Brown Eyed Girl: Sunshine, Sunsets, Saltwater and Florida

I didn't think I was too old to appreciate the young but maybe I am. In my last post I commented on a young couple on a homemade raft. (There was a young couple (Michael and Faith) there in a home built raft with a small outboard motor. They started in Pittsburgh and had two chickens with them. Michael is 25 and Faith is 20. I can't possibly imagine doing what they are and I am sure their parents are pretty worried too). I was reminded by a friend (Steve) that I would have done the same thing given the opportunity (Reading your post yousound like an old man talking about the raft people. If you or John wouldhave thought about that 40 years ago you would be doing it. The only differenceis that neither Ginny or Diane would be stupid enough to do it with you). Steve is right and I promise to be more tolerant of others in the future and try to keep in mind that the youth of today will be the leaders of the world tomorrow :-)

Well we made it out of the rivers (YEA)!!! I know, I know that many of the Loopers love the rivers and I respect their opinions but I am much happier now that we done. We got to Mobile on Friday and the last part of the river was very industrial with a ton of tows. We came into Mobile Bay about noon and it was dead calm which was great. We had to leave the ship channel to head over to Eastern Shore Marina where we were going to stay for 3 nights. The channel was about 20' deep but the rest of the bay is anywhere from 6-8 feet deep so we were a little nervous but everything was fine. "Something Special" led the way with "FREE TO B" next and then us. We got to Eastern Shore Marina, pumped out, filled with fuel and settled into our slips by late afternoon. The weather was great and there were other Loopers there that we hadn't seen since the rendezvous in October. The marina is near the city of Fairhope, Alabama but not really within walking distance so we used the courtesy car quite often. Fairhope is a beautiful city with many shops and restaurants and they had just lit all of the trees in town for Christmas. We saw our first sunset since leaving Lake Michigan and it was fantastic.

Our friends Bob and Patty from Florida were kind enough to agree to cross the Gulf with us and we had agreed to meet in Carabelle before we crossed. They were visiting their daughter in New Orleans and after talking we thought it would great if they could join us in Fairhope and then ride with through the crossing. We had traveled together to the North Channel in 2005 and we had a great time so we knew this would be great - we are so happy to have them with us. We got all of the stuff stored on the boat on Sunday and we left Monday morning for a short ride to the Wharf Marina in Orange Beach, Alabama. We went South across Mobile Bay and got to the Intracoastal where we headed East towards Florida. This was our first time in the Intracoastal and we were a little nervous but we stayed in the channel and everything was fine. We saw our first dolphins but they didn't pose for pictures so you will have to take my word for it.

We decided to stop at LuLu's for lunch on the way to the marina. LuLu's is owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister and was a nice place to stop. The Wharf Marina is part of a high rise condo complex with a large shopping center and a number of restaurants We had happy hour on "Once Around" and then ate on the boat so we didn't get to sample any of the local places, but we were tired and Bob and Patty brought steaks so it was better than eating out. On Tuesday we got up early and left the dock by 8 so we could get to Pensacola by noon because a storm was expected. The ride was great and time goes fast with others on board. We are at Palafox Marina which is at the North end of Pensacola Bay. It is a new and modern marina with a restaurant on site and withing walking distance of town. We are going to be here two nights so we are going to get some needed R&R.