DESTIN TO DOG RIVER, ALABAMA

June 15 - Time to say farewell to colorful and picturesque Destin and head on west.

West of Ft. Walton Beach we saw numerous facilities associated with Eglin Air Force Base on both sides of the waterway.  On Santa Rosa Island was a lot of electronic equipment including the tower pictured below.

Soon we were crossing large Pensacola Bay and inlet, and then we approached Perdido Key where our good friends, Alan and Debbie Hager, live right on the Intracoastal.  Unfortunately, they left for Alaska a couple of days ago, so we missed seeing them.  Below is a photo of their house as we passed by.

Robert's Bayou was our destination for the night.  It was a little cubbyhole, but there was only one other boat anchored there, so there was room for us to drop our hook.  We met Alan & Susann from Port St. Lucie, FL aboard KAOS.

The attraction there was Pirate's Cove, which the cruising guide said was a "MUST SEE!"  It was definitely an unique little outdoor restaurant (using the term liberally)!  There were more dogs than people including a giant Mastic sprawled right in the middle of the floor.  We enjoyed visiting with Alan and Susann while eating.  It was a very hot, steamy night at anchor!!!

June 16 - We passed Lulu's, a neat looking waterfront restaurant owned by Jimmy Buffett's sister.  It looked like a fun place to stop, but it was too early in the day.  Shortly thereafter the Gulf Coast Intracoastal opened up onto Mobile Bay.  It was pretty windy as we charted our course in a northwesterly direction toward Dog River on the south side of Mobile.  Refueled at Dog River Marina prior to tying up for a three-night stay.

June 17-18 - We took advantage of the use of the marina's courtesy car to do some shopping and reprovisioning.  Omega got a much-needed washdown and we caught up on our laundry.  Alan & Susann (KAOS) arrived on the 18th, and we enjoyed dining with them at the Mobile Yacht Club.   We met two young ladies from Chicago who were doing the Loop on a small open boat.  They plan to write a book about their adventures.