Dinner & A Cinema … and Lunch with New Friends

Wednesday, 16 January
Fort Pickens Campground — Gulf Islands National Seashore (GINS), Florida
Temps: Lo TBD / Hi 71F (TBD / 22C)

The cold front that kept the area to our west 20 degrees cooler yesterday has arrived here.  The day’s high of 71F (22C) was back in the wee hours of the morning.  The temp has been falling since then.  At 8:00p, we’re already down to 50F (10C); we’ll see where it stops.  I guess mother nature is preparing us for our trek north from here.

This cold front came with plenty of rain to give us a good soaking.  I was about to step out for a walk while Mui was off running errands this morning when the skies opened up in a downpour.  That was about 8:00a.  Except for a few short breaks, the rain hasn’t stopped since.  The direction and strength of the rain even caused our first leak — seepage really — in the motorhome.  Looks like the water found a miniscule opening in the slide seals.  Nothing serious; the carpet is already drying out.

Before you ask, the sunrise above is not from this morning; those gorgeous colors were what we woke up to yesterday, so let me go back to …

Tuesday, 15 January

Although we had a very colorful sunrise, the sun didn’t grace Mui’s birthday!  Yup; he has turned a year older.  I won’t say how old, but there is a 5 and a 7 involved … you figure it out.  In the meantime, the beautiful sunrise we enjoyed from our campsite deserves some more recognition … they do say that a picture is worth a thousand words.

With our departure from here just days away, we wanted to get in one more trike ride.  Gearing up, we cycled over to Fort Pickens, wandered around the fortifications for a bit, and chatted at length with one of the rangers.  (By the way, she confirmed that the bunker we came across on the Gulf-side beach is indeed from the coastal artillery system; probably for ammo storage.)

We spent much of the afternoon at home, just relaxing and doing some road-prep chores.  Around 3:30p, we left to celebrate Mui’s birthday with an early dinner and a movie.  I’d made a promise to myself not to take any more bird photos.  I did OK until I spied a nesting pair of great blue herons in the trees as we were exiting the campground.  Then, all bets were off.  The bonus — we got to see a bit of blue skies and sunshine at that moment too.

The Great Blue Heron on the nest was displaying to the one on the branch.

Wouldn’t it be great to see the whole cycle from courting to the hatching of the eggs?

I could have stayed there watching the herons for hours, but we had other plans in the works, so after about 15 minutes we moved on.

First on the agenda was dinner at a restaurant to which Chuck and Anneke introduced us in September — McGuire’s Irish Pub.  We had so enjoyed our meal there that when I asked Mui where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner, he had no doubts in his mind about returning to this eatery, which is located inside Pensacola’s original 1927 Old Firehouse.

McGuire’s bills itself as a “turn of the century New York Irish Saloon.”
[photo on the left is a screenshot from the website]

This double-decker bus sits in the parking lot;
no way you can miss it when you turn onto East Gregory Street!

The early hour meant that we did not have to wait to be seated.  In fact, we had the Irish Whiskey Dining Room entirely to ourselves.

Here’s the Birthday boy, sitting beneath …

… just some of the over $1 million in dollar bills signed by Irishmen of all nationalities.
(We’ll have to go back to add our dollar to the collection!)

Can’t say that our meal was healthy, but it sure was good.  Since this was a celebratory meal, we threw caution to the wind and ordered separate main courses.  In the absence of “naked” fish and chips, I opted for the regular kind (the dory was so flaky that I didn’t need a knife); Mui got McGuire’s ale battered shrimp, which came with a large Caesar salad and a choice of sides … the homemade garlic mashed potatoes was so good that we had to bring the leftovers home with us.  Of course, we got the 18¢ bowl of Senate bean soup to start — so much better than the bean soup served in the Senate cafeteria in DC.  When we asked our server for a dessert recommendation, Jerri suggested the Irish Bash Cream Pie — think along the lines of a very light cheesecake with chocolate mousse and chocolate cake crumbles … she definitely did not steer us wrong.

Top left: fresh-from the oven honey glazed bread
Bottom left: fish and chips
top Right: Senate bean soup
Bottom Right: Ale battered shrimp

The deceptively light Irish bash cream pie was so good that it deserves to stand alone.

