While Richard spent two days in Chicago, I read SAT essays for many hours, rode my bike around the Marriott grounds and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. Richard returned to the boat on November 12. We enjoyed a gourmet dinner at the Marriott and later listened to a pianist in the lounge.
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| Every evening a soldier fires the canon to commemorate General Farragut's attack and defeat of the Confederate Navy on Mobile Bay. As the Confederates sank one of his ships, Farragut said, "Damn the torpedoes!" |
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| We said good-bye to Pt. Clear and headed for Florida's Panhandle. |
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| Lulu's is a very popular restaurant owned by Jimmy Buffett's sister. I wish he had waved as we went by! |
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| Already we can feel the warmer air and a hotter sun! Glorious!! |
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| Our first overnight in Florida was in Pensacola at a marina beginning to recover from the Gulf oil spill. From here we headed to Panama Beach where we docked for three nights because of heavy winds and Richard's travel to Pittsburgh. |
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| We enjoyed staying at Bluewater Marina in Niceville, Florida |
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As we ate fresh mussels, we enjoyed the sunset at Bluewater Marina.
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| Just another sunny warm day on the water. |
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| At we headed to Port St. Joe Marina, the shrimp boats were busy, a good sign after the Gulf oil spill disaster. We have enjoyed Apalachicola's oysters and fresh shrimp. |
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| Entering Carrabelle, Florida |
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| The Moorings Marina where we had a very pleasant four-night stay waiting for the "window" to cross the Gulf of Mexico to Tarpon Springs. |
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| This is for real!! |
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| When Tom and Kim visited, they drove us over to St. George Island where we just happened to find the Blue Parrot and a welcome to Parrotdise, Kim and Tom's boat name. They drove over to Carrabelle to spend a few days with us. Kim then left to visit her brother and sister-in-law in Tampa while Tom stayed to help us with the overnight gulf crossing. |
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| Impromptu looper dinner with 30 Below, Salt Shaker,Heavenly Ours, and guests, Tom and Bruce. We celebrated Richard's birthday with a cake for dessert. |
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| Pat provided the main course, pasta with sauce, and the rest of us filled in with appetizers and side dishes. |
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| Heading out to the Gulf of Mexico at 12:30 p.m on November 23. |
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At least 12 loopers left Carrabelle today. To the best of my knowledge they are Monkey Girl, Magoo, Tony M, Salt Shaker,Hallelujah, Heavenly Ours, 30 Below, Seamoore, Blue Yonder, Crawdad, Summertime, and Rambler.
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| Although we tolerated rollers on our beam for a few hours, the gulf only got better. Tom Conrad's daily musings and Buddy's advice at Carrabelle gave us good advice as to when and how to make our crossing. The setting sun reminds of us of the long night's journey. |
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| Richard put the pole out but without any bites while Tom and I kept an eye on the helm. |
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| We led the way as Becky and Carleton on Seamoore and Doreen and Jeff on 30 Below followed us. At least 10 other boaters left the Moorings in the morning to cross the gulf. The 22 hour crossing ended up being nearly perfect, complete with a full moon to light our way. |
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When Doreen told me she liked to sing, I told her about our friend, Pam, who always sang Oh What a Beautiful Morning to us in the morning whenever we left a dock together. She picked up on my hint and as the sun raised its sleepy head she sang her verses to those of us making the crossing:
Oh what a beautiful morning
Oh, what a beautiful day
I've got a wonderful feeling
Everything's going my way.
Oh, what a beautiful crossing
Rambler is leading the way
Richard is doing the fishing
Everyone's plotting their way.
We gotta know where we're going
The moon is guiding our way
I think it's time to start drinking
But coffee is winning today!!
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