Loop Life with Greg and Reenie: THE PANHANDLE

Back aboard Thistle and we are ready to start our Great American Loop journey on the Intracoastal Waterway.

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a 3,000 mile inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Coast's of the United States. Some of the waterway consist of natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays and sounds, while other sections are artificial canals. The northern end of the Intracoastal Waterway is Boston, Massachusetts and the southern end is Brownsville, Texas.

The next few days we will be on the Gulf Section of the Intracoastal Waterway, and will travel about 250 miles. We entered the ICW off Mobile Bay on the way to Carrabelle, Florida. The ICW provides a channel with a depth of at least 12 feet. The Gulf Waterway was proposed in the early 19 century, but opened in 1949.

The ICW parallels the Florida Panhandle. The "Panhandle" is the unofficial term for the western section of Florida. It is a strip of land about 200 miles long and 50-100 miles wide. The Panhandle is nicknamed "The Forgotten Coast." The area has remained true to it's southern hospitality and conservative values. Today the Panhandle is known for its hurricanes, white sandy beaches, barrier islands, and excellent boating and fishing.

We enjoyed the Panhandle more than expected:) Back in the salt water is a great feeling!

Once finished with this section of the ICW, we have the only overnight passage on the Great American Loop Adventure. We have been constantly checking multiple weather reports to ensure a safe crossing across the Gulf of Mexico to Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Leaving Apalachicola in the morning ...all reports look good :)

We will update our family and friends after our approximately 24 hour passage!

XO wish us good luck along with the dolphins :)

Looper Tip: Start checking your weather window to cross in Mobile! (In November 2016 there were only 11 good weather window days.)

Dinner at the Mobile Yacht Club... fresh grouper and Gulf shrimp!

Excellent:)

Thistle's 1,000 hour service, bottom clean and new zincs.

Going from fresh water to salt water ...

Back across Mobile Bay...we are getting good at this!

We saw the USS Mobil going across the Bay...very exciting!

Entering the Intracoastal Waterway.

Our first stop was one night at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

We enjoyed dinner and live music at LuLu's, Lucy Buffet 's Restaurant.

(Yes, Jimmy Buffet's CrAZy SiStEr !).

Our next stop was two nights at The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach, Alabama.

The Wharf was hosting the World Food Championships.

It was fun to watch the "Cheferee" judge the cooking contest.

Best of all...Greg won a fancy cookware set by being the first person to #hashtag the event:)

When we departed The Wharf we decided to "Cheferee" our dining experience!

The bruschetta at red & white won first place :)

We are in Florida!

Next stop the Pensacola!

On our way into the harbor we helped a small sailboat.

That night we enjoyed our first oysters.

Good night Pensacola XO

The following day, dolphins followed Thistle's wake :)

We watched and heard the Blue Angels practice... their home base is Pensacola.

(We did not take this picture... impressive to watch, impossible to photograph from a boat?)

Next stop Sandestin, Florida!

We were fortunate to attend the grand opening of Provisions:)

At the celebration we met some very nice and friendly community members...thanks for your wonderful hospitality.

Sights around Sandestin.

It's a planned community where everyone rides a bike or drives a golf cart :)

Our new friends from Sandestin shared pictures from the 4th of July festivities!

More dolphins:)

Next port Saint Andrews Marina in Panama City, Florida.

Just The Cook Off The Hook is a floating restaurant in the Marina. It's owned by, Ernie Hall a celebrity chef and actor. We cheered dinner and sunset on the restaurant rooftop:)