THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

Well another winter getaway has come and gone and now we're almost packed up and ready to trek to Maine on the last of our stay.
Weather here has been fairly decent the last couple of weeks as it always seems to be but this morning we're getting a send off with overcast and clouds.
I wish I could say that the fishing was fantastic or even good but I'd be lying - you see for the last 2 months, no one, and I really mean no one has caught a fish in the Gulf. Even the die hards have stopped and been waiting for the water temps to at least get to the reasonable stage. About a week ago, we got all excited about a ton of birds diving just off shore. But there were 2 guys with 5 rods in the water and nothing. Even though there were birds diving inside their baits, nothing was picked up. Consensus was that there was a school of mini's that were passing through and nothing was under the water chasing - I watched for a good hour and never saw a splash or a dolphin. So you know there wasn't anything catchable out there.
I certainly hope I've sent along some pictures that you've been able to enjoy and perhaps take a break from all the snow that's been happening up north.
Safe travels from here and see you live shortly.

The view from our lunch date in Destin

My last half dozen oysters at HIGH TIDE - note count

And there is MORE!!!!

Busy Day - will try to give you a flavor of our busy day

We started at the condo beach where they had set up a lot more umbrellas for the newbies. Then on to the Northwest Heritage Museum and finally to Turkey Creek Nature Walk. Rather than try to explain everything, I'll use pictures to show you what happened.

On a clear day, you can see forever - and the chairs await the visitors

This house was in Valparaiso Florida with all the azaleas in bloom

These are our tourist pictures - teethe

Now this is a sap bucket that they used to gather sap to make into turpentine 

A kitchen diorama

 Always wondered where this saying meant

Early schoolroom - when school kids visit, they have period clothes
for them to wear

A really neat birdhouse - they replace the magnolia
 leaves every year.

Good Morning teacher!!

Then on to Turkey Creek Walk - a ¾ mile boardwalk through the bayou

A child memory 'wall' - anyone can add their child as long as they
have a parent still living - there were 620 plaques

And the exit from the Children Memory walk

Cyprus Trees in the Bayou

A Black bear had shredded this cyprus along with another 5-6 nearby
Security said there had been one around and had gotten up
on the walk

Look closely straight ahead and you can see the elevated walk that traverses the bayou

A fine day for fishing

Weather has finally cooperated and today was a perfect example - 76 degrees with an onshore breeze about 10MPH. So we headed off to Fort Pickens about 30 miles away to try our luck at the National Park (free entrance for those with a Golden Eagle pass). Below are some of the pictures I took that will give you and idea of what we experienced.

This is a poor panorama of the beach from our chairs not too shabby

Terry is always alert to a rod about to dip - unfortunately, it never happened this day.

And this was her view - note the barely surf.

Ah - lunch awaits as we sit waiting for a bite - we decided that it wasn't worth the wait and  hit the Igloo hard as it was loaded with Subways, Coke and chips- loverly

Time to quit - especially after both rods got dumped into the surf when the waves eroded the sand spikes

May have already shown this one but I got a kick out of the Great Blue Heron looking like he was ready for lunch at the bait shop

Hey Kevyn - check out this boulder in the middle of the dunes - spotted it and thought you might shed some light on what it might be. Wasn't another anywhere on the rest of the island and the Gulf (behind me about 30 yards) didn't have a rock anywhere this side of Cuba.

Cirque de Symphonie

We have finally broken out of the fog and the sun came out for a while yesterday - but here we are again on Sunday morning and it's overcast again. So what I have for you today is a conglomeration of pictures that I hope you'll like.

I got up early enough to catch the beach 'sweeper' cleaning the beach - happens every morning and the beach is pristine

This is the beach after the fog lifted - you can see that the fog is still out to sea a ways and promises to be back in the late afternoon and will be our greeting in the morning.

The winds were up and I got to fly the lovely kite Gwen and Tom got for me - if you can't make it out, its a replica of the Wright Brothers first plane - was skeptical but it flew great

While dining at Magnolia Grill (superb) we heard about the Nicely Symphony and there was a concert Saturday night. And there was a special performance to accompany the orchestra - the Cirque de Symphonie acrobats and juggling acts. Absolutely wonderful

All the Ushers were dressed appropriately with green blazers, and white over black. They were everywhere. AND VERY FRIENDLY.  No one seated you but it was unnecessary as the section definitions were easily found

Looking back from the stage - house was 1500 with fantastic sound. Note the spacing of the seats so the late comers could easily walk into the center of the aisle without upsetting persons already there

We were sitting in the highest row -(again note the spacing of the seats) but there was not a problem at all in seeing all the performance.

A relatively small orchestra but the sound was so great that you'd have thought it was twice the size.Met many folks there and they told us that every performance is sold out - not surprising as season tickets for 5 performances was $115. Kids concerts were free, and there was some kind of activity going on in the auditorium 2-5 times a week   Extremely active facility

Missing the rain and temps are coming up every day

There is a rain front moving across the South but seems to be heading just north of us. So instead we're getting broken clouds with warmer temps. A 'native' told us yesterday that the last 3 years were the coldest February/March that she has ever seen. We certainly can concur to that one. In the meantime, the fishing hasn't even started yet - have yet to see our first dolphin in the Gulf.
In the meantime, there have been lots to do and here are some pictures of that.

Here we are at the Indian Mound Museum in Fort Walton Beach - Terry showing me how to do weaving and a dug out canoe that I certainly wouldn't fit into. Even though it was 12' long, I'm afraid my butt would be a lot too wide - besides they stood up in it and poled rather than paddled.

Then we stopped at the HIGH TIDE RESTAURANT and I got a half dozen oysters - first ones that were of good size - note the 'bakers' half dozen!! and sweet tea of course!!

Then we were off to the Air Force Armament Museum about 5 miles away - it was great with lots of planes both inside and out and a good selection of the latest 'stuff'

XR-71

A B-52 that was humungous!!

 And finally back to the beach and a little down time before heading out for our next adventure.


The 'pay to use' beach umbrellas are out and this early morning shot shows them ready and waiting. They are up and down the beach everywhere. We have our own but haven't had to break it out yet. Too busy getting that slight tinge of a tan at least - dermatologist warning ringing in our ears constantly.

Not sure about this share - could be considered cruel

I'm not saying that it was raining a lot but they had to but a raincoat on the dolphin.

Kite flying in puffy winds sometimes isn't all that great - flying yes - restarting not!!

And here are the pictures that could be misconstrued as being cruel. The umbrella/chair guy was setting up again this morning even though the winds made it a bit cool.

he stacks the chairs and hangs them over the legs of another so he can carry 6 at a time

That's a drill in his hand which he uses to set the umbrella

Ready for customers 

McGuire's - look out! Here we come!

Fried Chicken special drew folks for miles away as it did us. Turns out it was very good and considering they had to be selling hundreds of lunches, everything was hot and delicious. Fish fry on Friday (duh!!) will have us there again. It's a fun place with $1.6 MILLION dollar bills stapled to walls, ceilings and every other section of the inside that can take a staple.
Here are a few pictures and hope you can get an appreciation of what it's like.

View from the bar, notice all the bills stapled to the ceiling

Certainly one of the most interesting bars I've had the pleasure of visiting, We weren't sure that some of the taps were actually working but certainly a novel idea.

 Terry decided to enshrine all her grandchildren on a dollar bill and add it to the collection of other engraved dollar bills. Below is the one that we added for each other and a view of where I stapled them.

This is where I stapled the bills - they are at 1 o'clock on the frame

More $$ pictures