March 10-13

We arrived in Cedar Key and out RV park  (Sunset Isles) to friendly waves from fellow campers.  Shortly after, as we were setting up and sweating, we met Mary our neighbor who was coming back from the Schwan’s food truck (they sell frozen desserts, entrée’s, etc) with a box of ice cream bars offering us a couple! How nice and it actually cooled me down a bit. We read many good reviews about Cedar Key and especially this park and we received that same “vibe” very quickly.

First let’s talk about Cedar Key (CK). If you were to look at a Florida map, you will soon realize this place is remote with only one road in and out – 28 miles from Hwy 19.  It’s a great road that’s quiet and definitely worth the drive. Our first impression once in town was that of a “maritime” village. CK began as a fishing and clamming community back in 1859 and continues that tradition today. Today, 95 % of “farm-raised” clams in the U.S. come from here. Biking around the town’s streets offers up lots of history with older homes and evidence of fishermen and clammers all around with boats, traps, etc.. This is one destination we would like to revisit for a longer stay. The downtown area is small and quaint and biking around it was fun.

On Tuesday after setting up, we walked around the small park to check out the facilities and meet some of the other campers. In the friendlier parks, other campers are very anxious to tell “newbies” about the park and the area you arrived at. It was getting late in the afternoon and the first thing we learned was there was a Tiki Bar about 500 feet down the road, so we wandered down there and talked to more tourists picking up more information about the area, the local restaurants, etc. We enjoyed a nice sunset and back to camp for dinner.

Wednesday, we woke to warm temps and high UV’s. We unhooked the bikes and biked an easy 1.3 miles to town where we first toured the cemetery and boardwalk/park area north of the downtown area. After a walk on the boardwalk, we headed to the “downtown area” which is comprised of a short main street and a gulf front area where the fishermen and tourists hangout. It’s comprised of a a couple of large fishing piers and 4-5 restaurants with the same number of “tourist” stores. (no I didn’t by another T-shirt!) We where there for lunch time an managed to find a nice spot right on the water on the second floor with great views of the many surrounding keys. By the time we had arrived back to camp after it struck us that we had gotten quite a bit of sun as it took a couple of hours to cool down in the shade and played some Scrabble. A steak BBQ was on the schedule for dinner. No complaints.

Thursday we awoke to another warm and humid day – not complaining!! After breakfast, we decided to walk to town for some more exercise and took our furry friend with us. We basically walked into town, but some of “Tony’s” world famous clam chowder in a condensed can and a couple of grocery items. Tony, a local won the world championship in New England 2009,10 and 11 and they retired his recipe into the Chowder Hall of Fame. No one has ever done that before and he doesn’t need to compete anymore. We’ll try it someday soon. After arriving back to the camp, we had a light lunch and then it was beauty salon time! Thank goodness the A/C works well in the RV. Later in the afternoon we played some Rummikub. We had a quiet evening visiting the Tiki Bar for only one cold one. The sunset was too great, so we were back home early.

Friday we were up early, packed and on the road by 8:30am heading to St. Petersburg Beach area (Indian Shores) to visit with my sister Cheryl and brother-in-law Doug.  Parking was an issue in the area, as was finding an RV park, so what started as an overnighter in a Walmart lot for the night ended up with a short visit at their condo and lunch out. With the rising temps, dry camping as well as Jazz spending time in the RV wasn’t going to work. After lunch, we parted ways around 2:30 and continued down the road another 130 miles to Ft. Myers. We arrived at Cypress Woods around 5:30 to a greeting from Kathy’s brother Wayne and sister in law Lynn.  Our new and beautiful home for the next 9 nights! See pics.

We’ll squawk in a week or so!!!

 

 

March 10 – 7

Today (Tuesday) we arrived in Cedar Key as we left the Florida Panhandle and headed to south Florida. We had a longer driving day compared to the last few weeks with about 240 miles. Keep in mind, 240 miles (almost 400 km’s) is longer in an RV and especially when you are taking the “scenic route” along the coast through small towns like Port St. Joe, Apalachicola, Carrabelle and Sopchoppy. We left Mexico Beach after spending three relaxing days in a much slower paced beach town vs. the commercialism of Panama Beach, Destin and Pensacola Beach. Today was a sunny drive with temps in the 80’s. As we left Apalachicola (apa-lachi-cola) –easy right!….and spotted several schools of dolphins alongside the causeway.

