Pensacola, Florida

Happy Halloween

We changed our plans this morning, so instead of going to Orange Beach, Alabama we went to Pensacola, Florida. The only marina in Pensacola that had an available slip for us was Bahia Mar Marina.

Pensacola Lighthouse

Part of the Pensacola Naval Air Station

Entrance to Bahia Mar Marina

Pirates Cove Restaurant

Before leaving we walked through all the stores at the wharf. They're having end of season sales, so Al got a great pair of new shorts. We went to the Pepper Palace, which has every kind of hot sauce, spice, salsa, marinade, hot snack imaginable. They have so many different things that it was tough making a choice. The owners were super nice and helpful, and they hope all the loopers stop by.

We left the marina and headed out. It was pretty windy with some big gusts, but no problem on the waterway. We docked at Pirates Cove Restaurant. There's free dockage if you go to their restaurant. The burgers and onion rings were great, the Bushwacker drinks were delicious, the sandy beach and view was beautiful. Hooper loves this place as it is very dog friendly and everyone lets their dog wonder around loose to play in the sand or go swimming.

We had originally planned to go to an anchorage tomorrow, but the forecast is calling for winds up to 35 mph tomorrow night, so we'll go to Orange Beach Marina instead.

The Wharf

10/29/14

We left Dog River Marina late because we weren't planning on going too far. The weather was perfect and it was absolutely beautiful crossing Mobile Bay. Fish were jumping everywhere, pelicans were splashing down into the water and dolphins were playing in our wake. We are so glad to be off the rivers!

From Mobile Bay we went into the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW). Then we headed to Lulu's Restaurant where we had lunch with our friends from Average Looper & Navigator. Lulu is Jimmy Buffett's sister. After lunch we all headed to The Wharf Marina. Once we were all docked, we had cocktails on Navigator. At the Wharf there's lot's of shops, restaurants, a ferris wheel, and a movie theater. None of us has been anywhere near a movie theater in a long time so we agreed to go and see any movie that was playing. We ended up seeing Gone Girl, which we all enjoyed.

Tomorrow we'll make a short hop to Pirate's Cove Restaurant and sample their famous hamburgers & Bushwacker drinks.

Perfect day on Mobile Bay

Dolphins spent a long time playing in our wake

2 dolphins right off the bow

Hooper, the mighty dolphin hunter is back in action

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

Lunch stop

Dog River Marina

10/27-28/14

We left the anchorage at 5:55AM this morning. Al couldn't let Hooper spend too much time on shore this morning because he heard a pack of coyotes howling in the forest. They both hurried back pretty fast to the dinghy after that. 

The 4 other looper boats in the anchorage must of thought we were crazy coming in and then leaving in the dark, because everyone says not to travel on the river in the dark. We did our best not to disturb the other boaters. Once again we were in heavy fog until the sun came up. We also continue to see alligators.

We were so glad to see Mobile and to be back in saltwater. No more spiders and spider poop all over the boat! We'll gladly hose the salt off the boat.

We stopped at Dog River Marina to get fuel and rest up. After 2 very long days, we'll spend an extra day in the marina to relax and have a shrimp dinner.

Sunrise on The Tombigbee

Looks like fire, but that's the sun

Dredging the river

Outokumpu manufacturing plant. Outokumpu is the global leader in high performance stainless steel. 

We're still seeing alligators

Dolly Parton Bridge

We're now on the Mobile River, which is much wider & we can start to smell the sea breeze.

Hooper's not happy after 2 very long days and very few bathroom breaks.

It's at mile 14, so it's called The 14 Mile Bridge. We had to wait for it to open.

Mobile is right past the bridge

Mobile is a very busy port

That ship is from Hong Kong, and is being loaded with US coal.

Austal is an Australian Company that got a contract to build ships for the US Navy

This ship is coming right at us, and Al always thinks he has the right of way. He likes to say, "I'm the stand on vessel".

Sunset over Mobile Bay

Sunset over the Dog River

Dog River Marina

We're ready for Halloween