Revisiting Old Haunts
We departed Mobile, Alabama after a two day visit. Cruising through Mobile Bay and turning east onto the Intra Coastal Waterway,
we soon entered Florida with its white sandy beaches. 
As we passed Pensacola Naval Air Station two Blue Angels took to the sky as if to welcome us. Our destination was Palafox Pier located at the foot of Palafox Street in the heart of downtown Pensacola, a great location from which to reacquaint ourselves with this historic city. Pensacola, the “City of Five Flags” was founded in 1513 by the Spanish Explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon. 
Over the years the flags of five countries, Spain, France, Great Britain, the Confederacy and the United States have flown over Pensacola, each leaving its unique mark on the city. Having lived in Pensacola while Harry was a flight student and later a flight instructor, our goal was to revisit a few of our favorite haunts.
We found Seville Quarter home of Rosie O’Grady’s Good Times Emporium which, back in the day, featured Dixieland jazz and served peanuts and beer. It has changed some since then, mostly expanding and adding five additional restaurants. The music is more current now; we enjoyed the “historic” photographs on the walls. We were fortunate to have arrived for “gallery night” where the art galleries and historic buildings of the downtown area were open and decorated for the holidays. Serving wine and appetizers, they were attempting to get a jump on the holiday shopping. The city was in a festive mood and we enjoyed it very much. Departing Pensacola, we cruised along Santa Rosa Island, past Navarre Beach, Fort Walton Beach and Destin, all places familiar to us when we lived in Niceville and Harry was assigned to the 3246 Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base. We headed directly to one of our favorite spots during that time, Rocky Bayou State Park
where many summer weekends were spent camping and water skiing. We “dropped the hook” at the doorstep of the park, launched the dinghy and went ashore.
Wandering the park brought back many wonderful memories!
We arrived in Panama City just before Thanksgiving. We were fortunate to have been invited to share Thanksgiving Dinner with the Vernon’s, AGLCA (America’s Great Loop) Harbor Hosts of Panama City. They opened their home to a group of boaters all of whom are traveling Americas Great Loop.
Great food and great people, it was an unexpected treat for those of us so far from home and family. Somewhere will remain in Panama City until mid January. Harry and Leslie will soon depart for California to visit Julie and her family then off to Moscow to visit Troy and his family. We will spend some time in Shallotte as well. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
we soon entered 
As we passed Pensacola Naval Air Station two Blue Angels took to the sky as if to welcome us. Our destination was Palafox Pier located at the foot of 
Over the years the flags of five countries, 
We found Seville Quarter home of Rosie O’Grady’s Good Times Emporium which, back in the day, featured Dixieland jazz and served peanuts and beer. It has changed some since then, mostly expanding and adding five additional restaurants. The music is more current now; we enjoyed the “historic” photographs on the walls. We were fortunate to have arrived for “gallery night” where the art galleries and historic buildings of the downtown area were open and decorated for the holidays. Serving wine and appetizers, they were attempting to get a jump on the holiday shopping. The city was in a festive mood and we enjoyed it very much. Departing 
where many summer weekends were spent camping and water skiing. We “dropped the hook” at the doorstep of the park, launched the dinghy and went ashore.
Wandering the park brought back many wonderful memories!
We arrived in 
Great food and great people, it was an unexpected treat for those of us so far from home and family. Somewhere will remain in 