Yesterday (Monday) was a quieter day with overcast skies and temps in the mid 70’s. Not hard to take. We did some household chores, went for bike ride around the town and did some reading – outdoors. During the bike ride, we just happened to stumble across a custom painted golf cart – was Jimmy in town? Likely not, but we had to take some pic’s of this beauty. (see below)

Sunday was a “funday”, as the weather was excellent up to 80+ with  bright sunshine. We started out the morning by going out for an early walk with Jazz walking a good 4-5 miles and came back to the RV for a late morning brunch – omelet, sausage, bacon and raisin bread toast. After this amazing meal cooked by yours truly, we donned our bathing suites, beach chairs, towels and books and headed to the beach for the afternoon. (yes we had a couple of cool ones in the cooler as well). What a great afternoon on the beach! Later in the afternoon we needed to check out the beach bar and grill (Toucan’s) right behind us to get a status update on the NASCAR race. A Gulf side seat, a pitcher of beer and the race is on – no complaints! We arrived back at the RV to see the final few laps of the race and it was time to BBQ some ribs. Yep they were meaty and delicious………..hmm, hmmm, hmmm.

Saturday, we arrived at Mexico Beach in the early afternoon to a “campground” called Rustic Sands. It was a bit rustic, but wait it gets better…….First of all, with our Passport America membership, 3 nights with tax cost $73 total including full hookup, cable and lighting quick wi-fi! Accountants like that sort of value!!!

The owner of the park informed us as we checked in that on Saturday nights they have live entertainment, food and happy hour in the clubhouse (see pics), so we decided to scratch our meal plans for the night and check it out. First of all, let’s get rid of the bad – the food – the wings (M&M style where not thoroughly heated through and were cold. The homemade pizza – OK, would be a stretch but it was edible).  On a positive note, happy hour for $2 gave you a beer or as Kathy had, a glass of their finest Cabernet – about 10 oz served in a styrofoam cup.  Not a big deal, as it actually tasted OK. Now the best for the night was the entertainment. (see pic) Randy and Art (the postman-yes really). Randy played the guitar and sang and Art looked like he was from ZZ Top with a long grey beard and cowboy hat playing the saxophone. What a sound combination that worked. The two of them were amazing…. really! We watched a couple of sets and really enjoyed their music and ability to relate to the crowd. They are regulars every Saturday. What a fun night.

One last fact for the Mexico Beach area. Saturday night/Sunday was time to change the clocks for day light savings. That was OK, however Mexico Beach lies right on the central and eastern time zone line so whenever an event was posted they had to list CST. We thought at first we would be losing 2 hours that night, but the “line” was 1 mile east so Tuesday we would lose the other hour.

Have a great week.

 

March 4 – 7, 2015

Our drive to Destin along  the coastal Hwy 98 was rather interesting as for a lot of the drive, it looked like we were surrounded by snow. In reality it was all sand but when you see the pictures below you will see what I mean. We much prefer the sand! It had also been very misty for several days and that day was no exception which just added to the illusion.

We arrived in Destin  in the late morning and found a spot to park in the downtown area close to HarborWalk Village which is located right at the foot of the Destin Bridge so it was the first thing we saw as we entered Destin. We took Jazz out for a stroll along the boardwalk. It was a beautiful sunny  and warm day and it was really nice strolling along the water.
HarborWalk Village offers adventures for all to enjoy.   You can book tours there for fishing and dolphin cruises. They have water sport rentals, shopping, nightlife, weekly fireworks, seasonal festivals, live entertainment, and an array of restaurants including  Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville!!  Now you know the real reason we went there!!

Once Jazz had enough exercise, we took her back to the RV and Rob and I went to Margaritaville for lunch of course. (See pics) We had a fun lunch and enjoyed seeing this Margaritaville. For those who have never been to any Margaritavilles , each one is different so it is interesting to compare them to others. I liked this one in Destin.

