Season
Turnaround at Pensacola: April 19 2018
Barefeet is anchored in
well-protected Little Sabine Bay in Pensacola Beach and we have a
rental car for exploring (4/9). Off we go to Mobile! However, everyone we encounter and excitedly mention that we are going to Mobile responds with a sincere, “Why? Why not New Orleans or Biloxi?” Well, I guess those cities will be for another time…but…we do love New Orleans?!
Undeterred,
we went straight for Oakleigh House located in a historic neighborhood
2.5 minutes from downtown Mobile for a bit of antebellum history. The
house was built when cotton was king (1833) by a self-made man named
James Roper (primarily a brick mason but also a dry goods merchant and
a cotton broker). The home houses the
decorative and fine art collection of the Historic Mobile Preservation
Society which creates a snapshot of Southern living. The tour was informative and interesting (thanks Maggie). Did
you know that the blue painted on the ceilings of exterior porches is a
method to trick bugs into leaving the area because they think it is the
sky? Oh, and it is supposed to work on ghosts, too. Yikes,
the Civil War mourning etiquette for women vs. men was a world apart;
women mourned for 2.5 years looking like burka clad, face covered
Middle Eastern women through stages of deep mourning, full morning and
half mourning whereas men mourned for a mere few months with a simple,
black armband. The Oakleigh’s collection of mourning etiquette was extensive and eye opening - bringing the historic ritual to life.
Departing
the tranquil “suburb” we turned into downtown Mobile where we easily
found a parking spot on the street, walked around and saw remnants of
Mardi Gras past. Mobile was the original birthplace of Mardi Gras in 1703. What?! It seems that Mobile is forever living in the shadow of New Orleans (150 miles down the Gulf coast). “New Orleans is like your younger sister who married well and got everything she wants,” said L. Craig Roberts, local architect. We
enjoyed the walk through shaded parks, buildings with lacy wrought irom balconies and settled into Callaghan’s
Irish Social Club for an afternoon snack (gooey spinach and artichoke
dip with garlic bread). But maybe folks are right – there is only so much to see in Mobile.
We returned to Pensacola via the east side of Mobile Bay to stop at Fairhope, Alabama. Fairhope was founded in 1884 by like-minded folks from the mid-West who created a utopian single tax colony. Since
then lots of people dancing to different drums have arrived but the
town remains Southern doiley and silver proper with flowers planted
below every lamp post and hanging from every basket. Live oaks and dripping Spanish moss round out the landscape which tower majestically to create a look we really like. Unfortunately, we learned that there is a down side to live oaks. Their size becomes a disadvantage when hurricane soaked soil loosens roots enough that the trees topple over. Luckily, not all is lost when they topple. Chainsaw
artist Marlin Miller regains some of the fallen majesty by creating
massive carved works of art from the hurricane destroyed oaks. We
saw a 30-foot-tall installation of seagulls circling with dolphins
chasing a school of fish at the Fairhope Yacht Club – awesome.
Back
in Pensacola after a wonderful day of exploring we settled into Peg Leg
Pete’s for baked oysters with jalapeno, crispy bacon and cheddar cheese
(yep, it’s our new favorite). Peg
Leg’s also owns their own seafood company (like Frenchy’s in
Clearwater) so it is not surprising that the seafood is delicious. This
was a great tip from Karen and Terry after a juicy burger together on
our first night at sister restaurant Sidelines Sports Bar
(http://sidelinespensacola.com/). On the
way home we stopped into The Sandbar before getting in the dinghy and
met colorful and friendly locals who love their corner of the planet. One patron even thinks I’m a movie star. Okay, the nurse from The Werewolf in London…but she was in a movie.
As
we mentioned, New Orleans is “in the neighborhood” which is great news for our
taste buds! Breakfast was at The Ruby
Slipper Cafe on Palafox Street. The Ruby
Slipper started in New Orleans after NOLA natives returned to the city after
Hurricane Katrina and have since branched out further around the Gulf. Holy cow – that was the best breakfast we
have had in a long, long time (and we cannot complain about any previous
breakfast); crispy fried green tomato, thick bacon, biscuit that defies
description…and the eggs benedicts?!
