A day on the Florida Coast.

We started the morning off with a visit to the Orlando Wetlands Park which is very near our RV park. It is a very large area of shallow ponds teeming with water fowl. We saw Ibis, a small group of Sand Hill Cranes, Ducks, Coots, Great Blue Herons, Egrets, Snowy Egrets, but no alligators. The alligators were in another area and we ran out of time in which to see them.

One of the ponds.

An Ibis.

Sand Hill Cranes.

Brenda, Budd and Ed.

We had a lunch appointment in Port Canaveral with a friend of Clyda's who worked at Student Health 20 years ago. We met Shelly and Mitch at The Grill on the dock at the port. The stern of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Freedom of The Seas was right next to us. We could see people in the buffet though the windows.

Shelly and Clyda.

It was a great lunch with good friends and we are so glad we could make the connection.

We later drove to downtown Titusville and saw some homes on the water with an incredible view of the launch complexes on Merritt Island. What a great place to watch a launch from.

The small white dot on the horizon is the Veticle Assembly Building at the cape.

We came back to the RV's and relaxed. Later, we had snacks while we watched the Red Carpet crawl for the Oscars. 

Some photos from yesterday at Cocoa Beach, Florida. 

 Looking toward Cape Canaveral.

 

Looking South.

Brenda and Budd.

 

Ed and Clyda.

 

We have arrived!

We are here!

After 2 days of driving through city traffic around the north and east of Orlando, we have arrived in the Titusville, FL area. Today Clyda and Budd dipped their toes in the Atlantic Ocean off Cocoa Beach.

We got to the RV park around noon after driving from the Eustis Elks Club. We had lunch then drove to Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, Cocoa, past Patrick’s AFB and then back to the RV park. We got a good flavor of the area.

I haven't down loaded the photos yet so that will wait until tomorrow, maybe.

Not much to write about.

There hasn't been much to write about as we have been moving almost every day.

I did drive to Sneads, Fl, about a 100 mile round trip, to find a distant relative. I did locate his house but a neighbor told me his son had moved him to Mississippi in December. I did find out a little information, at least enough to convince me I have the right person. I left my card taped to the door and wrote a letter to his present address which the post office will forward to his new address.

I then drove several miles out of town to the local cemetery and photographed a lot of head stones which may be helpful in later research. That was my Wednesday.

Meanwhile Budd, Brenda, and Clyda went cruising around the area and found a very nice German restaurant on a lake for lunch.

Brenda, Ed, Budd at RV Village, Fountain, FL.

It got very cold overnight. Cold enough to freeze Budd's water hose. He had to pour hot water on the faucet to thaw it enough to unconnect the hose.

On Thursday we drove to Perry, Fl which is southeast of Talahasse, FL and camped at the Elks club. We also ate a very good fried chicken dinner at the club.

Typical road in the panhandle of Florida.

 

Perry Elks Club RV Park.

Again it was very cold, in fact so cold the water was shut off. It was 27 degrees this morning when we left.

Today we traveled south to Eustis, FL just north of Orlando and another Elks Club. The club is on 10 acres of land on a lake. Of course, being on a lake in central Florida is no big deal as there are lakes everywhere.

Moving on.

We camped last night at St Andrews State Park at the end of Panama City Beach. It is a nice park but a little tight getting into some spots. It is also very busy. The advantage is the closeness to the water and the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico side.

It rained over night and this morning the wind was blowing. The temperature also dropped. A definite cold front is moving down from the North.

We decided that we would try to stay another day if we could get our same camp sites but someone had reserved our site starting today.

So, we decided to move on.

We are camped only 40 miles away from Panama City just North of the town of Fountain. The reason we are here is because of me. Tomorrow morning I am driving to the town of Sneads to try and find a shirt tail relative of mine. It is a long shot but we are in the area and I need to find out if anyone remains from that side of my family.

Sight seeing in Pensacola.

The last two days have found us sightseeing around Pensacola, Pensacola Beach, NAS Pensacola, and Perdido Key.

We are staying at the Pensacola Elks Club which is a perfect location for seeing all the nearby sights. Yesterday we drove out to Pensacola Beach, stopped at the Elks club there and then walked out on the beach. The sand is white with a lot of shells in it. It also fills Clyda's reason for this trip and that was to walk on the white sands of Florida's panhandle beaches.

Eating boiled peanuts at the Pensacola Beach Elks Club.

Pensacola Beach white sand.

 

Did I mention that we ran into another Mardi Gras parade? This one in downtown Pensacola.

Part of the parade I presume.

Today we drove onto the Navy base here at Pensacola to see the Pensacola lighthouse and Fort Barrancas. The fort is awesome. We walked around the complete site admiring the brick work. The fort was built from 1839-1844 by slaves. It was constructed of 6000 bricks. All the arches were shaped by hand filing of the bricks. The guns were 24 pound canon which were only fired during a 2 day period by Confederate soldiers against Fort McRee on Perdido Key manned by Union soldiers. About 6000 rounds were exchanged.

The lighthouse is still in use today with a first order Fresnel lens.

 Galley inFort Branncas.

Awesome brickwork.

Parade ground atop the fort.

We drove to Perdido Key and had lunch at Sunset Grill which is a waterside seafood restaurant known for its spectacular sunsets. Great lunch.

From Louisiana to Florida.

We drove from Slidell, LA to Pensacola, FL today. Not much to write about that drive but Clyda took a few photos along the way. It is very cold here tonight. Probably get down to freezing by morning. Believe it or not, they actually get snow here. Not this year, I hope.

 

Following Budd and Brenda into Mobile, AL

 

Tunnel in Mobil.

 

 Battleship Alabama in Mobil.

 

 Entering Florida.

Driving the Mississippi coast.

Today was a driving day. We had decided to stay one more day and do a driving trip along the Mississippi Coast to Bay St Louis, Pass Christian, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula all on Hwy 90.

It was a beautiful day for this, cool but windy.

We drove slowly through the towns looking at the beautiful white sand beaches. We stopped so Budd could dip his toes in the Gulf of Mexico waters. He said it was "cold".

We stopped for coffee and a bathroom break in Pass Christian and for a tailgate lunch in Gulfport at a city park.

Looking right.

Looking left.

Clyda walking on the sand.

Beach has been machine cleaned.

The over riding thought by all of us was how many of the houses on the beach were just gone from Hurricane Katrina. The first block back from the beach is empty of buildings in most areas but the oak trees still stand. One block in, houses are being renovated or being newly built. It really shows the power of wind and the sea. The tidal surge in this area was reported to be 28 ft high. It is surprising how many oak trees survived.

In retrospect, the coast is much cleaner looking without the houses and businesses that were washed away. There is a sense of space now.

In Biloxi the casinos have come back with a vengeance, building bigger and higher than before Katrina.

 

 Slap yo Mama restaurant.

"Slap yo Mama" is a sprinkle on condiment which is salty and spicey at the same time. We didn't know there was a restaurant by that name.

We returned via I-10 to Slidell.

A very nice drive and one we would have missed with the RV's in tow.