After lunch, we returned to the RV and headed to our next RV Park which was located in the east end of Destin actually in an area called Miramar Beach. We found Destin to be very big and VERY commercial. Every store and restaurant chain imaginable can be found there.  Miramar Beach was a little less commercial  but we determined this really wasn’t the kind of place we enjoy. We prefer smaller towns with some personality

When we woke up Thursday morning it was very humid and was already 75 degrees. Rob went out for a nice bike ride at about 7:45 am and he checked out the area and found where the Outlet Mall was located. We had read that the largest Outlet Mall in Florida  was only 1 mile away from our park and sure enough, it was.  After Rob returned to the RV and we had breakfast the 3 of us set off for a walk along the beach. The beach was beautiful white soft sand just as it had been in Pensacola Beach. Unfortunately, our walk was cut short as it began to rain and by the time we got back to the RV it was raining very hard so all 3 of us were soaked. At least Rob and I could put on dry clothes but poor Jazz was not as lucky. She was damp for a good part of the day as with all the humidity, things did not dry quickly. The rain continued pretty well the entire day and the temperature began to drop drastically. At one point in the morning it was up to 79 degrees F. By 5 pm, the temperature was down to 40 degrees F. Unbelievable! Needless to say, we were inside the RV the rest of the day.

Friday morning was still cold outside but it was sunny so we walked over to the Outlet Mall for some browsing and shopping. We didn’t buy very much but it was a nice day for a walk anyway.

Saturday morning, we packed up the RV and were on the road by 9:30 am. We stopped on the way for groceries and by 10:45 am we had arrived at Panama City Beach. Yes, it is another “beach town” very similar to Destin. One of the main attractions in PCB is Pier Park which is right across the road from the beach. It is a mecca for entertainment, shopping,  fine dining, and fabulous fun in the sun.  They claim to have over 1 million visitors a year and to be well-known as one of the best places to visit along Florida’s West Coast.  Take a guess what one of the Restaurants in Pier Park was. You guessed it – Margaritaville!!  After wandering around Pier Park to see what it was all about we  returned Jazz to the RV and yes, we went to Margaritaville for lunch. We were able to sit out on the patio and it was a hot sunny day so that was great. But I have to admit, of all the Margaritavilles we have been to so far, this one in PCB was my least favorite. The food and drink prices in both Margaritavilles in Destin and PCB were quite high and this one in PCB just didn’t have that ‘fun” atmosphere that others have. But, we did have to check it out and now we know what it’s like.

Instead of staying in Panama City Beach, we decided to leave the commercial beaches behind and we headed further down the coast to what is called the Forgotten Coast – Mexico Beach. We arrived at Rustic Sands RV Resort on Saturday afternoon.

Stay tuned for more droppings about our time in Mexico Beach!

 

March 1 – 4, 2015

We left Gulf Shores Sunday morning and after stopping to get groceries on the way, we arrived in Pensacola Beach Florida in the early afternoon. Pensacola Beach is another beach town and at this time of year it is very quiet with mainly snowbirds staying there. All this will change next week though when Spring Break begins for the U.S. colleges and we were told by many store and restaurant workers that they were gearing up for a very busy next 4-5 weeks of Spring Breakers taking over the town and the beach. Glad we won’t be there!! The beaches in Pensacola Beach are beautiful. This is the Emerald Coast and the beaches have beautiful white sand.

Pensacola Beach is located on Santa Rosa Island, one of the longest barrier islands in the world, Pensacola Beach has an old Florida feel with natural beaches, local hang-outs, first-rate fishing and historic Fort Pickens. Pensacola Beach has been named among the nation’s top 10 beaches by TripAdvisor.

The Pensacola Beach Pier is one of the longest in the Gulf of Mexico at 1,471 feet. Portofino Boardwalk features open-air bars and restaurants, shops, piers and shallow water for kids along Santa Rosa Sound. Visitors can access Gulf Islands National Seashore, the nation’s longest stretch of protected seashore, on both sides of Pensacola Beach, making it an ideal spot for biking, snorkeling or kayaking in the summer months.

Instead of biking, we did a lot of walking there. One of our missions while in Pensacola Beach was to visit Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Beach Hotel which we did. I have a goal to visit all the Margaritavilles  in places we drive through on this trip so the hotel was naturally on the list. (See pics). It really was a beautiful hotel. Unfortunately the Landshark Bar there is only open during the warmer weather so we were not able to get into it but we did have a drink at Frank & Lola Love Pensacola Bar and Restaurant in the hotel. It would have been great to have been able to spend a night in the hotel but guess that is just a good excuse to come back to PB someday without a RV!

