Good Morning Floridians!!  A cloudy day for us all.  We have a 55 mile day planned for today.  You see, we are on another “hurry up” to get the maximum distance during these beautiful days ahead to get to Apalachicola so we can “wait” for the optimal weather for crossing the Gulf of Mexico.  Additionally, some big wind is coming this weekend and we want to be safely secured place for 25-35 mph winds.  We have heard that those kinds of winds are not terribly bad within the protected waters of the ICW (GIWW).  I don’t know since this is the first time we have ever been in the GIWW.  Caution becomes our watch word.  Patience is the other.  I am sure you can imagine all the other words that might pop up in your mind that I might say.  hahaha

Still looks like a rocket ship ( to Mars?) in the morning light!

If you haven’t been able to tell up to this point, I am really a SciFi fan and that does look like an old style rocket ship.  It could be taller, though.  Did you ever see the Star Trek Movie “First Contact” about an engineer who caught the Vulcan’s attention with his warp engine on a rocket ship that looked just like that one?!?!  Well, if you did, you know what I mean.  If you haven’t watched it, it has enough humor for even the non-science viewer to appreciate.  (Live Long and Prosper)

Leaving Palafox Pier, Panama City, FL

Wayne looked over and told me to capture this moment.  Sun rays peeking the cloudy morning.

As with all forecasts, we were expecting about a foot of waves in this area.  Maybe out in the Gulf because we had almost flat water within the GIWW.  I thought I read that we might have a “light chop” but this certainly wasn’t choppy either.  Very nice boating!!

Calm Waters this morning!

Scenery along the GIWW this morning

We like to use paper charts so we can see the big picture.  We had taken the advice of another Looper ( Gold now ) to highlight the path we plan on traveling the next day.  It makes it easier to see all the day’s travel easier.  As I highlighted today’s path, I saw a couple of “warnings” that looked interesting.

Eglin Air Force base is close by.  Danger 334.700 refers to this area being used as a gunnery range (https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/33/334.700).  By definition at the link, we can boat in these waters unless the Air Force is using the area for firings.  They will notify the public.  Great!  That little warning about unexploded bombs certainly would keep the normal fishermen out of the area!!  Who wants to troll around these waters?  Wowza!!

Choctoawhatchee Bay

Interesting to note, we saw very very few boats in these waters!!  Very few.  Actually, I think we were the only boat we saw almost all day.  We didn’t dawdle either.  Just made me nervous.

Then Wayne notices these planes flying above our heads.  Undoubtedly, they were practicing formation patterns.  Nothing to worry about.  Really.  There are movies that come to mind where people are chased by planes like this.  Can you think of at least one?

Late morning view along the waterway

Dolphins in the morning!!  Several dolphins in this group.  Lovely to see these fine creatures follow along even for a few minutes.  

We can’t hazard a guess what this tall structure is supposed to be.  Actually, Wayne’s first thought is that it is a very poorly disguised UFO.  “Men in Black” type.  We aren’t exactly sure whether this is a Light House that doesn’t appear on the charts or chart plotter software.  Looks quite interesting.

Alien? UFO holder? Light House?

The charts have identifiers I have mentioned before.  Towers, Radar Dome, etc so that you can tell where you are based on the landmarks around you.  That thing above??  Isn’t noted.  Maybe it is new.

Radar Dome! This IS noted on the charts

We arrived at BayTowne Marina, Sandestin, FL in the early afternoon.  Plenty of time for a short nap before walking into the “The Village of Baytowne Wharf” for dinner.

We were told to follow the Wharf walkway from the Marina to the Village.  The path is amongst those trees.  Wayne said…did you actually see someone walking on the path?  Are you sure it really leads to the Village.  Of course, it does!!

The Walkway from the marina to the Village

The Wharf walkway lets you meander by several viewing towers, dog park, and swampy smells.  No unusual critters seen, though.  Trees overhang the walkway.  It is like stepping back in time from the modern beach scenes with fast boats and tennis rackets  to vintage south.

The Village is quaint collection of restaurants and stores.  Steaks, seafood, pizza, hamburgers, and mexican eateries.  We must have been early.  The only restaurant with more than a few patrons was the Acme Oyster House.  We ate where all the people were.  Pretty darn good.

As the evening darkened, the Village streets were alive with light and more patrons.

Street lights in the Village

That swampy smelling, dark wooden, go back in time walkway became a nice pleasant walk back to the marina.  I hadn’t noticed the lights before.  The path was well lit and seemed less menacing.  No strange swamp noises were heard.  🙂

Well lit pathway back to the Baytowne Marina

Early to rise tomorrow!  Eastward, young people, eastward!!