Two fer One!

Well, not really but I thought I'd give a quick update on what we've been up to for the past month or so.

After Christmas our next regular trip to the boat would have been mid January. The restaurant was closed for the month and no real projects were calling us so we opted for plan "B". My sister Kathy's birthday is mid January and she expressed an interest in getting away for a bit since it was a special birthday (the kind where you change numbers). I suggested our friends Mike & Gretchen's condo in Panama City Beach as an option and she was all in! The plan evolved to a few days in New Orleans since she had never been there and then a few days in PCB before a stop at the boat on the way home to check her out.

Sorry, no pictures to share from NOLA as it was a bit cool and damp. We covered a lot ground in 2 days, saw the Quarter of course as well as some time uptown, Magazine St,  and dinner at one of our favorites Jacques-Imos and a Ramos Gin Fizz at Tujague's. It was a short stay but I think Kathy will be back. I know we will...in April!

Next we headed East along US 90 on what we like to call the Gulf Coast pub crawl. I had the bright idea to take the Dauphin Island Ferry to get over to Gulf Shores and lunch at LuLu's. Turns out we got to the island just before the start of their Mardi Gras parade and wouldn't make the ferry until 3:30 if we waited...we didn't. Took the long way around Mobile Bay and got to LuLu's for a late lunch after a stop at Billy's seafood for a few pounds of Royal Red shrimp (taste like lobster!)

Eventually we made it to the condo and crashed pretty hard. We spent the next couple of days checking out the area going as far as Apalachicola and having a few oysters at Boss Oyster House.

Sister Kathy & Bro-in-Law Ron at Boss

After the oysters we walked around town a bit and along the waterfront. We saw an eagle across the river although I couldn't get him to look at the camera. I also tried out my artsy side with some shrimp boat pictures.

Shy Eagle

Artsy Shrimp Boat

We also found a nice lunch spot back in Panama City and right on the water called Bayou Joe's.

Bayou Joe's

We are definitely looking forward to seeing these places again when we head that way with the boat in the fall.

Back at the condo we got to spend a bit of beach time as well as a fantastic dinner with the Royal Red's. The sunsets are pretty spectacular in this area as the beach faces west/southwest.

Pelican looks for dinner

Alas we had to head north but spent a night at the boat on the way home to show our guests the new digs. All was well at the boat and they got introduced to the fantastic food at Patti's 1880's. It was a bit cool and damp at times but all in all a great trip. Happy birthday Kathy!

Jill and I weren't done traveling just yet. Since her birthday is the 31st we decided to fly down to the Keys for a long weekend birthday celebration. We spent a couple of days in Marathon and checked out marinas we hope to be docked at this time next year. We also met several fellow boaters (and Bloggers) living the dream in the Keys. Next we went to Key West for Jills birthday and checked out a few marinas there as well as several bars...it's what we do. I'll dig up some pictures of that trip for the next installment.

We made it back down to the boat for a long Valentines day weekend. Not much going on but the restaurant is back open and we met some more dock neighbors. Really looking forward to Summer down there. In fact, I'm looking forward to Summer anywhere! I've shoveled snow the past 3 days and the high tomorrow is expected to be 7!! This sure ain't Chasing 80!!

Till next time....