Navarre Florida Trip 2009

[drago]

Our boat has been much underused the last couple of summers due to big projects around the house. Most of those are nearing completion now and I’m sitting around doing small honey-doos. The last real major trip was at Lake Travis in 2010 other than on our local lake.
The one I want to share here is to Navarre Florida in May of '09. It was odd. We went mid May for a surprise for Mother's Day and when we got there had to hit Wally World for sweatpants and light jacket. That week turned out to have lows in the 50s with high not reaching 70. The dew points were in the 40s with winds gusting north at 25!! Crazy weather for mid May in Navarre Florida. I tried posting this at another forum but the pix would never show up. Just wanting to share with other boaters the wonderful area along the ICW in the panhandle of Florida.
We rented an amazing house from VRBO on a canal just west of the Navarre Parkway Bridge.
[/URL]

This view is from the White Sands rd. Our pontoon is parked at the 2nd House (white roof). The spot was high up in the canal and we had to watch the tides carefully since we put in at the public ramp on the southwest side of the bridge and had to be able to get out.
[/URL]

We could step right out to the boat. Really nice setup.
[/URL]

The big Navarre Parkway Bridge is sometimes crowded especially at holidays.
[/URL]

[Moser]

Welcome Drago and thanks for the FL pics.

[rickdb1]

Looks like a beautiful area. Great pics!!

[drago]

I have a few more pix from that trip..........

We got out a couple of days when the wind was not so high but it was still very cool for May. The high was 69 the day I took shots. This is the Condo Complex on Navarre Beach. Since '09, it has grown more.
[/URL]

We got underway and cruised east to Destin.
[/URL]

The shore on the south side of the sound aka ICW (Intercoastal Waterway) is thin in parts and sandy with many military early warning radar domes.
[/URL]

Over on the north side we noticed much private housing.
[/URL]

[drago]

And then there were other things to see....

It was a nice day for cruising if you bundled up and kept the speed below 10MPH.
[/URL]

I managed okay in a light t-shirt. Captain Drago
[/URL]

I spotted an old beached sailboat
[/URL]

Along the way several feathered friends were spotted as well as some not so feathered flyers.

Saw this napping adult Brown Pelican in breeding colors.
[/URL]

[drago]

As well as one hunting the shallows.
[/URL]

I call this guy Buoy Bird aka Common Tern
[/URL]

Some of the non feathered friends we spotted were out of Hurlburt Field
[/URL]
A little closer view of the Osprey.
[/URL]

[drago]

These last 3 pix round out the trip.....

And a KC130 doing touch-n-goes into Elgin.
[/URL]

The beach between Destin and Pensacola is just awesome with its fine white sands.
[/URL]

There are tons of places to chow down and we often partake of the great food and service. This is at the Flounders Chowder House nearly to Pensacola.
[/URL]

[rickdb1]

Great pics Ken! Beautiful place... Thanks for posting them.

[Captain Tony]

Wow.. Ken, those are great. A veritable travel log of a really nice place to go. Thanks for the great shots. I like the Osprey pics, it's unusual to see one in a bank with the motors/rotors tilted at that angle. These are not the most stable craft but really fascinating. Thanks again.
We were at the lake of the Ozarks this past weekend, (that's in middle Missouri for those who don't know it) and during the early fall we always get migrating fowl stopping over. This weekend alone we had over 100 American Pelicans, the usual Herons, a dozen white Egrets, lots of black winged Terns, and a few Cormorants. One of the few times I didn't pack my big Sony Digital and the cell phones don't do justice to bird pictures.

[WaterLogged]

Do you know what the shutter speed was on the picture of the Osprey, it sure stopped the propellers, uh rotors, uh propelotors dead.

glernn