Apr 22, 2013 - Destin, Florida

The day after we left Galveston, they got several inches of rain. Unfortunately, it caught up with us in Louisiana, cutting short our visit to Abita Springs, Fortunately, there is a casino right on the Gulf at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where we overlooked the water until it was time to go to Destin. We stayed 5 minutes from the Gulf in Miramar Beach, and got in some relaxing motorcycle rides, a few bites of seafood, and some great walks along the boardwalk. Although the area is more frequented when school is not in session, we found it...

Mar 31, 2013 - The Gulf Coast to Destin

My last stop - Dauphin Island - is a bit of a let down. Another barrier island replete with fort and tourists. But the homes are boxes on stilts. Not much in the way of interest. From here I drive the FJ onto a ferry that crosses the mouth of Mobile Bay. For the drive home I avoid the Interstate and hug the coast. Through the beach towns of Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Perdido and Pensacola. A friend sent me a You Tube link that I'd like to share - Playing for Change - an effort to record musicians from all over the world playing together...

Dec 1, 2012 - Close to the end of the Journey, Destin, FL Nov 8-11, 2012

Our Journey Winds Down, Back to Florida Destin, Fl, Nov 8-11, 2012 We finally returned to Florida after having been driving for just about 100 days. As we write this entry, we have now been back home for over two weeks but we still feel that our last two entries are worthy of recalling and documentation. After our week in New Orleans, we were back on familiar grounds, I-10 along the way back East. We were following our Tom-Tom’s directions and Frank missed a turn and we headed along a different route on our way into Florida. We headed...

Nov 7, 2012 - Naval Aviation Museum and Pensacola Lighthouse

The Naval Aviation Museum is a really cool museum with examples of all sorts of military flying machines from all eras. It is also the home of the Blue Angels. They had been practicing for a show the next day - interesting that they have to be parked by an aircraft mover. The Pensacola Lighthouse is on the grounds of the Naval Air Station, so we also got a couple of pictures of it and visited the Lighthouse Keeper’s home and exhibit. We were not about to climb the 217 steps to the top!

Oct 30, 2012 - Gulf Islands National Seashore, Fort Pickens, and Fort Barrancas

While in Destin for the wedding, we made several visits to the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The Seashore is made up of federally protected barrier islands in FL and MS that are home to many species of animals, plants and sea life. One of the more interesting is the Loggerhead Sea Turtles that return here each year to lay thousands of eggs. When hatched, the young turtles make their way to the Gulf, and, if they survive, return to this same location to lay their eggs. This is also home to the live oaks that in the 1800’s were used to make...

Oct 29, 2012 - Linville Caverns, Cowpens, and Camel

We have been very delinquent in posting our adventures for about 2 months, so we are determined to get “caught-up”. While in North Carolina, we visited Linville Caverns. The Caverns were discovered in 1822 within Humpback Mountain. Water containing carbon dioxide has dissolved limestone and dolomite over millions of years to form the natural passageways into the mountain. The guides took us through the passages and at one point, turned off the lanterns for us to experience total and complete darkness. Thankfully, the lanterns came back on!...

Oct 28, 2012 - Wedding

We have been in Destin for a couple of weeks resting and enjoying the weather. Yesterday we attended the wedding of a good friends daughter. The wedding was held at Seaside, a New England looking village near Destin. The outside reception was nice but it was cold due to high winds from Hurricane Sandy. In additon to seeing a young lady we/ve known since she was a little girl it was wonderful to see several old friends from our Birmingham days

Oct 10, 2012 - Eliza Redmon - Update

Hi - Welcome to the next chapter in the Geezer's travel Odyssey. Before we begin I want to update you on the fate of Eliza Redman, the convict I became interested in while visiting Cascades Female Factory in Hobart, Tasmania. Remember that Eliza arrived in Hobart aboard the ship Rajah on July 19th, 1841. She turned 17 during the voyage. You can find more details in my postings in the 2012 - Australia and the South Pacific journal. I tried a variety of ways to find out what happened to Eliza. But nothing yielded any solid information and I...

Apr 12, 2012 - Geronimo RV-Destin, Florida

We arrived at Geronimo RV resort in Destin today for a stay of two nights. Geronimo RV is a nice park, but is in a busy area--ok for a couple of nights to check out this area. There is a great white sand beach that goes for miles. The beach area is filled with condos and hotels. To our surprise, spring break was in full-swing and the beach was full of spring breakers. Too much traffic for us, we’re heading on down the Florida panhandle Saturday.

Apr 5, 2012 - Destin

After spending one night on the road at a campground we do not care to go back to, we arrived at Henderson Beach State Park in Destin, Florida on Friday, November 17. The park is located on the coast and the campground sites are just a short walk to the beaches of the Emerald Coast. We love the beaches in the Florida panhandle and we had the added joy of being able to visit with our friends Steve and Julie. Steve is also a retired, Harley-riding firefighter, and Don and I had spent many wonderful afternoons and weekends with him and Julie....

Mar 2, 2012 - destin

no time to upload pics, maybe tomorrow. The pics aren't worth seeing anyway - we went to the beach in Destin today and it was red flag so we couldn't go in the water. We could hardly see the water through the thick fog. The waves were huge. Who knew Florida could be this gross. Mind you, down south, it is still sunny and hot. I knew we should have stayed down there longer. We did go to a mall and an outlet mall today, so NW Florida does have a few redeeming qualities. And Thomas and Tara brought us pizza for supper. Tomorrow we are...

Feb 18, 2012 - Penny wise and Pound foolish

Feb 18, 2012 Penny wise and Pound foolish Destin, Florida, United States Another rainy day! Decided to take a drive to the beach in another direction. This time to Destin and Fort Walton Beach. Destin seems like a typical Florida beach town – lots of surf shops, souvenir shops, outlet malls and traffic. The bridge coming into Destin from the west gives you great views of the Emerald Coast and the water is very green here and the sand is the whitest white. After watching the kite surfers we headed back into town to the Harbor Walk so that...