FLORIDA: The Sunshine State

I've been to all the coasts of Florida, up and down the center, panhandle . . . over 24 years of trekking around the state.  This year we explored Perdido Key, Orange Beach, Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach with a run up through Foley.  It's one of my favorites.

We like swimming . . .

  . . . but she ain't wild about oysters. (I love 'em)

 Awesome pizza at Lillian's !  When you're from a small town, places like this have all these great places to eat !  I gained almost 10 lbs. !

Fort Morgan (Yes, it's haunted !)  It's quite the place to go inside.  It still smells like gun powder.

Let's shoot a 1000lb. shell 8 1/2 Miles ! 

Don't mess with Alabama...

Gulf shore oil rigs . . . Florida does not allow them.  We're about 10 miles into the Alabama coast at the point, but we're staying on Perdido Key, Florida - The most beautiful area . . .

Above: A similar rig to the BP Deepwater Horizon which exploded and pumped millions of gallons of crude into the gulf.  I ask the locals about it, and talk to people about their feelings towards the big oil companies - a mixed viewpoint as expected.





 

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 This lighthouse on the Naval Base . . . Cheryl went all the way to the top !

The museum is worth the trip - My favorite was this Curtiss (who also manufactured motorcycles).  It was like a show plane - but a deadly fighter !

 

I had the opportunity to visit with different servicemen from all branches.  These men flew hundreds of missions since the early 1950s . . . One particular vet took me up on the wing of his original war plane that he landed on the Shang-Gra-La style carrier - and gave me a full detail of a landing as we looked at a model of the carrier.  Then, we all went outside and watched the Blue Angels practice session.  A few years ago, I stood atop old-Fort Morgan, Florida and they buzzed me a couple times at 700mph with vapor flowing off their wings . . . what a trip that was . . .

Above: Current #7 Blue Angel - Andre Webb

Above: Current #5 Blue Angel Tyler Davies (his last year with the team)

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Most of the time we had the beach all to ourselves.  It's kinda a hidden paradise around here.  The people we stayed (Airbnb this year) were wonderful - and we have new friends in the state.  A couple stormy days in between made it interesting.  A few gators, many pelicans, I ate redfish, gumbo, fresh shrimp, drank a few brews . . . and a couple run & cokes.  Many ice cream stores and beach shops....and of coarse Publix !  I can see myself riding my rusty 45 around here someday.  It'll be parked at the marina (or at Sunset Beach in Perdido) and I'll be out fishing, or paddle boarding on Sabine Bay. 

This is Gulf Breeze, Florida (looking East)  The bridge to Pensacola (to the left) and the bridge to Pensacola Beach (to the right).  The small bay where the bridge meets Pen' Beach is Little Sabine(a calm paddle-boarding bay with a sand bar in the center).  If you keep traveling east, you'll soon hit Navarre, then Fort Walton, then Panama City . . .