Good morning wherever you may be. It is just past 9:30 a.m. in "This City", where the current temperature is a brisk 36° as we head for today's high of 52°. With the current 20 mph winds, it feels like 27° I anticipate that Sugar the Weather Dog will be getting a short walk this morning. I doubt that she will mind very much. Fortunately, we are not in Buffalo, NY, nor many other points north of
here. Memphis, Atlanta, Nashville, are all experiencing cold and snowy conditions. In GH, there have been reports of crashes on Rte. 31. As Micheal McCloud says in one of his songs, "Oh what the heck, I think we'll just stay right here. In fact we will be, for an additional week.

The weather will be sunny for the next few days, with temperatures in the 50s and windy conditions tomorrow. By Saturday, the temperature will rise to the lower 70s, but on Monday, we show a 70% chance of rain with temperatures in the lower 60s. I'll take it.

Mary and I went out yesterday in search of a place to stay and that took us to Navarre, and around the bend here on the beach. We found a place close to here that could accommodate us and the intrepid weather dog until the end of the month.

I did take some pictures in the Gulf Islands National Seashore along the way, which I will share shortly. In many ways I understand why people vacation here, but I don't understand why they live here, when they could be living in the Midwest. Each to his or her own I guess.

During the morning walk yesterday, we had to pick our way around the flotsam and jetsam left over from the Mardi Gras Parade on Sunday afternoon. Sugar wanted to sniff everything and pick up on some of the more interesting flotsam, so we had to restrain her.

Today I plan to do very little outside of that morning walk with Sugar. More time with Abaigeal, more newspaper reading, and more crossword solving. What's not to like?

The sun has already risen and it will set at 5:38 p.m.

So as promised, here are some of yesterday's pictures.

On the way to Navarre

Mother Ocean was angry

A nice picture from a moving vehicle

Back on the Beach

Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:30 a.m. in "This City."  A current temperature of 55° appears to be about as low as it will get this morning. Later today, we'll see a high temperature of near 70°, albeit the chance of rain increases to 40% as the day wears on. As the week progresses, the cold weather that has been plaguing the rest of the country will visit us in the form of 50° temperatures. Oh well, that's winter in Florida.

We had a great day at the Mardi Gras Parade yesterday. I was able to gather a large amount of pirate booty as the floats passed by, I'll include some pictures from the parade and of that booty later in this blog.

Otherwise, not much was happening around here. Lot's of people came to the parade, reminiscent of the Coast Guard Parade in our own fair city. Here it happened in February instead of late July/August. We spent some time on our deck and also at the parade itself. What an experience.

We also took a rather abbreviated walk with Sugar the Weather Dog, due in large measure to the crowds that began gathering at 10:00 a.m. yesterday morning. We should be able to get out this morning when the crowds are gone and the hubbub has died down.

The sun will rise at 6:29 a.m., and set at 5:38 p.m.

So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are those aforementioned pictures.

In addition to Mustangs, there are also Jeeps™

The parade stretched on for a mile or more

My Booty

Pirates get a lot of emphasis on "The Beach"

Next year I need to get pink hair, or any hair for that matter

By popular demand, blue skies 

Just like in GH, a pipe band was part of the parade

It was non-stop traffic prior to the parade

Parade goers occupied the median along Via De Luna Drive

Along with the EMS service, Escambia County's finest were also well represented

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:00 a.m. in "This City." A current temperature of 33° is as low as it will get this morning. Later today, the temperature will increase to 63 sunny degrees. Sunday there is a forecast for 58° and partly cloudy skies for the Mardi Gras Parade here on the beach. In Michigan, there are blizzard warnings up, with 45 mph winds and snow that will blow around easily. More snow near the "Big Lake."

Yesterday, we took the abbreviated morning walk with Sugar the Weather Dog. We came home and had breakfast and then Mary and I drove to Destin for a look around. On the way we passed Mary Esther, Ft. Walton Beach, and Navarre. None of those towns seemed to be an improvement on Pensacola Beach. We did have a nice lunch in Mary Esther at a place called Hot Heads™. They make tacos, burritos and bowls using a similar system to that used at Subway™. You choose your ingredients and they assemble them into a taco, burrito, or bowl. Not inexpensive, but very tasty.

To get to Destin and the other towns, we started out on the beach road from Pensacola Beach and exited onto Rte. 98 at Navarre Beach. This was midday and traffic was on the heavy side.

We returned to Pensacola Beach and stopped at Shaggys™ our local favorite watering hole, for a happy hour libation. With a little help from Mary, I took some pictures for Adam's enjoyment in the parking lot at Shaggys™.

Yes, there are Mustangs in Florida. The one on the right is a Shelby.  Yesterday, I saw an older Stang that was race built, replete with tunnel ram, traction bars, drag slicks etc. It was on the street, but why?

Today, we'll take the usual morning walk with Sugar. We should make it a bit farther today as the weather will be warmer, and that gives me more motivation. I plan to get in some additional time with Abaigeal in addition to working some crosswords. Mostly I plan to do as little as possible. I will enjoy the sunny skies and the warm temperatures. What's not to like?

The sun will rise at 6:29 a.m., and set at 5:34 p.m. Ciao

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 1:30 a.m. in "This City." A current temperature of 41° that feels like 34° due to a strong wind, is a tad cooler than yesterday's high of 64°. Today we can expect a high of 53°. We'll rebound on Saturday to a high of 62°, then on Mardis Gras parade day, we'll drop to 56°. While we are likely to see 62° on Monday, there is also an 80% chance of rain in the evening. Like Donny Osmond and his brothers sang so long ago, the temperatures will be like a Yo-Yo.