Chris could not choose so he got one of each (cleverly called the
peacemaker where you choose two different styles); one, apple braised pork with
hollandaise and the other, fried chicken with pork tasso cream sauce. Out of this world.
The
day finished with Karen and Terry and several of their friends for sundowners
at The Bridge Bar followed by a fabulous Greek meal at Spyros’ Gyros (http://www.bridge-bar.com/). Spyros’ is located in an unassuming strip
mall but the food is Greek goodness.
Yum! Did I mention how happy our
taste buds are in the Panhandle?!
The
Florida Panhandle is roughly 200 miles of Florida coast along the Gulf of
Mexico between Georgia and Alabama with Pensacola being the westernmost city. It is a friendly
beach town where living is easy with a manageable population of 53,000. The city was the first settlement in the USA
but St Augustine gets the label “the oldest city” because it has been
continuously inhabited. Hurricanes have
periodically decimated and driven folks away from Pensacola...thus, not continually inhabited. Revolving rulers have given Pensacola the nickname
“City of Five Flags” referring to the five governments that have ruled
throughout its history; Spain, France, Great Britain, United States and
Confederate United States. Wanting to see more we decided to
head west
along Florida’s barrier islands which seamlessly connect with the Gulf Shores
of Alabama. No kidding – the state
borders look a bit suspicious if you are from Alabama and like a major win if
you are from Florida. The beaches along
the Florida panhandle are sugar sand beaches, and, as described by Jack A.
Davis (author of The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea), “I think they are
the best in the world. There’s that
emerald-colored water like a gemstone itself.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that those beaches are really the
Appalachian Mountains. That sugar sand
is eroded quartz, so when you walk on the beach, you walk on the mountains.”
But
we don’t plan to go to the beach…not solely the beach (4/11). No way.
We are headed to the five-star honky-tonk known as the Flora-Bama Lounge
(http://www.florabama.com/). This place is an institution located literally
on the FL/AL line. Songs have been
written about it (Kenny Chesney, Jimmy Buffet, Chris Young, Blake Shelton…) and
#1 Beach Bar accolade has been bestowed upon it (Playboy, Maxim, CNN, USA
Today, Huffington Post…). It is
twenty-two bars stitched together across added-on rooms and stages decorated with
hundreds of bras (not dollar bills) and thousands of graffiti slogans (some
rather sweet) that fills to capacity in two hours on holiday weekends…that’s
30,000 people in two hours. Happily, we
arrived at a quieter time - during dead week between Spring Break and the
Annual Mullet Toss Tournament (no, not the tossing of hair but the tossing of a
lifeless fish grabbed out of an ice cooler).
It’s the beach and it’s hot so the drinks of choice are iced or from
various slush style machines scattered around the bars (all fed from a central
room of piped booze). The bushwaker is iconic
and the most famous so we settled in for a view of the beach, a walk along the
sand and live music at 2pm. The
bushwaker is a creamy milkshake concoction with five liquors (including rum and
Kahlua) that is perfect for a day with sand between our toes. We are glad it is quiet at The Flora-Bama.
Heading
back to Pensacola we returned the car and joined up with Karen, Terry and gang
for Happy Hour at the swanky Grand Marlin with its towering walls of glass
followed by dinner and live music at The Paradise (http://www.paradisebar-grill.com/). Music is another happy result of New Orleans
being in the neighborhood - great live music in a small venue.
We had another night full of tall tales and laughs but ending as most
cruiser rendez-vous end…with goodbyes.
These are still hard despite how many we have had but we are comforted
in the fact that they will be followed by crossing wakes in the future. Smooth seas Karen and Terry.
