Wednesday, October 25 - Destin, Florida

Excited to start cruising, Captain and First Mate were ready at 8:00 a.m.  

Leaving Pensacola Harbor

 We needed to make sure those props were top notch and the boat was running smooth after being on the hard for two days (see last post), so we put the boat on plane!

The boat was working like a charm!!!  Continuing on our journey, we are beginning to get closer to the bridge we took to Pensacola Beach.  There's some REALLY nice homes to our port side (across from the beach).  This one includes a pretty fancy mother-in-law suite disconnected from the main house to the left!

 To our starboard is Pensacola Beach (notice the water tower?).

 The Pensacola Beach Bridge is straight ahead.

 As we pass under the bridge, we notice a few people are out enjoying this 

beautiful morning fishing at the pier.

AND THEN, THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:  DOLPHINS!!!  

These two are swimming right along our starboard, surfing our wake!!!

 One of them heads over to our port side, enjoying the surf for about ten minutes!!!  

IT WAS SOOOOO COOL!!!

 Now, if I could only get a photo of these guys jumping!  We see that a lot, but you never know where they're going to jump up from, so it makes it pretty challenging!

After leaving Pensacola Bay, the ICW begins to narrow.

On our starboard we see a unique tower with a dome to its left.  Using the Google, I try to figure out what this is, but I have no luck.  There are signs that say "private - keep out - no trespassing", so we figure it has to be government or military.

 A little further along the ICW, and to our port we see this huge airfield.  After some further investigating in our books, I see that this area (Fort Walton Beach) is an Air Force town.  The linchpin is Eglin Air Force Base, a military facility that's larger than the entire state of Rhode Island!

Soon we pass a tow; again, I think it's so unusual to see these in the ICW.

In the Fort Walton Beach area there are many homes with boats.  

This is the first souped-up house boat we've seen!!!

Soon we see some military planes; makes total sense!

For all of your needs while out on your boat, there's a floating general store in the ICW!!!😄

Right before we head out into our last bay for the day (Choctawhatchee Bay), we see this restaurant with a BEAUTIFUL patio; looks like a great place to relax with a cocktail!🍹

Out on the bay it's a great day for sailing; that's A LOT of sailboats!!!

We cross under the Choctawhatchee Bay bridge,

 and enter the Destin Harbor.

To the right of the white sand beach is another pass to the Gulf of Mexico.

Destin Harbor is to the left of that sand beach, and boy, is it a skinny harbor!!!

But, it has many cute shops, restaurants, and . . .

 

A LOT OF BOATS!!!

We get a tour of the whole harbor, as we're at one of the last marina's; Marbella Yacht Club.  

Tying up the boat was very interesting, as we only had poles and no dock!

Getting off the boat was a little tricky to say the least!

Excited for some exercise, we walked the one and a half miles to the beginning of the Harborwalk.

This tree was at one of the main entrances; very interesting,

 and beautiful!

We hear live music, so we head to AJ's for a cocktail and to enjoy the music.

 From our table, we can see the harbor (full of many boats) and the pass to the Gulf.

We even were entertained by this paddleboarder; he actually treated it like a sport!!!😉

Enjoyed a beautiful sunset, too!