Last days at the Gulf

On Wednesday the weather was again surprisingly good, so we took a trip to Johnson Beach, part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The beach was really, really lovely though. Since there is an entrance fee to the National Seashore, there were very few people around, a nice change from the spring break crowds at Gulf Shores. While here was some blue sky occasionally, the wind was fierce. I am still amazed at how super fine and white the sand is. “Sugar sand” is a very appropriate name.

Thursday would be our last day at the Gulf, so we decided to visit the Naval Air Museum at Pensacola NAS. Like every other military museum I have ever been to, it was fantastic. I always prefer looking at the older planes because I have less experience with them, and they had a tremendous collection.

The oldest one from WW1 days
One of the last “Flyting Boats”. It even has a keel line and rudder.
Just a great older helicopter
Fantastic replica of the Apollo moon landing

While at the NAS, we also visited the headquarters of the Gulf Islands National Seashore so Kevin could get a pin. He tries to pick one up at each park we visit, and his collection is pretty impressive. We took the long way back across the beaches, then went to dinner at Acme Oyster Bar. Luckily they had more than oysters since neither of us like them. I had a great lightly fried fish with a gorgeous butter/shrimp topping, and Kevin ate a good roast beef open face sandwich. I hadn’t had seafood the entire trip, and I just had to get some. We also finished catching up on laundry and other exciting housekeeping chores.

We left today, and we are spending the night in a Walmart on the south edge of Birmingham. We tried to get a campground, but all the good ones were already full (oh the joys of spring break in the south). Lily is really getting into the groove of travel.

She just loves this one particular lap quilt, and I am sure she thought Kevin left it on his lap just for her. She probably sat there a total of 2 hours in a couple of different shifts.

Tomorrow we arrive in Paducah, the quilting Mecca. We will stay 3 days so we can see the National Quilt Museum, do some shopping for my granddaughter due in May, and probably drive some in the land Between The Lakes area.