Next up … the movies.  It’s been ages since we’ve been to a movie theater.  I think I boycotted them when the price of a ticket topped $10.  When we lived in a stix & brix, we had Netflix and got our movie-fix that way, but we canceled the service when we got on the road.  We’d been wanting to see the latest Bond movie since it came out, so we decided to break our boycott.  The decision was made easy because of our access to Portside Cinema, the theater at NAS Pensacola.  At $3/person going to a show there is a deal to be sure.  Yes, the prices are subsidized by tax payers, but considering the pay our men and women in uniform get, I think it is well-deserved.

My favorite Bond is still Sir Sean Connery, but Daniel Craig played the role well in Skyfall.

We left the movie theater in the rain, drove home with the windshield wipers working overtime, went to bed to the pitter patter of heavy drops on the roof, and woke up to pretty much nonstop rain …

Today

We did nothing special today … EXCEPT at lunch time.

Today was our day to meet Karen and Steve, fellow Phaeton owners and bloggers (Gone by RV), who first reached out to us while we were all still in Virginia.  Having sold their stix & brix, they were already living in their home on wheels, but they had to wait to get on the road at the end of December, which is when Steve retired.

When Karen sent me an email that they were coming up from Panama City Beach to visit the Camping World in Gulf Breeze, we suggested meeting at Niki’s, where we had lunch with Chuck and Anneke last week.  They may have regretted leaving the great weather in PCB for the soggy weather they found here, but we’re glad they came.  We had a very nice time getting acquainted, and enjoyed hearing their Red Bay stories since we’ll be going there at the beginning of February.  They’ll be heading up to Red Bay in late February; hope we won’t still be there, but if we are, we’ll be consoled by their good company.

I thought I was going to end the post with our luncheon date, but I have one more photo to share … this one from dinner at home.

Sharing a meal … or … two halves make one meal!
Not only are we splitting a V8 and a Panini, we’re splitting a plate too!

Tomorrow we get back on the road!

Walking, Exploring, Picnicking

Monday, 14 January
Fort Pickens Campground — Gulf Islands National Seashore (GINS), Florida
Temps: Lo 67F / Hi 73F (19C / 23C)

We woke up to so much fog in the campground that we thought for sure the day was going to be a bust.  Hah!  An hour later, the sun had burned off the fog and was peeking through the mostly-cloudy skies.  Of course that meant we just had to go out and explore — despite the 100% humidity (ugh!).

We decided to walk a bit down the way to explore one of the coastal artillery fortifications overlooking the Gulf of Mexico — Battery Langdon (1923; casemated 1943).  As we wandered up and over the battery, the clouds provided welcome filtering of the strong sun; and the breeze cooled us down while we sat a while … enjoying the view and our snacks.

(The light was sort of blah most of the day … and it shows in the photos.)

I catch Mui atop Battery Langdon …

… he catches me with his camera as I come up to join him.

When the sun comes out briefly, the scenery is visibly brightened.

Two to Travel at Battery Langdon.

From Battery Langdon, we walked back to the campground, got on the short trail from Loop B, and went to explore Battery Worth (1899).  I’m going to write about these fortifications in a later post, so just a photo for now.

Visitors are allowed to wander freely on the fortifications.

By the time we returned to the coach, we were drained from the humid heat.  What to do?  Easy solution for Mui was to go for another dip in the ocean.  So, we grabbed some snacks and drove over to Langdon Beach.  The water temp was 62F (17C) — just a degree or two warmer than when he went for a dip a few days ago.  He doubled up on his snorkeling skin layer and felt more comfortable in the water this time.  So much so that he didn’t want to come out until I finally prevailed.

33 seconds in the water!

Happy Crazy Man!

The rain threatened all day, but not a drop fell.

When we eventually returned home we had just enough time to shower, get changed, and get over to Fort Pickens for the only program they offer this time of the year — an hour-long ranger-led tour.  Describing herself as a “baby ranger,” Elizabeth enthusiastically launched into the program, which included a 10-minute lecture about the history of the fort and a 65-minute tour.  Yes, that adds up to more than 60 minutes!

Ranger Elizabeth and one of the few cannons remaining at Fort Pickens.

I’m going to post about Fort Pickens separately, so for now … moving on.  Mui was ready to call it quits after the tour, but I wasn’t ready to head home yet.  So, we compromised — he went home, promising to come and get me when I was ready; I headed over to the museum, which reopened last spring after having been closed for nearly eight years following storm surge damage from Hurricane Ivan.  More on that when I post about Fort Pickens.

