After the long, arduous months in the rivers, we finally received the pay off: the powdered sugar sand beaches and the clear, sea green waters of Florida’s Emerald Coast. From Pensacola to Panama City Beach, this strip of glorious coastline served up its healing powers to my hungry heart. Glorious beaches by day and spectacular sunsets every evening. This area was hit hard last year by Hurricane Michael but they are slowly recovering – some marinas are all fixed up, others are in progress, and some were completely wiped out. A girl could live in this beautiful spot (well, in the winter!)

Panama City Beach

St Andrews State Park

That lovely water…

Our friends Michelle and Berry were our first guests to travel a section of the Loop with us – they joined us during the Fairhope to Orange Beach, AL leg. We met them in Traverse City, MI (their summer home) and connected with them again in Fairhope, AL (their winter home. They know how to live, right?) We’ve heard tell that Berry caught the “boat bug” along the way…sorry, Michelle, lol.

Berry and Michelle

Team Joy Girl

Loop travel day

Orange Beach

The Wharf at Orange Beach

Pensacola is a trendy, historic spot with great restaurants and bars. It was a perfect place for me to stay while Craig celebrated his Mom’s 90th in Chicago…

From the airplane: the Illinois Waterway we traveled down this summer

Birthday dinner with Linda, Shirley, Gary and Craig

Birthday party at Park Place

Amazing birthday cake highlighting memories of Shirley’s life

Niki’s stay in Pensacola…

Pensacola Pelican

Pensacola sunset

Michelle and me at Orange Beach

Seagulls

Pensacola park

Museum

Historic Seville Quarter now a huge bar with 7 different rooms.

We spent four vacation days at Treasure Island Marina in Panama City Beach. I couldn’t stop grinning as we biked a mere 5 minutes to the beach each day, collected shells, ate lunch at the beach side restaurant and had the best She Crab soup EVER. Captain Craig isn’t a beach guy but was very patient as I soaked up the beauty and even shot his own surf relaxation video.

Me=Happy

Emerald Coast

Panama City Beach

Hungry pelican

Kite surfing

Egret

Pelican nap

Supreme Commander Scully

Kite surfing in paradise

Ripple sunset at anchor

Sunset at anchor

Sunset through Joy Girl’s eyes

PCP sunset

Today we are traveling to Apalachicola located in the Forgotten Coast, at the eastern tip of the Panhandle. We’ll stay about a week since our next leg is crossing the Gulf (gulp!) of Mexico and we need a good weather window to make that 20+ hour, overnight passage to Clearwater. Right now, that window may not open until next Tuesday or Wednesday. Thankfully, it’s rumored to be a charming town and I found The Owl Cafe, a waterside restaurant in a historic building that’s serving Thanksgiving dinner (turkey AND fried shrimp!)

Speaking of the crossing, I might be interviewing for a new Captain to transport me across the Gulf. While Craig may not have good taste in beaches, he does seem to be tasty…

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Although we miss family and friends, we are very grateful for our incredible blessings.