I last posted on Saturday, when we did the Nostalgia Tour of Pensacola. On Sunday, that tour continued, when we drove west into Alabama and visited Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Foley. The beaches in this area are great, and we enjoyed walking on the sand. We like to take a different route home when we do these day trips, so we headed north to Foley, Alabama, to do a bit of shoe shopping at one of Donna's favorite shops, Sand Dollar Shoes. Unfortunately, there is also a huge outlet mall in Foley, so it was a two-stop shop. Sand Dollar is a store we visited years ago and found it to have a great selection of shoes and clothes. They have been so successful that they've expanded to a new location across the street in the mall, and have added two additional stores. Great! We were only able to decide on one pair of shoes (!), and got out of the store rather well, I thought. Lunch was upon us, so just down the street from the mall is the original location of Lambert's, the home of the Throwed Rolls. Only here it's pronounced "thow'ed". And yes, they do throw the rolls to you, from the aisle near your table or across the room, no matter, they are thow'ed! Lunch was good, the atmosphere was Cracker Barrel on steroids, and their gimmicks were amusing. For example, they have "Pass-arounds". In addition to your meal, young people wander the aisles serving fried potatoes, fried okra, boiled cabbage, macaroni and tomatoes, and, of course, the rolls. It's a "get what you want" thing, and we tried......potatoes, okra....and the rolls. The macaroni and tomato thing just didn't do it for us! Our entrees included chicken fried steak and chicken fingers. Not an every Sunday kind of place, but unique.
While we were in New Orleans, we discovered that several of the apps on the computer were no longer supported by the old operating system that we were using, so we set about preparing to install the latest OS. By Sunday evening, that task was completed, and I started configuring it. About 10 minutes into the process, the screen began flashing error messages, a voice demanded a call to Apple support to fix a severe security breach, and a "Apple tech support" phone number began flashing. Whoops! The computer is completely unresponsive to any command! I panicked and called the number, only to discover, after some time and with the help of Donna's friend Mary that we were the victim of "ransomware". When I called, the person guaranteed me that the problem could be fixed, and that I was in "good hands". When pressed to tell us what fixes were going to be performed, the answer was vague and had something to do with "installing Google Chrome". OK, I get it. Now my computer is infected, and I can't trust it anymore.
Fortunately, in midtown Pensacola, there is a computer store and Apple reseller called Graphicon. They are a certified Apple store, and were extremely helpful. They completely wiped the laptop and installed a new, certified version of the operating system. And they did it in record time...less than 24 hours! So I haven't been able to post while I'm setting things up with this new OS, but we've been busy seeing the sights, so I'll try to update.
Last Monday, we drove to NAS Pensacola. The US Navy has a huge air station here, as well as a complex of docks. Years ago, we toured the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy while she was in port, and thoroughly enjoyed it. This time we just cruised the area to see what changes had occurred since our last visit, and also as an excuse to have lunch at Sam's!
Sam's is a local favorite, with seafood from across the street: Joe Patti's! As you can see, Joe Patti has their own boat, and they sell fresh crab, fish, shrimp and the like caught the same day. It's a great place!
On the way home from lunch and our day trip, we stopped at Gulf Islands National Seashore, Naval Live Oaks Visitor's Center. Located just east of Gulf Breeze, FL, this preserve of historical live oak trees was established in the days of sailing ships to protect the supply of oak timber used in building ships. The Visitor's Center is small, but informative, and has a large outdoor deck with a view of the surrounding trees and Santa Rosa Sound.
Tuesday last, we took a short drive east of our park, Santa Rosa RV Resort in Navarre, to Fort Walton Beach, Destin, and Miramar Beach. These are some of the most beautiful beaches in the world! Have I said that already?
The beaches are ringed with high-rise condos, but are, for the most part, open to the public.
Even with all the activity of people going and coming, a very tiny gecko manages to hold on to a wooden railing!
We stopped at the Whales Tail for a light lunch of peel and eat shrimp and a chicken wrap on the patio with a great view.
And then stopped at one of a dozen or so Alvin's Island stores for some much needed beach chairs and flip flops!
Ahhh, life in the slow lane....
We missed the sunset that night, but relaxed on a nice warm evening watching the lights across the sound in Navarre Beach.
On Wednesday, we drove west past Pensacola Beach to the ruins of Fort Pickens. A huge facility kept in a state of arrested decay, it is fascinating to contemplate the methods of naval warfare in the 17 and 1800's. All about brute force and awkwardness, I think.
We stopped for a few hours on Langdon Beach to catch a little sun and sand and watch the fishermen lined up along the shore. Charter boats were cruising back and forth a hundred or so yards off-shore, and a couple of dozen fishermen had multiple fishing rods in use, so the fish must have been biting!
What more can I say?
The beach is not well known for large shells, but we had to look, nevertheless. These beaches are made of such a fine white sand that as you walk the sand "squeaks" with every footstep!
Taking the long way home through Navarre Beach, we saw miles and miles of white sand beaches. Near the town of Navarre Beach, the condos appeared again, but the beaches continued to be beautiful!
So there you have it. It's been a week of ups and downs. We still don't have the computer figured out yet, but we're gaining on it. The iPad and the phones are not syncing properly with the new OS, but we'll get it figured out. Tomorrow we leave the beach temporarily and head inland to the Florida State Capitol, Tallahassee, to see what kind of mischief we can get into there!
So sorry to hear about your computer problems, that is so frustrating! But what lovely beaches!!
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