Exploring Panama City Beach and Pensacola, Florida, part 2

One of the absolute highlights of our week in Panama City Beach was the thrilling opportunity to see the Blue Angels in action! We woke up bright and early and made the nearly three-hour drive to Naval Air Station Pensacola to catch one of their practice sessions.

We were fortunate to have great weather that morning. The Blue Angels wowed us with their signature  aerobatic maneuvers, executed with stunning precision and split-second accuracy. For those unfamiliar, the Blue Angels are "the Navy's flight demonstration squadron of the United States Navy." You can read more about them on Wikipedia here.

After the airshow, we cooled off inside the Naval Aviation Museum, exploring its impressive collection of historical aircraft. The amazing Navy veteran Lieutenant Cash Barber, who celebrated his 100th birthday in May, was regaling visitors with stories of life in the navy and flying the amphibious aircraft, the "Catalina" during World War II. Truly inspiring.

We stopped at the Pensacola Light around the corner for a picnic. Just as we were finishing lunch, it started to rain. Alas, no visit to the lighthouse. Or the Gulf Islands National Seashore, much to our disappointment.

Entrance to Pensacola Light

The next few days found us back in Panama City Beach, soaking up the sun and dipping our toes in the warm, clear waters of the Gulf. Thoughts of buying some gear to scoop up the blue crabs we spotted scuttling along the shore definitely crossed our minds — maybe next time!

We enjoyed the glorious sunsets. A perfect ending to our vacation.

sunset at Schooners Restaurant 

sunset at SpringHill Suites, near the PCB Pier

Have you ever been to Pensacola or Panama City Beach, or seen the Blue Angels in action? We'd love to hear about your experience — share your stories or tips in the comments below!

This post is shared on Skywatch Friday, Image-in-ing Through My Lens and Little Things Thursday.

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Flora and Fauna in the Tampa Bay area

Most everyone agrees climate change is unfolding before our eyes. While western Canada (Jasper National Park in Alberta) and Greece are fighting deadly wildfires, China and Japan are battling floods and earthquakes. In the Tampa Bay area, we're experiencing sweltering temperatures, in the mid-90s most days. Thankfully, rain came down almost everyday for an hour or two in the late afternoons in the last several weeks. Then we were dealt with Little Debby, the tropical storm that brought more rain, torrential at times, even though we were not in the storm's path. 

As a result, our garden is lush. Birds love it. An array of birds - bluejays, mockingbirds, cardinals, woodpeckers, ibises, rabbits, squirrels and recently a white egret - visit everyday. They mesmerize us for hours :-)!

One beautiful morning in July, we met some friends at Weedon Island Preserve in St Pete for a kayaking adventure. We did the 4-mile paddling trail that meanders through a mangrove forest, giving us a chance to get up close and personal with the wildlife - birds, oysters, crabs - that calls it home. Florida mangroves help protect land from erosion, provide shelter and protection for birds and shellfish and absorb storm surge impact from extreme weather such as the recent Tropical Storm Debby.

Kayaking through a tunnel of mangroves

White ibis

Yellow-crowned night heron

We captured the following sceneries on a walk to the beach a week ago.

A family fishing under the causeway

Oleander bush

Palm and plumeria (flowers used to make Hawaiian leis)

Sea grape

Oyster catcher

A walk in Phillipe County Park

Oak trees with Spanish moss

A flock of ibis in neighbor's yard

A white egret wandering past the neighbor's

A lovely Florida gulf sunset

These are the flora and fauna we frequently see in the Tampa Bay area.  You might see alligators in lakes at the county or state parks, but we haven't encountered any recently.

TS Debby brought cooler temperatures for a couple of days. Now it's right back up to high 90s, but feels like 100! How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

This post is shared on Skywatch Friday, Image-in-ing, **Art*Journal*Journey* and Hello Monday.

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Port of Call: Hilton Head, South Carolina

So happy to be back blogging again, after a 6-month hiatus. I tend to look back, and I'm not sure if it's a good thing, but it lets me relive all the fun times and keeps my memory sharp. I am grateful and blessed to have the life I've had. Boater friends Keith and Marianne inspired me to write this post. They are cruising on their sailboat Coddiwample. and their pictures of Hilton Head brought back sweet memories of our stop there in 2004 (wow, twenty years ago!) You can track Coddiwample's location under the  Boating Links on the right.

