The Gulf

Today we saw a lot of the Gulf of Mexico.  Shortly after entering Mississippi, 

we decided on a whim to shoot down to the gulf coast shoreline and enjoy views of the water.  It was a wonderful decision.  The drive along the water in Mississippi included beautiful sandy beaches and sparkling blue water on our right and big old and new oceanfront homes on the left side of the street for long stretches.  It was a peaceful drive with little traffic.  We returned to I-10 shortly after passing through Biloxi with its seven casinos!

We then repeated the jog down to the shoreline, as planned, in Alabama and again we were not disappointed.  We stopped and enjoyed the lush sandy beaches in Gulf Shores, AL and now understand why this area has become so popular.

The air temperature was only 60 degrees (water temp: 65) yet five brave young men decided it was okay for swimming.

This family decided to feed the sea gulls and soon became quite popular.

We were very surprised to discover how short the drive from Gulf Shores, AL to the Florida state border was. Soon we were driving along the "Emerald Coast" that stretches about 100 miles from Pensacola, FL to Panama City, FL.  Sadly we were disappointed.  Where Alabama and Mississippi have done a good job preserving the view of the ocean to those traveling by car, Florida has not. This stretch of Florida had few views of the ocean except when crossing water by bridge as shown below as we entered Gulf Breeze.

We had planned to stay at Panama City but we were unable to locate our hotel and ended up driving an additional hour or so to Port Saint Joe, FL.