Dinner @ LuLu’s and On To Florida

Days on cruise:  239

Distance traveled:  34.8 miles

Travel time:  4 hrs, 9 mins

Total trip odometer:  5,229 statute miles

Today’s travel was easy, if cold, with only Pensacola Bay to throw up some whitecaps, current and wind; the rest was calm.

Dinner at LuLu’s last night was fun; interesting to see the place we’ve heard so much about, though our waiter told us it was “dead” last night compared to summer when the line at the door for a table is 2+ hours. We’re glad we’re here in winter! There’s live music every night from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but only on weekends in winter months.

The one-man band was good, but not great. The same could be said of their $8 margaritas served in a plastic cup.  Where’s Charlotte when we need her? The “Cheeseburger in Paradise” was also good and more reasonably priced at $10.

There’s lots of outdoor entertainment at LuLu’s, including volleyball, a ropes/climbing structure, a sandy beach, and Corn Hole, a game we recently heard about for the first time from our soon-to-be-son-in-law Justin. Cathryn gave it a try (below) in the dark, windy, cold evening, and found she needs to practice. Merwin and Crystal first introduced us to the Bahamian “Ring Game” (above) last January at Fort Pierce.

LuLu’s sits directly on the Gulf ICW and no doubt has a  great view of the action in warmer months when the windows are thrown wide open.

We  left Homeport Marina and Lulu’s Sunday morning to continue our eastward trek along the Panhandle.

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Alabama is lined by homes, but more modest ones than in Florida.

It’s also not all big yachts.

All we need is some sunshine!

We must be in Florida; first pink house in many months.

We were right!

Another sign: sugar-white sand dunes.

What’s that? Beside the boat!

We’ve got company!

We were going 9mph, and they had no trouble keeping up.

This pair of bottle-nosed dolphins followed the boat for more than 5 minutes before they tired of surfing in our bow wake.

Cathryn says if Bob sings to them while taking photos, they’ll stay longer.  Bob thinks they’d leave immediately.

It ain't the Tenn-Tom anymore, above.

With both wind and current contributing to the difficulty, Cathryn threaded her way backwards through these pilings to get us into our slip at Santa Rosa Yacht and Boat Club.  The experience sure proved Captain Chris’s saying “make the pilings your friend” come true as she used them to “assist” in the turn.

The photos illustrate that the weather continues to be grey, cloudy and cold.  While warmer than the 37 degrees on our first morning at Dog River Marina, it’s still mid 50s during the day and drops to the low 40s at night. The forecast is for 70 later in the week, with night time lows in the 60s.  We hope so as there are some great anchorages in this stretch, but it’s too cold to go without heat, so we’ll stay in marinas until it warms up. The dockmaster here says Santa Rosa has two seasons: January and Summer! Reminds us of what we were told while in Alaska a couple years ago, which they say also has two seasons:  August and Winter!