It’s
Friday the 13th – lucky for us since it was our first date but long,
today, because it is an eleven-hour motor to Pearl Bayou (near Panama
City). We went back through
Chocktawhatchee Bay and the Grand Canyon, re-entered the Eastern time zone,
spotted shrimpers and bucolic scenes ashore and marveled at the craziness of
water and currents. Our quiet hidy hole
in Pearl Bayou was perfect for a solid night’s sleep.
Decisions,
decisions. We can stay in this hurricane
hole for a couple more days in order to let thunderstorms with strong winds and
rain pass…or…we can continue to Port St Joe and pull into the marina. We have not yet visited Port St Joe and the
marina has availability. That is that – Port St Joe it is (4/14). We started pulling up the anchor as the sun
rose above the horizon but a bit of a fire drill followed because a GIANT
(3-inch long links) iron anchor chain was snagged by OUR anchor. Balderdash!
We quickly swapped places so that I was at the helm while Chris wrestled
the HEAVY chain off of the anchor.
Keeping the boat hovering was an added challenge for me with wind and
nearby shallow shores. We think the
chain must have been to an old mooring ball but who knows…at least it is no
longer connected to us. This would have
been a good photo but there was a bit too much going on to get one. We were back in the intercoastal waterway
moving east switching off being on watch to keep an eye on the waters and their contents.
Dolphins leapt and swam in our bow more times than we could count. We saw several floating logs but they were
easily avoided as we were nearly alone in the channels.
We
turned off the intercoastal waterway into the Gulf County Canal for the final
six-mile run to the Port St Joe Marina (http://www.psjmarina.com/). The winds were already up which made the
short hop from canal to behind the Marina breakwater a bit of a white cap
experience. Once inside the wind kept boat
maneuvering tricky (overpowering the bow thruster) but three dock-hands helped
make quick work of tying up. Strong,
stormy conditions are still forecast for tonight and continuing for 24 to
48-hours so we took extra time with added fenders and lines. This is a friendly place but the ying and the
yang of their welcome letter made us chuckle; blah blah blah…we have all items
to provision your boat within walking distance; blah blah bla; easy to see why some boaters
come for a day and stay a week, a month, a lifetime…final paragraph; in case of
stormy weather seek shelter in laundry room or private restrooms. Good to know.
All tied up and checked in so we wandered a bit. Yep, provisioning is easy with resources just
steps away; Piggly Wiggly, CVS, hardware store, sporting goods store…and a cute
old town downtown. Lots of resources for
a town with the population of 3,400...or maybe they are poised for a growth spurt?!
We
were snug in the marina with extra fenders and lines when the forecasted storm
arrived loaded with heavy rain, lightening, thunder and strong winds (4/15). The weather had us rocking and rolling in the
slip so much that pancakes were taken off of the breakfast menu because the
batter would have crazily spread all around the griddle. The Coast Guard had warnings for small craft
advisory with 25-30 knot winds and gale force gusts and 6-9 foot waves. We hunkered inside and waited as the storm
progressed through its stages; wind direction shift (for a more pleasant dock
position), rain stopped, cold temperatures arrived and a bit of blue sky peeked
out. We reviewed our departure options
for a Gulf of Mexico crossing vs. a return visit to Apalachicola to wait for
benign crossing conditions. Looks like
we might be able to cross in two days straight from Port St Joe but it is hard
to believe at the moment with Mother Nature causing such turmoil.
The
winds howled throughout the night and early morning with such strength that we
made several trips up to the full enclosure as zippers un-zipped and tie downs
loosened or broke. Winds were sustained at 40
knots with gusts stronger and waves at 11 feet.
This is way more wind than was in the forecast. Our dock position for the wind direction was
not perfect but only minor problems resulted.
Eek – that’s the life preservers nearly blown out of the dinghy. Then a switch flipped and the wind stopped on
a dime. Crazy but so nice.