It was our second time cruising north on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW). By the way, there is good news for boats with deeper drafts! Cruising World magazine recently published an article about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) getting funding from Congress to repair/dredge the 1,100-mile ICW that runs from Key West, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia. Constant shoaling has made navigating the ICW dicey at times. Mai Thai's draft is 3.5 feet, and we had our share of running aground and helping boats from running aground (see posts on Cumberland Island, Daytona Beach and Marco Island).

This particular April, we were determined to stop at places we  had missed the first time. Hilton Head made the bucket list. We were greeted by kayakers as we dropped anchor in Shelter Cove, where we stayed for almost a week.

We dinghied into Shelter Cove Harbor and Marina and a nice sail boater gave us permission to tie up  next to his boat. We had brought our bikes and enjoyed exploring the sneaker-shaped island. We found  Hilton Head rather pricey.  I remember paying a hefty $4 for a scoop of ice cream on a cone. Thank goodness for free anchorage! Harbortown Marina, now Harbor Town Yacht Basin, was charging an exorbitant amount for a slip. There was a major golf tournament going on, but still. The website now lists $4-$5 a foot, a much more reasonable price for the East coast.

One evening, we heard a splash so loud we thought some kayakers had tipped over and fell into the water. We ran out to see a pod of dolphins near the shoreline. Were they stranded in the outgoing tide, like some kayakers previously did? We later learned that they were cornering the fishes into the shallows and feasting on their catch. Everyday at low tide these agile and playful creatures mesmerized us for hours. What a pleasure to watch nature in one's "backyard"!

These photos and video were taken with our Sony video camera, back when 1 Megapixel was high resolution, and took up precious disk space. Amateur photographers like us are happy with the quality. We hope you like them too.

Now back to making more memories so that the first mate can look back and blog about it :-)

Take pictures, have fun and enjoy life!

This post is shared on Image-in-ing, My Corner of the World, Skywatch Friday, and Random-osity.

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Mai Thai Wandering's Favorite Photos of 2023

On this New Year's Eve, we take a look back at some favorite images that we took and/or posted in the blog this year.

Last summer's road trip, from Tennessee to Montreal with stops in Ottawa (Canada), New York City, Cape Cod (Massachusetts), and Ogunquit (Maine), was the inspiration for several blog posts. We took countless photos, culled lots and posted a select few in the blog. These are our 2023 favorites.

 In Ottawa, the fascinating Rideau Canal mesmerized us for hours (24 hours in Ottawa, Canada).

This photo is quintessential Cape Cod scenery on a hot summer day, posted in Falling for New England: Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

It was fun watching the wooden Perkins Cove Drawbridge in action at Ogunquit (Falling for New England: York and Ogunquit, Maine)

We jostled with tourists to take this picture of Brooklyn Bridge, posted in A walk down memory lane in New York City

In May, we visited Louisville, Kentucky for the first time. The gigantic baseball bat, at 120 feet long, awaits baseball fans at the Slugger Museum.

In June, our guest blogger discovered hiking in the Canadian Rockies, and took some amazing photos of Spray Lake atop Little Lougheed. 

We never tire of the beautiful view of the Tennessee River at  Lake Nickajack. This particular day, we anchored out with some friends and enjoyed Korean BBQ ribs aboard.

We love exploring our adopted city of Chattanooga. With a new inflatable kayak, we are able to go further to explore other areas of the Tennessee River. Two favorite images were posted in Falling for the South: Chattanooga, TN.

Tennessee River Gorge at Raccoon Mountain

Market St Bridge in Chattanooga

A friend did a guest post of the incredible foliage in her new hometown of Eau Claire (Fall foliage in Eau Claire, WI).

December found us in Portugal, where we savored lots of delicious egg custard tarts (Foods of Portugal)

We close 2023 with an image of Mai Thai, anchored at St Augustine, Florida one winter. The city was listed as one of The South's Best Places to Retire.

Mai Thai anchored off Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

Despite the ups and downs and the challenges of 2023, we are thankful for all the beauty in this world. We wish you a peaceful, healthy and happy new year!

This post is shared on Image-in-ing and Elizabeth's blog Altered Book Lover and Skywatch Friday.

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