Fun in Florida!

Here we are, dipping our toes into the cold Gulf of Mexico in the state of Florida.  We were so happy to be here,  to visit with our friends, and experience all that Pensacola had to offer.  We have to say, our travel guides - AKA friends Irv and Elaine, did a great job showing us around a place where they lived for over 30 years.  

The first evening we arrived, we settled in to camp and then drove the 8 miles or so from Fort Pickens campground to I & E's condo in Pensacola Beach.  It was fun to get to see their lovely condo and also to use a proper flush toilet. Just keepin' it real, folks! Ahhh the joys of non-RV toilet paper.  Sorry, TMI I'm sure, but it's been many weeks since spending any negligible time whatsoever inside a home, instead of a motor home.  

We like to think that I & E's dogs remember us....  You can see Dazie in this next photo, snuggling up to John.  Hey, whoever said we were "cat people"? We love dogs, too.... as long as we are not the dog-owner! 

The first evening, we decided to get some fresh seafood at a wonderful restaurant, Peg Leg Pete's.  Elaine snapped this one of us getting up close and personal with Pete himself!  

I tried a new food at Peg Leg Pete's.  Grouper. People, if you have not had grouper, you need to give it a try!  Delicious! 

The next morning we woke again to gorgeous sunny skies.  Here we are, out to lunch at a place called Atlas. Yep, warm enough to eat outside, gotta love that!  

It was here that we both tried the WORLD FAMOUS "grits a ya-ya".  Let me preface this by saying that I personally love grits, but you don't need to love them to love "grits a ya-ya".  This was FAN-tastic, folks!  They mix the grits with smoked gouda cheese and Lord knows what else, then top them with perfectly spiced grilled shrimp.  Yes, I most definitely snapped a photo of this outstanding dish....

The hubs and I shared an order of the shrimp and grits, as well as a side order of the quintessential southern favorite, fried green tomatoes. Lawd have mercy, this was one incredible meal!  Here are the tomatoes:

After brunch, we made our way to the Pensacola Naval Air Museum.  Another fabulous place!  We took a trolley tour around the outside grounds and then checked out the huge inside area.  

There are simulators inside and John decided to go try out the Blue Angels fighter pilot cockpit simulator. I didn't consider this for even a moment as I knew if I did, I'd lose that stunning brunch that I'd so recently consumed. John survived it beautifully and lost not one of the grits a ya-ya. 

After the museum, we went back to the motor home, packed up an overnight bag, said good bye to Jinx, and went back to I & E's condo for a night in a real bed and a morning in a real shower. Heaven.  We had a lovely dinner and visit that evening, a nice sleep, and the next day, a pleasant shower.  

Morning broke bright and sunny. We had a delightful breakfast with our hosts and then drove back to the motor home where a none-too-happy feline awaited us.  He showed his disgust with our abandoning him by promptly throwing up his kitty breakfast.  Okay Jinx, we get it.  Don't ever ever leave you all night again.  Of course we felt slightly guilty that he had been trapped inside for quite a while, so it was outside for Jinx shortly after we returned home.  It was then that an animal came out of the thick brush.

Luckily, John had a good grip on Jinx's leash at that moment.... Jinx made a crazed run towards the armadillo!!!  Here's a snap of Jinx and John right after Jinx had been "reeled" back in.  He really wanted to go out there and get that thing!

John wandered as close as possible to the armadillo and got this shot:

Okay, we may have all gone a little "armadillo crazy". It was the first one we'd ever seen, in person!  

There were lots of Great Blue Heron nests in trees near us.  I took a photo of one, waaaaaay up there.

You can see that the clouds were starting to form from the Heron photo above. We were in for a WILD NIGHT from Mother Nature that evening.  But first, we went out to Fort Pickens with Irv and Elaine.  Needless to say, they've been there oodles of times but were gracious to escort us to this interesting historical place. Here are Suz and Elaine ambling in to the fort. Let me amend that. Elaine is ambling.  Suz is hobbling.  It's pathetic, really.

Here is another view of three of us, checking out the fresh water cisterns... or something like that.

We drove to the seashore after visiting Fort Pickens. This is the most beautiful white sand beach I have EVER seen.  The sand is really soft and hard to walk in, but sooooo pretty and clean.  As you can see from the next photo, the clouds were really taking over by now.  Pretty, nevertheless.

We enjoyed one more dinner with I & E before returning to our motor home for the evening.  During the night we were awakened at 4 am to the most torrential rain we've ever experienced while in the motor home.  Maybe ever. It was insane!  There were huge claps of thunder, bright flashes of lightning, and winds that were really shaking the coach. We even broke all our rules and let frightened Jinx onto the bed with us.  It was something else, I'll tell you!

In the morning, I woke feeling pretty cruddy.  Unfortunately, I had a sore throat and knew I was coming down with something.  The next day was another nasty one - weather wise, and we didn't really get the chance to say goodbye face to face to our friends. I continued to feel rotten and was simply not up to socializing.  So, we spent an extra night at the Fort Pickens campground, waiting for the weather to break, and for Suz to feel better.  Let me put it this way..... the weather broke.  

Here's a snapshot of the road as we headed out of the Gulf Shores National Seashore.  The wind and rain of previous days pushed a lot of sand over the road and yes, they had to plow the roadway again.

Seriously, it looks like snow, doesn't it?!!  

We left Florida and began our trek westward.  Be watching for the next post soon.... it could be a bit shocking!  Bye for this time - from John, Jinx, and Suz - the carrier of a full and proper cold.