2/11/15 - 3/6/15 Bay St. Louis Municipal Harbor - Bay St. Louis MS

We left Biloxi and made our way out the ICWW and, following our chart, avoided shallows, spoils and shoals down to Bay St. Louis Municipal Harbor.  The Rail Road Bridge operator was very nice and quickly opened the bridge and we easily made our way into the marina.

Welcome to Bay St. Louis.

We went straight to the fuel dock to get a pump out.  Then docked on 2-17.

After settling in we walked over to The Blind Tiger, a restaurant overlooking the marina, for lunch. Great view...There is a nice bar and really good food.

The marina is a newly built facility... using FEMA money after Katrina.  No floating docks, but a great location right on the main street within walking and bike-riding distance to shops, hotels and a beautiful shoreline.  The marina is right by a train track... which blows by throughout the day and night.  However, after the first couple of days really did not bother us.  However, the wave motion did!  The one major problem with the marina is that there is no breakwater.  The marina sits at the west edge of the Mississippi Sound... where there are no barrier islands, and no protection for the swells from the Gulf.  Unbelievable wave action rocks the boats whenever the seas are higher than 2 ft.  The good news is that, while we were here, the City Counsel voted to build the much-needed breakwater and should be build fairly quickly.  I have to say, that even though we love the city... we will not be back until they do.

On to the good times... We drove over (Diane and Curtis have their truck here) to a chic little boutique restaurant for breakfast. Mockingbird Cafe.  The
Food would have been great... but service was not good and it was served cold.  Plus it was expensive.  Been there... done that!  But we were able to get a Geocache from the cemetery next door.

We drove around the area checking everything out.  Curtis and I stopped at a local salon and had our hair cut.  Jamie did a great job!  We will be back.

Lunched in 'Old Downtown Bay St. Louis'  

We rode back to Seabrook with Curtis and Diane to see the kids and pick up our truck.  We decided to wait for Diane to go to Audry's Member Guest and then they will come back and travel some more with us.  

When we got back to the boat the weather was getting worse.  Still cold, more wind, and rain.  Not much to do but hang out in the boat.  Al got the tire on his bike repaired and we went to the laundry mat and washed clothes.  When the weather finally cleared we found a beautiful day to ride the bikes.  

The shoreline is beautiful.  There are several piers and public pavilions along the beach. 

 White sand, very well manicured.  

We met a fellow heading the Kemah.  John Mayton.   We took him to the laundry and Walmart for groceries, stopping for lunch at a local restaurant Dempsy's Seafood and Steaks.  Not what we had expected, and not rushing to go back.

Mike Terry came by and took us to the Yacht Club for dinner.  It is a beautiful facility and the food was really good. He grew up in the area and he showed up photos of the sailing club he was in when he was a boy.  We really enjoyed the evening.  It was very nice of him to do that.

We enjoyed our stay at Bay St. Louis, but look forward to coming back after they have put in a break-wall.  We are really glad we had the truck too, since we were there for so long and it gave us a chance to explore the area.

Finally, tomorrow is a weather window... we will head to New Orleans.  

2/8/15 - 2/10/15 - Biloxi MS - Point Cadet Marina

The morning was spectacular.  The Mississippi was as calm and smooth as I have ever seen it.  The water met the horizon and you could barely see where on ended and the other started.

Everything was reflected in the water

The boat left a gentle wake behind us

As the waves started moving a little more the looked like diamonds in the water.

Good-bye Alabama and Hello Mssissippi

Dolphins where everywhere and the escorted is along the way.

Our trip over was great... but when we got into the marina we went by the fuel dock before going to our slip.  We talked to them on the phone and they told us to come into the marina, Go to the back and pick the middle of the 3 slips at the fuel dock.  Well, when we go there the slip had a boat already in it so they waved us over to the one on the left and it was angled with a very short finger pier.  We had a hell of a time getting into the slip.  No casualties, but it was really "unpleasant"

Settled in to our slip on the T-Head we went to the Casino for dinner.    The next day we just did some sight seeing.  And of course Geocaching.

We walked along the beach.. I wrote "I love Al" in the sand.. and I tried to smooth out my footprints before  wrote Al and it looks like I wiped out a name and then wrote his.

We drove over to Bay St. Louis to take a look at the new marina.  We thought that since we were going to stay in the area for a month we would check it out.  We were going wait for Curtis and Diane to come back from Audrey's Member Guest Tournament.  It looked like the place to be.

2-7-15 - The Wharf - Orange Beach, FL

We left Niceville bright and early for our trip back to The Wharf... we decided that since we had spent so much time in Panama last year that we would skip it altogether this time.

The trip was great and the dolphins were everywhere.

We arrived at The Wharf and settled in. We went to Walmart to get provisioned.  The got the boat ready to leave first thing.  We would be going across the Sound and hoped for great weather again.

2/6/2015 -Bluewater Bay Marina, Niceville, FL

Curtis left with us to head back over to Nicevill and Diane drove their truck back to the Wharf.  Susan and Jerry then drove her to meet us in Niceville.

I walked over to the fuel dock to give the dock hand something to thank him for helping us come in. While I was there a saw sailboat named "Cambria".  They do a lot of racing in the bay so I think, since it had no canvas, that it was probably a racer.

 The sunset was just beautiful.  Snapped a picture when we headed up to have dinner with Jerry and Susan.

2/4/15 - Panama City - Panama City Marina

What started out yesterday to be a very very cold morning ended with the evening being a rainy one. We picked an excellent weather window.  We were not able to get back into St. Andrews because of all of the festivities there for Mardi Gras.  So we went to Panama City Municipal Marina.  It was really very nice.  There was considerable construction going on with new entrance and landscaping going on.  It really is going to be nice when they are done.

We got tied up, settled in, met a nice couple Tom and Gladys - From Beaumont Yacht Club.  We invited them to the Spring Fling.

The weather chilled off and rain came in ... but the scene at the marina was so very pretty and peaceful.

Unfortunately, we found out that Al's Bike had a flat tire... And we asked Curtis to pick one up for us when they came back in a day or two.   So we had to walk.

The town was just a long block in and we were really close to several restaurants and what looked like really good shops.   We did not get a chance to go in any, except the Dollar Store.... looking for an bike tube and a box to mail a gift in.

We passed by a storefront for the local Democrat Women's Club.  They had a picture in the front window of Martin Luther King.  Someone really should let them know that MLK was a Republican!

Curtis and Diane drove back over to meet us and brought Al a new tube for his bike tire.

2/3/15 - Alter Course - New Destination - 29.5686° N, 95.0225° W

Our final night before we Alter our Course

An amazing Harvest Moon

Well, after 5 months of moving east.... we have turned around.  Altered our course to go back home for a while... I am missing our grandbabies!  After considering that once we made the crossing... that is to cross from the panhandle to the west coast of Florida, we will have committed ourselves for the long-range cruise. That would make it more and more difficult and costly to go home as frequently as I would like.

So, back we go to Seabrook and our little ones.  We plan to do lots of local cruising through the summer and head back east again in October.  We may complete the loop eventually... just not this time.

When we got up this morning the temp was 33.. but the wind was not bad and the weather window just right to head out.  We took on some fuel, said good bye to Dean and his staff... and headed west.

Looking forward to the trip back as we meander that way... No rush... but we plan to be home in March.