of November.

October (and November) we are celebrating our 35th Wedding Anniversary! Thus, we have lots of things planned to celebrate this amazing time. First up was a trip to one of our favorite restaurants, Jaco’s on Pensacola Bay. We had a great meal and celebrated with a bottle of champagne!

A few days later, we drove back over to Pensacola to see the Broadway Musical, Chicago! It was a great show in the historic Saenger Theater which has been restored in downtown Pensacola.

Later in the month, we traveled up the road a few miles to visit the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge. This organization takes in injured wildlife as well as wild “pets” that are no longer able (or legally should not have been) kept at home. Most of the 100+ animals they had were not available to be seen since they were being rehabilitated to be released back into the wild and they did not want them to get comfortable around humans. There were, however, some animals that had been rescued from homes and had already lost their fear of people and are now permanent residents of the refuge.

The girls (Sugar & Spice) really started to enjoy their camping life on this trip. They continued to grow and explore every day. We soon got into a daily routine of taking a morning walk that included a stop at the campground office where they were greeted by everyone and usually received lots of petting as well as treats. They also became well known around the campground. People didn’t know our names but they knew Sugar & Spice! They had many firsts during these two months:

• First introduction to a sandy beach
• First taste of salty ocean water (but not interested in swimming in it yet)
• First walk over water (the park’s 365 foot pier into the Santa Rosa Sound). They loved it!
• Learned to go up and down the steps of the rig (so no longer needed to be carried in and out)

Our next celebration was a visit back to Pensacola to attend “Radio Live”. As the name implies, this is a live radio show put on by the local PBS station (WUWF) every month that features touring artists who usually focus on the folk and blue grass. Our show featured Joe Crookston, Ed Gerhard, and Amy Speace. The venue is the Commerce Museum in downtown Pensacola and it is a very nice, small space that is perfect for this type of show. We really enjoyed getting out and hearing these great artists!

Late the same week, we returned to Pensacola once again for a Food Tour, specifically Seville Savories’ Palafox Trot. This included stops at the following: Polonza Bistro, Pearl & Horn, Dog House Deli, 86 Forks Bar & Table and Bubba’s Sweet Spot. Along the way, we were treated with a walking tour of part of historic downtown including facts about the city as well as info about the different types of food and even the history of some of the buildings we were eating in. We had all intentions of taking pics of each stop but after the second stop we got so involved with listening and eating that we failed to fully document all the food…but it was all great! At the end of the tour on the way back to our car we walked by “Bubble Alley”, a portion of a downtown street that had been closed to traffic with plastic bubbles suspended above for a magical look.

We had great weather most of the two months we were in the panhandle. We did have some rain but most of it came thru as part of cold fronts and were in and out in just a few hours. It did lead to big swings in temps. One week high temp records were broken and in the next it would be in the low 40’s. One restaurant we visited had the perfect take on the weather.

We saved one of the biggest and best highlights of our two month anniversary celebration for last. The Navy’s Blue Angels are based out of Pensacola NAS and we were in town for the homecoming which are the last two shows of the year. The show is held on the base and is free and open to everyone. They were expecting up to 100,000 people and people end up sitting on the grass, parts of taxi ways, etc. We wanted to ensure the best seats so we splurged and bought a table for two on the “Flight Line”. This gave us front row seats at the center of the show and included food, non alcoholic drinks and much to Jill’s delight, upgraded toilet facilities in trailers (no port-a-potties!). The show started at 9:30 AM (gates opened at 8) but since we had reserved seats we didn’t rush to get in for the beginning. However, traffic was still very heavy funneling onto the base and what normally would have been a 45 minute drive turned into 2 1/2 hours. We still saw almost all of the other performers before the Angels started at 2 PM since many returned for multiple shows. Prior to the Angels, other planes included an F-4U Corsair, A-10 Thunderbolt, F-35 Lightning, a stunt biplane, several single wing planes built from kits, and a special Yak-10 that was actually 2 planes joined together. The biplane and Yak had additional power provided by a jet assist engine mounted below their fuselages in additional to the traditional propellers. On the ground, there were several planes on display and a jet powered pick up truck that reached over 350 mph down the runway (but did not take off).

After a short break, shortly after 2 PM the main event kicked off. The 6 Blue Angel Boeing F/A 18 Super Hornets had been parked in front of us during the entire show but now the pilots and ground crews came out and readied for take off.

While the fighters were readied, their support plane, a United States Marine Corps Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules, nicknamed “Fat Albert” took to the air and did a few passes over the field.

Before we knew it, the Blue Angels were taxing for takeoff in formation and then spent the next hour plus flying amazing formations and fly-bys. Below are just a few of the pictures we took during the show.

One of the most amazing formations was done straight towards us as all 6 fighters separated in different directions. Below is the sequence:

After so much excitement, it was back to a more regular routine of hanging around the campground, walking the dogs and catching up on some shows. Sugar explored various ways to relax.

And at some point, Spice grew what we are calling “pantaloons”.

Spice also seemed to discover the TV and was particularly interested in watching “The Crown”.

As we headed further into November, we made one more visit to Pensacola, this time to visit the weekly Saturday Market. We found a wonderful gluten free baker so we wanted to stock up before we left the area. We also spotted the armed forces pelicans!

Then it was one more visit to Peg Leg Pete’s and a drive along the National Seashore.

Thanksgiving arrived and the park hosted a very nice pot luck where they furnished the turkey and everyone brought something yummy to share. The activity center was filled with over 50 people and it was a wonderful way to spend the holiday.

On December 1st, we pulled out of our site and headed back to the Atlanta area. Our plans for the next month include:

• Put the RV into the shop for repairs (we aren’t talking about that) and some warranty work.
• Move into a VRBO for 3+ weeks
• Visit with our grandchildren (Jill has tons of crafts planned)
• Visit with friends
• Make the obligatory doctor visits while in town

We are hoping/planning to be in the area until January 10th when we will head back into Florida for the winter.

Hoping all are well and wishing everyone a very merry Christmas and New Year. Here’s to 2023!!!!