Tuesday, February 17-Mardi Gras

Since the weather has not been very cooperative we decided to drive west to Pensacola and Gulf Shores, Alabama. I wanted to check out a State Park and Sharon wanted to see one of her TAN properties. On our way back we ended up following a Mardi Gras parade through Orange Beach which took about an hour and we only saw one float and that was from the back. Sharon did jump out of the car and picked up several strands of beads from the side of the road!

 

Next stop was Pensacola Beach and Ft. Pickens/Gulf Shores National Seashore. We timed our stop perfectly and were treated to another spectacular sunset.

How can one doubt the presence of God while admiring such an amazing sunset? Thank you, Lord for another beautiful day.

Monday, February 16-Beach Day(sort of)

Since we spent most of our day yesterday in the car driving to the St. George's Island lighthouse today we stayed closer to our home base. After a sugar filled breakfast of donuts, muffins and cinnamon rolls we headed down to the beach in an attempt to walk off the aforementioned calories. The beach here at Ft. Walton is beautiful and at least at this time of year not very crowded.

Later we took our chairs down thinking we would spend more time on the beach but after 20 minutes we packed up and skiddaddled back to the room to warm up. We then drove to Destin to buy a watch to replace mine. On the way we saw a number of wake boarders in the bay at Gulf Shores National Seashore so we stopped to watch. Dinner tonight was Olive Garden and we have enough left-overs to feed us for several days. Tomorrow we plan to explore to the west.

Sunday, February 15-Exploring the Panhandle

Today we spent the day driving the coastline of the Florida Panhandle. We checked out a RV park just to see if it might be something that Andy and I would be interested in for a month next winter. The park offered some awesome beachfront sites.

 

As we continued along the coast we drove through some great little beach towns. We stopped in Mexico Beach for lunch at the Toucan. Andy and I had eaten there years ago on our impromptu trip to Florida looking for retirement spots. Funny how life sometimes throws you a curve ball.

 

 

The terminus of today's road trip was St. George's Island and the St. George lighthouse. In 2005 Hurricane Dennis leveled the lighthouse but it was rebuilt in 2008. We climbed the 92 steps to the top to view the 19 mile long barrier island and the bridge that brought us here.

 

 

 

For the perfect ending to our day we were treated to a perfect sunset in Seaside as we were returning to Ft. Walton Beach.

 

Friday, February 13-Columbia, SC

It has come to my attention that there are still a few that read our blog and are perhaps thinking I have moved to South America. But the truth is, I am still in this time zone, just too busy lately to sit down and write. So as you see, not really a valid excuse. I will try to make up for my lack of posts over the next two weeks. Sharon and I left yesterday morning for the warmer climates of Florida and Alabama. The first week of our trip is recreational followed by a week in Mobile, Alabama building a home for Habitat for Humanity. Today we are in Columbia, SC visiting Congaree National park. Melody Kuhl, retired math teacher and close friend of mine and Andy now resides in Summerville so I called to see if she would like to drive up for the day. We had such a great visit and I'm so happy I thought to give her a call. Sharon and I expanded our culinary tastes when Melody suggested we eat at Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe for lunch. Mel had a grilled chicken gyro while Sharon and I shared the Grilled Beef Tenderloin feast.

After lunch Melody headed back home and Sharon and I drove to downtown Columbia to find the River walk park. So glad we did. It was a beautiful park that followed a canal and the two rivers, the Broad and the Saluda, that converge to form the Congaree. The canal was built in 1819 to transport goods around the impassable rivers that are littered with huge granite boulders that were once the base of the Appalachian mountains before the North American and African tectonic plates collided. The sun came out and the temperature warmed to make our 2 mile walk most pleasant.

this statue of Christopher Columbus was a gift to the city

a mockingbird, not to be confused with the Mockingjay.

there was a flock of these white-throated sparrows along the trail

a pied-bill grebe

a view of the canal, now used as part of the hydroelectric power plant