Checking out the area

Okay this may be a little cruel but this is a little of what we have to deal with on the Gulf coast. Butterflies ... lots of butterflies. You folks in the north remember those beautiful little critters ... flitting about the garden last summer. You now know where they spend their winters. Some smart gardener will instantly know what kind of flowering bush this is, but whatever it is ... the butterflies were covering it by the dozens. Quite a sight. My cell phone camera didn't do the scene justice but I thought it might remind you of what next summer may look like.

Winter on the Gulf

While wandering around Pensacola the other day we caught sight of this old steamer parked along side a busy boulevard heading into town. There was no place to park nearby so I just had a short amount of time to pull into a no-parking area and snap a photo or two. The "Pride of Pensacola" was built in 1912 and remained in service until 1956. It was part of the Saint Louis - San Francisco Railway Company and was nicknamed the "Frisco". She had more than one million miles of service. For you railroad buffs she originally was 2-8-0 converted to a 2-8-2 around 1943.

The "Frisco" #1355

The Gulf coast shoreline along Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas have many inlets, canals, and rivers which act as natural harbors for the large private fishing fleet that thrives here along the Gulf. As this armada of small vessels ages, some are refurbished, some are dismantled and some are well... laid to rest. You'd think the proper way of ending the career of any respectful shrimp boat would be to scuttled it at sea but this poor soul has met a less glorious end.

The SS Minnow ???

Speaking of ships ... I found this behemoth (531 ft) docked in Pensacola an odd one, the Global 1200 was certainly not designed for racing. After studying it for sometime dockside, I could not figure out what this ship was tasked for. With a huge crane affixed to its bow the ship it was apparently designed for lifting something heavy ... but I was not sure what. Later investigation yielded that its mission is laying pipe in deep sea locations. With a crew of near 250, this ship was recently in service off the coast of South America.

Global 1200

We had a little misfortune with our coach because the exhaust pipe for the AquaHot heating system decided to rust itself to death and fell to the ground beneath the coach shortly after arriving in Gulf Shores. Since cooler weather is upon us, the need for that system to keep us warm is pretty high. We do have some backup ability and an electric space heater, but before too long I need to get this fixed. Not as simple as taking it to the local Tuffy Muffler shop but once I figure out what I'm going to do I'll let you know.

So from butterflies to ocean going ships, we trudge along exploring what's around us. Lots to see and do and still livin' the dream.

Phil