Climbing atop the seawall that was built to protect Fort Pickens from storms, I wandered along the perimeter of the grounds, eventually ending up at the beach.  Spotting a Great Blue Heron standing statue-still as some fisher people went about their business nearby, I hopped down the wall and quietly approached it.  This bird could have cared less about my presence.  I sat down on a toppled tree for a while before inching my way across the sand to spend some quality time with the heron … a very special experience.  And yes … lots of photos.

Noticing that this Great Blue Heron is missing a foot, I wonder how that impacts its life.
(I didn’t have to wonder long; after about 30 minutes, it hopped a little ways,
picked up a twig in its beak, and flew off to its nest.  It returned before I left
the beach and started fishing further down the beach … it has adapted.)

(That’s a double-crested cormorant in the background.)

There were other birds around as well, but not many — a pelican, a willet, a loon.  Of course I got pictures of them as well, but I’ll spare you and skip to the end of our day.

After the heron flew off to his nest, I called Mui and suggested he make a couple of sandwiches and join me to watch the sunset.  When he arrived, we put our chairs atop Battery Payne — not another soul around — and settled down to enjoy the scenery as the setting sun changed the colors of the sky and the landscape.

A nice ending to the day ...

Pelicans A-Preening … and More

Saturday, 12 January
Fort Pickens Campground — Gulf Islands National Seashore (GINS), Florida
Temps: Lo 65F / Hi 72F (18C / 22C)

Woke up to a golden sunrise this morning … none of the pastel pinks and lavenders of yesterday.

We hurried through breakfast to get out there while the sun was still shining.  Didn’t quite make it, but the sun peeked through occasionally, so we’re not complaining.  Besides, the afternoon was filled with sunshine, making us a couple of happy campers.

We went our separate ways this morning — I strolled along Pensacola Bay … only 2½ miles (4 km) this time; Mui did a 10-mile (16 km) trike ride.  Then we joined forces at home, putting out the awning and enjoying the warm afternoon and light breeze until the late afternoon chill drove us inside.

Since it was a quiet day with not much to write about, I’ll just share some photos from my walk this morning and call it a day.

No mirror-smooth waters on the Bay today.

As the light changes, so does the colors and mood of Pensacola Bay.

We’re late … we’re late … for a very important date.
While these two willets were rushing off to find breakfast …

… this willet was patiently waiting at the edge of the surf for breakfast
to be delivered by the waves.

At least one of these willets isn't going hungry.  Can you see which one?

The small shorebirds were busy flitting about and weren’t about to stop and pose for me.  The pelicans, on the other hand, having had their fill of the bounty of the bay, were pretty relaxed, preening their feathers near the pier.  They were quite tolerant of my presence, allowing me to slowly approach and sit with them for a while.

All of these brown pelicans are juveniles …

… except for the one on the right, which is a non-breeding adult.
I have to admit that is my favorite photo from today’s stroll.

This Portuguese man o' war is not afraid to show its feminine side with a
fringe of pink frills along its sail.

On my way back to the loop E beach access, a cacophony attracted my attention.  Several hundred feet off shore there was a bird convention in the making.

All those tiny white dots out there that were raising such a ruckus …

turn out to be gulls (I think Bonaparte’s) keeping company with some loons Mergansers.

The gulls take off in a flurry of white, leaving the loons mergansers behind.
[thanks, Judy for the correction.]

26-second video of Willets feeding; with a snippet of the gull and
loon merganser convention at the end.
(My videographer was off triking, so you’ll have to excuse my amateurish efforts.)

And to show that it’s possible to capture wildlife photos from our campsite …

I heard this armadillo scratching around a tree behind our site.  It did not
cooperate for a photo op, but you can make out its head and ears if you look closely.
(Unlike the armadillo we came across the other day, this one stuck around for a
while, and even allowed me to approach within a reasonable distance.)

I found these visitors perched on the top edge of our wetbay door when I opened it.
I thought green tree frogs at first, but they seldom come down apparently except to
mate; so I’m not sure.  There were four of these tiny critters, but two of them hopped
away in the time it took me to get my camera.  the one on the left is today’s “The End” shot!