May 23,2010 Ft.Desoto
We arrived in Panama City yesterday and will be staying 3 nights at the Elks. They have 2 electric sites and and overlook the bay. It is a very small parking area and the lodge is for sale. While we're here we met up with our old neighbor from California. She moved back to hometown of Panama Beach City a number of years ago.We met her new husband Bill and her daughter Shareen. They took us out to Sharkey's for drinks and appetizers and we had a great time catching up on all our lives.
Today was a do nothing day. The weather was giving us heavy rain and thunder,along with tornado warnings.We stayed in most of the day and in the evening.It stopped raining long enough so we could go over to Lambert's (home of the throwed rolls) and eat dinner. We've eaten here before back in 2002 and it was just as good as before. I just love those throwed rolls.Tomorrow we will be leaving and heading to Panama City.
One of the things we wanted to do while here was go to the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola. We got up this morning and arrived about 10 at the museum. This place is huge.
We left Oceans Springs this morning and drove about 70 miles to Foley ,Ala. We decided to stay at the Elks since it was central to things we wanted to do. We knew some fellow skp's and boomers that were at a escapees park in Summerdale and wanted to get together with them for dinner. We hadn't seen Doug and Joann for about a 1 1/2 years in Az. They suggested we go to the Tin Top Restaurant in Bon Secour. They all had the Royal Reds Shrimp and I had Crab Augratin. Every thing was delicious. Here's Doug and Joann eating their shrimp.
Today we left and arrived at Gulf Shores National Park and Davis Bayou Campground. This is located in Ocean Springs,Mississippi. As we drove the Mississippi coast line you can see where Katrina had wiped out miles and miles of homes. These were big beautiful homes and you can see driveways going to nowhere.Every where you look places are for sale.The beach is a beautiful white sand beach and now they are being threatened with this oil spill. The oil hasn't reached the beach but all the shrimp boats and fishing boats are not going out because of the spill.This is a high resort area and there tourism is way down.
Today Sam went to Ft.Pike and since I wasn't interested in going I had him drop me off at the mall. Here's a little history on the Ft. Ft. Pike was named for General Zebulon Pike and was the 1st fort built by the U.S. government.It was the 1st of 3 permanent fortifications and the 1st State Historical Site ever purchased.The fort was built to withstand attack by land or sea.
Today we took a ride down the coast just to take our time and take in the view. With the oil spill there aren't many out on the beach. The beach is a beautiful sugar white sand. We drove around the area and you can see where homes from Katrina had been wiped out. Here's the beach.