On Monday evening, we stopped at a couple of bars before going out for dinner at a great restaurant called Hemingways. One of the bars was a restaurant called Red Fish Blue Fish. We entered into this open air restaurant through the side and just went directly to the Bar. As we walked across the patio, there was a group of people standing out there and we saw them look at us kind of funny but we didn’t think anything of it. At the bar, we ordered 2 beer. As one bartender poured our beers, another came up and asked us for our tickets. We said we didn’t have any tickets and we thought he must be referring to discount coupons or something. As it turned out, we had crashed a private event which had taken over the whole restaurant for the evening. When we realized this, it was too late. The Bartender said no problem, he wouldn’t kick us out. So we paid for our beers and went out onto their sand beach area and enjoyed our beers as we sat by their wonderful gas fireplace in lounge chairs. In hindsight, we should have went along with the guy who asked us for our tickets as he was all prepared to go and get us tickets from the reception person. Guess we are just too honest. (BTW – people continued to look at us strangely the entire time we sat there but we didn’t rush as it was so nice enjoying the fire – lol) We ended up returning to Red Fish Blue Fish the next night for dinner. That night it was open to the public.

Also while we were there we stopped at another local restaurant for lunch one day called Peg Leg Pete’s. Of course we had to try out their Seafood Gumbo and we shared a delicious Grouper sandwich. The great food just goes on and on……

On Wednesday morning, we packed up and headed down the road approximately 40 miles to our next stop,  Destin Florida, which is another Beach town – more of the same basically as we experienced in Pensacola Beach but Destin is much bigger in comparison. And yes, in case you are wondering, there is a Margaritaville in Destin! Whoo Hoo!

Will squawk in another day or two about our time in Destin.

 

 

 

Feb 26-Mar 1/2015

Our drive from Biloxi Mississippi to Gulf Shores Alabama took us through Mobile, Alabama where Jimmy Buffett was born and raised. I had wanted to stop in Mobile and go to the Carnival Museum as Mobile is where the first Mardi Gras was ever held and the Museum is apparently really interesting. Unfortunately, the museum is only open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and it was Thursday that we were driving through. So, we decided not to bother going into downtown Mobile and just drove through it and onto Gulf Shores instead. By the time we arrived it was late afternoon so after setting up we spent the evening just relaxing at the RV.

Friday morning Jazz received her weekly beauty salon treatment  and we researched how we could walk to the famous  LuLu’s at Homeport Marina which was about 2 miles from our RV Park. LuLu is Lucy Buffett – yes, Jimmy’s Sister!! We figured out how to get there and headed there at 3 pm to spend the afternoon and evening enjoying the live entertainment she has every afternoon.

LuLu’s first began as a restaurant with a tiny gift shop, a little sand for kids to play in, and a great view of the Intracoastal Waterway in Gulf Shores. Now, a few years later, the view is still unbeatable, but the restaurant is more than just that—it has become a true family entertainment destination.

LuLu’s apparently serves 4000 people a day during the summer season.  Imagine!!!  They have different areas in addition to the huge main restaurant like the BAMA BREEZE bar to wet your whistle, the SUNSET GRILL overlooking the marina, the FOUNTAIN FOR YOUTH to cool off the kids, the MOUNTAIN OF YOUTH, a  three-story rope climbing apparatus for the adventurous kids.  In addition to the live music daily they also have a huge retail store, and a large sandy beach area equipped with pails, shovels etc that Rob really enjoyed playing in!

LuLu’s is also well known for her great food and her Crazy Sista specialties.  Rob and I enjoyed her famous Seafood Gumbo and then we shared a plate of Shrimp and Grits which was absolutely delicious. It was a bowl full of what I would call Shrimp Etoufee with cheese grits in the centre. I never thought I would call Grits delicious but the way she made these cheese ones, they were. After dinner we called a taxi to take us home as it was dark out by then and we didn’t want to be walking along a highway in the dark. It was a very fun evening out! (See lots of pics)

The next morning, we headed out on our bikes and biked right down into downtown Gulf Shores which is a beach community. The beach was very nice but it was a breezy cool day so we couldn’t spend much time on the beach. We stopped at The Pink Pony Pub which was right on the beach for a couple of beer and sat and watched the waves for a while. We then headed back toward the RV Park but stopped on the way at Hog Wild BBQ for lunch. We shared a BBQ Plate of ribs and chicken which came with homemade potato salad and coleslaw. Everything was delicious. We sure are experiencing a lot of delicious food here in the south!

The rest of the afternoon and evening we relaxed and got ready to head out the next morning to our next destination – Pensacola Beach Florida. Stay tuned.