Since we had dropped off our car in Port St Joe before leaving Florence, Alabama, we decided to take a drive along the main highway to Mexico Beach on Thursday. We did not try to tackle much in the way of boat projects that day and simply enjoyed the wonderfully warm fall weather. In the afternoon, Mike and Harriet arrived on m/v Dual Dreams and took a side tie along the north dock. Late afternoon we walked over to the Haughty Heron which is a bar, a liquor store and a cigar store. Lucky us! Happy Hour was just about to begin so we had a cocktail before going back to our boat for a light fish supper.
Friday was another lovely day. The marina was sponsoring a gathering for the local Humane Society and provided hot dogs, chips, drinks and a place to bring a few of the animals from their facility. We had been thinking about getting another dog for the last few months but the representatives hadn’t brought any small ones. No problem, we found out where the Humane Society was located and drove out to see what we could see. They had a lot of big dogs and one really cute rat terrier / blue heeler puppy they called ‘Finch.’ Finch’s previous owner’s last name was Finch and the name seemed to fit him well. If Finch had been a female, ‘she’ might have gone home with us that day. That evening, we met Mike and Harriet for happy hour up by the marina building before walking over to the Haughty Heron. After we’d had enough, we made a quick stroll to the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and picked up some freshly steamed shrimp to share for our dinner.
On Saturday morning, Maureen and Harriet loaded up the laundry and headed over to the local coin operated laundromat. As our clothes were washing, we walked across the street to check out the Farmers Market. Neither of us bought anything since the only cash we had on us were the quarters we needed for the machines. It was just as well – Maureen was drawn to the sweets and we had been doing such a good job of avoiding them lately.
We learned there was a Wine and Art Festival taking place in Mexico Beach. It sounded like a good time, so at 3 pm, with Mike and Harriet, we piled in the car and drove to the Driftwood Inn where the festival was taking place. There was a $5 entrance fee and if you wanted a commemorative wine glass, that was another $5. Oh, and if you wanted wine, it was another $5 for about a 5 oz serving. Thankfully, we didn’t buy any glasses. The wine that was being served was not very good and there were only a few artists displaying their wares. Our first clue that we might be disappointed was from the guy who walked out about the time we were coming in and plopped his commemorative glass on the ticket table telling them to resell it. He said, “It was a complete waste!”
Not to be deterred, we decided to try out some other places. Toucan’s was a fun sports bar / tiki bar on the beach; we stopped at the Windmark property between Port St Joe and Mexico Beach and were pleasantly surprised by the happy hour prices. From there it was on to the Haughty Heron for the Songwriters’ Festival that had started the night before and various artists were singing at different venues in the area. The singing began at 7 pm and we stayed for a little over an hour. We were all getting hungry and planned on going to the Mexican Restaurant, Peppers, because we had heard it was very good. However, Gale got hung up trying to purchase CDs and asking questions about some of the songs. Mike and Harriet decided they were ready to go home and make something quick for dinner. We soon followed suit and went home ourselves.
Sunday morning was spent on chores and picking up a few groceries. At 3:30 pm, the two of us took a dinghy ride out into the bay and a short distance up the Gulf Canal. Gale threw in his fishing line and it wasn’t long before something hit.
After a few minutes’ fight, he brought a small (30-inch) shark up to the dinghy. He didn’t want to get close to those teeth, so he cut the line and let it go with his hook. The next hit was a large lizard fish – Yuk! Then something REALLY big snapped his line after swallowing the lure and an 18-inch steel leader. These three hits were all out in the bay. While in the canal, he hooked a big catfish. It was time to quit and call it a day. About 6 pm, one of the charter fishing boats came in after 12 hours and unloaded its catch at the fuel dock. There were about six guys that had been out all day and each of them must have had at least five large fish. Most of the catch was red grouper, amberjack and mackerel.
Monday was a day dedicated to relaxation. Gale went shopping – he stopped at all the “guy places;” i.e., hardware store, automotive store and sporting goods store. Maureen got to read most of the afternoon. In the evening, we went out with Mike and Harriet to the Haughty Heron for a happy hour drink and then to Pepper’s Mexican Restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, we walked into the Port St Joe Bar for a game of pool but didn’t stay long – it was definitely a bar for the locals.
It started raining around 4 am Tuesday morning and rained hard until the middle of the afternoon. Early in the afternoon, Gale drove over to White City to check out the free city dock. We knew Roger and Dita, s/v Zephyr, were about four hours away and were interested in tying up there if it were suitable. Gale let them know that it was a nice place to stop and offered to pick them up once they had settled in and bring them back to Port St Joe for a shower and to grab some dinner. At 4:30 pm, we drove out to the White City dock thinking that their cell phones might not work there – we were correct. We loaded them up and drove back to the marina where they took some nice hot showers. From there, it was back to Peppers for a great meal and home to our respective vessels for the night.
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