We
walked into town for breakfast at the Sand Dollar Café (4/16). What an unexpected gem. There are not many choices in Port St Joe for
breakfast and this one had us skeptical due to the cafeteria style warming
trays in the online photos. We were wrong and had no reason to worry – the food was
Southern goodness; cheese grits, bacon, biscuits…and a shrimp and grits
sample. Yum – and we don’t usually like
shrimp. As we wandered around town we
chatted with people who live in or near the area and discovered that the storm
was unexpected for them, too; trees blew over, branches snapped off and general
havoc occurred.
The
quiet night morphed into a calm morning which had us on-track for an overnight crossing
of the Gulf of Mexico (4/17). We never
cease to be amazed at the speed with which weather conditions can deteriorate
or improve. We tossed the lines from
Port St Joe Marina and motored into smooth seas that just yesterday were
raucous white caps in the bay and charging white stallion waves into the
inlet. We are humbled by Mother Nature.
Off we went. We
crossed Port St Joe Bay and exited past the peninsula into the Gulf of
Mexico…passing Cape San Blas and St George Island/Apalachicola. We spotted two turtles in the emerald waters
and were thrilled at the mellow sea state.
The rhythm was gentle like a metronome rather than jerky and quick like
castanets. Chris made an awesome pork
tikka masala as the passage progressed without issue. We settled into our 3-hour watch schedule as
the sun slipped below the horizon and the stars brilliantly illuminated the
sky. The clarity must be extra clear due
to a high pressure weather system that is tagging along with us. Wow – the scorpion constellation rose dead ahead of
Barefeet.
The
rain-check pancake breakfast from Port St Joe was in full swing with butter and
syrup and sour cream and powdered sugar (I’m the sour cream/sugar gal, Chris
the New England pure maple syrup guy).
We did a few small boat projects as the day quietly unfolded; I stitched
up the holes in the fender covers and Chris caulked the top deck nose cone,
port pilot house door catch and port side gate latch with 3M 4000 UV Aheasive Sealant (4/19). We kicked back and relaxed until the local
Sheriff came to call. Seems
the American
Legion does not like where we were anchored despite being in the spot for more than 24-hrs (at least 150 feet from
their
docks) – thus calling
the Sheriff to let us know that we were anchored too close to
the Post. The Sheriff was surprised that we had already been here for 24-hrs. We re-anchored much to the relief of the
Sheriff who ended our friendly chat with an embarrassed snort, “I’ve got better
things to do - I was never here.” Well,
all we can say is that in our more than ten years of boating – we
have never been asked to re-anchor; not in Yemen or Indonesia or Panama…only
in the USA in front of an American Legion Post.
Shame on them. Really?! You called the cops?!
Shaking
off the bad vibes we were treated to big and small dolphins frolicking around
the boat before we showered and jumped in the dinghy headed to the Angry Pepper
Waterside Smokehouse for dinner (https://www.angrypepper.net/). The deck along the water with umbrellas and
tiki thatch and fun was fantastic! We loved
our beef brisket sandwich and grilled chicken wrap so much that the French
fries were left on the plate. Now that’s
saying something for us. If you are ever
in Madeira Beach head to Angry Pepper…you will not be disappointed.
Tomorrow
we are headed for Sarasota where we will stay for a week or so as we do a few
end-of-season boat projects and check out the area we had to leave too soon
several weeks ago due to approaching bad weather.
Ingredients:
1
Tablespoon paprika
4
teaspoons dried thyme
2
teaspoons onion powder
2
teaspoons garlic powder
1
Tablespoon sugar
2
teaspoons salt
1.5
teaspoons black pepper
1
teaspoon cayenne pepper
1
teaspoon dried oregano
½
teaspoon ground nutmeg
¾
teaspoon ground cumin
Mix
all ingredients together. Good on
sautéed veggies (onion, red and green peppers) or fish or chicken or pork. For fish – melt butter, coat fish in
seasoning and cook in hot skillet. For
pork – thoroughly coat pork tenderloin in seasoning and grill until cooked
through (approx. 20 minutes).