Yesterday, we took a nice walk in the morning in our shirtsleeves, as we accompanied Sugar the Weather Dog. The wind was blowing a bit, but it was comfortable. Later, Mary and I decided to walk towards the downtown area, to check out some of the bars/restaurants on the local boardwalk, but this being the off season, most were closed on days other than weekends. The few that were open had people smoking. In Florida, the law allows a bar that derives more than 90% of their income from liquor to allow smoking in the bar. Coming from Michigan as we do, we just can't handle that anymore. Before we left, I got in a few tunes with Abaigeal.

Today, we may take an abbreviated walk, and then drive down the beach towards Navarre Beach. If the winds continue to blow, we'll stay in the car. I also plan to play with Abaigeal again.

While we were out, I took two new pictures of the smoke from what was dubbed a controlled burn in Gulf Breeze. The smoke made a large plume, which you'll see shortly. In spite of the smoke, you;ll still see the blue skies that predominated most of the day.

The sun will rise at 6:31 a.m. today, and then set at 5:34 p.m.

Taken from the deck of our local favorite watering hole, Shaggys. The smoke originated in Gulf Breeze, across the sound.

See the explanation above

I took this a few days ago, but it nicely illustrates the boardwalk and the blue skies normally seen over the sound

Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. At 4:30 a.m. in "This City", it is 46°. We anticipate that's as low as it will get this morning  Right now it feels like 43° due to the light winds. Today a high of 62° will be followed by a high of 53° on Friday, then 62° on Saturday. Those temperatures will be followed by 53° on Sunday. In short, a roller coaster ride of temperatures for a few days. Like they say, that's winter in Florida.

Yesterday we took a nice morning walk with Sugar the Weather Dog. She is moving into middle age and a brisk pace quickly gives way to a slower trot instead of a full pull on the end of the "Human Puller."

In the afternoon, Mary and I decided to use some of our time to travel to Pensacola and visit the lighthouse that is located on the grounds of Naval Air Station, Pensacola. We had no idea what to expect, but it turned out that we were pleasantly surprised by a small museum, and a very tall lighthouse. We opted not to go all the way to the top which would require 117 steps up, but more importantly, 117 steps down. Having done a lighthouse before, it is the down trip that takes more out of your legs.

We did take some pictures to commemorate our visit. I'll share those shortly. Otherwise, we didn't do any of the things that we had planned. That's okay, because there is always another day. We came home to watch some news and then a movie with the intrepid weather dog.

The sun will rise at 6:31 a.m., and set at 5:34 p.m. In between, there will be sunny skies.

Now for some of those pictures.

As you approach the lighthouse and grounds

What's a museum without a tribute to the U.S. Coast Guard?

This is an old lighthouse and keeper's quarters

This gives a nice perspective

Naturally, the ocean is nearby

Yep!

At the top is the light and it's Fresnel Lens, used to magnify the relatively weak light so that it can be seen out at sea

The sky was blue, and the day was sunny

Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:00 a.m. in "This City." A current temperature of 38° feels chilly when compared to Monday's high, but when compared to the snow and ice of the north, we'll take it. As the lady that Mary, Sugar the Weather Dog, and I met on our early afternoon walk said, "This is winter here in Florida."

We didn't accomplish much on Tuesday, but that was the plan. We ate a late lunch after lolling around in bed for most of the morning. Then we took that aforementioned walk. Sweatshirts and hats were all that was required here, versus heavy coats and boots in the North.

We have no firm plans for today either. I will get in some time with Abaigeal and that's my plan that I'll be sticking to. Mary may have other plans, but that is up to her.

I downloaded those pictures that I mentioned yesterday, so I'll include a few now. The sun will rise at 6:33 a.m. and set at 5:32 p.m. In between, there will be more sunny skies.

Our first stop in Pensacola on Monday

The Sullivan family had some money n the early 1900s

One of the memorials in the Veteran's Memorial Park. This one to the families of service members

Across from the Veteran's Memorial, is this memorial to missing children It is located on the Gulf

This is a close up of the sculpture that depicts the circular nature of family life

Ciao.

Good morning. Yes, it is morning, and I didn't get up until 7:00 a.m. The sun has already risen at 6:33 a.m., and it will set later at 5:32 p.m. In between, we will have a sunny day and a high of 60°. According to the forecast supplied by the National Weather Service, we'll see today's high later this afternoon. Right now, the 43° temperature feels like 36° with the 10 - 20 mph winds. Looks like a sweatshirt kind of morning as Mary and I take the morning walk with Sugar the Weather Dog.

Yesterday we traveled to the city of Pensacola to visit St. Michael's Cemetery and the Veteran's Memorial Park. In many ways, the cemetery was more uplifting than the Veteran's Park. I'm betting that Mary will have more to say about that. I did take a series of pictures which I will include in a future blog. Right now I"m just too lazy to go downstairs and get my camera.

However, I can add a little bit of blue sky to my blog.

The sky as viewed from our abode.

Today we may return to Pensacola to see some things that were closed on Monday.

So as Forrest Gump was fond of saying, I'll leave you with this. "That's all I have to say about that." Ciao.