Captain's Choice blog: Welcome to Florida!

Well here we are Thursday traveling the intercostal waterway and right on the side is a "Welcome to Florida sign". It's one of those "ah ha moments" when you really realize how far you've traveled, by boat no less.
We had heard that the Blue Angels would be practicing for their weekend airshow at 11:30 a.m. so we stopped and dropped anchor near the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. We had a great spot to watch the practice. While waiting, we had a visit from a beautiful heron that decided our dinghy was the perfect spot to land. We were on the bridge of the boat trying to figure out how we were going to capture pictures when Mark maneuvered himself so that he was almost upside down along the stairway and captured some truly magnificent photos. I really should have taken a picture of him! It was like a photo shoot as the heron paraded along the top of the dinghy and entertained us. Soon after the planes started practicing, which was fun to watch but time passed and no Blue Angels. We decided to pick up anchor and head for the Palafox Marina in Pensacola. We had just gotten back into the intercostal waterway when all of a sudden the noise was deafening and up in the sky flying over our boat were the Blue Angels. We had a great vantage point, better than the anchorage, as they flew all around us. The problem was I didn't know what to watch, we saw dolphins and turtles and jellyfish and pelicans and the Blue Angels, not to mention I was driving the boat so I had to keep my eyes ahead. It was a great day!

We had a pleasant surprise on Friday when Lola and Terry, formerly of Sunny Days, called and said they had their RV close by and were planning on going to the airshow and did we want to go with them. ABSOLUTELY! They picked us up and we got there early so that our chairs were about 3 rows from the fence. The show was spectacular, with different types of planes taking the air doing aerial acrobatics before the finale of the Blue Angels. The fastest speed is about 700 mph because they have to keep it under the speed of sound, there is a sneak pass at 50 feet off the ground and the perfect formation where there is only 18 inches between the wings of the airplanes was just incredible. The sounds, the sights, the fly-bys that actually lifted Terry's ball cap right off his head...to end the day we wandered over to the National Naval Aviation Museum, which is definitely a must see if you are in the area. This is how Veteran's Day was celebrated by many and it could not have been more fitting. A chance to say thank you to the many military that were there, celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Blue Angels and stand proud to be an American.

Saturday we ended up following Sanctuary out of Palafox Marina and headed east. We hadn't discussed it but we were both headed for the Fort Walton dock. Lucky for us there were no boats at the docks when we arrived. Teresa and I noticed a farmers market, so as soon as the boats were tied up we headed over to see if there were any bargains...NO...they were just closing up and the prices seemed really high. We did each get a pecan muffin mix and I am anxious to make that! Steve, Teresa, Mark and I ended up walking the small town area...I think they have 5 tattoo parlors in a 2 block area, we bypassed them but did stop at a sand bar for a cold beverage. Toes in the sand, drink in the hand...you get the picture. After dinner Mark remarked to me that he saw a spot light and that usually signals a tow, but we are already outside of Pensacola so we're thinking, no more tows. A few minutes later you couldn't miss the sound and sure enough here is a tow and barge heading down the intercostal. We went right out to the back of the boat to watch. Some of the loopers were ready to be finished with the rivers, we really enjoyed them and I miss the tows!

A little chilly and breezy Sunday morning so we checked the weather forecast as we usually do and it was calling for 6 mph winds. We got out in Choctawhatchee Bay and it sure seemed like the winds were much stronger, so again we listened to the weather and 6 mph is what they said they were. Still not convinced we got out our anemometer and the winds were 24 mph...I'm thinking that's why the waves were at least 2 foot. We shut the weather radio off, what do they know! The winds did decrease and we had a very pleasant ride to Panama City. As we were motoring I heard a splash and sure enough I look behind and we have dolphins playing in the waves, how cool is that? We will be in Panama City for 2 nights as we re-provision and get ready to head to Apalachicola and cross the Gulf to Dunedin.