Heading Home - Fort Blakely Battlefield

We had another foggy morning but it cleared up by about 8 AM. This was check-out day so we were packed and on our way out of Panama City Beach by 9:30. Our plan was to just go to Mobile and spend about a day there before going home. We got to Daphne, Alabama, where our motel is, by about noon but we couldn't find the place. It took several tries before we found it.  Daphne is directly across Mobile Bay from the city of Mobile.

We had lunch at a local O'Charley's restaurant and headed out looking for Ft. Blakely, site of one of the last large-scale battles of the Civil War. The battle was fought about four hours after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia but there was no way to know here in Alabama. Mobile held out for a couple days before it surrendered and was occupied by Union troops.

Massachusetts battery

It's a long and involved story of why I'm interested in the Ft. Blakely battle and I won't go into it in any detail here. The battle included African-American Union soldiers as well as Missouri Confederate troops.

The battlefield is a state park but is only partially preserved. Not much of it has been reconstructed and most of it is overgrown and exists only as ruins or remnants of the trench lines and artillery batteries. That is a huge contrast from the famous battles of Gettysburg or even The Wilderness, where trench lines are still visible the forest. There are only a couple stone monuments at Ft. Blakely and these are recent additions.

Union trenches

Union forces laid siege of about three days and then attacked from trenches after an artillery bombardment.

Union troops were reinforced prior to the final assault and outnumbered the Confederates four to one.

The chaos of the battle is clearly recognized by looking at how the lines were laid out  and how close the lines were to each other. There were only about 1,500 ft. between the strongest defenses and there were various rifle pits and zig-zag trenches in the area in between.

Redoubt #4

 Confederate forces were well dug in in trenches and occupied fortified redoubts equipped with cannons and mortars.  Their positions were also protected by ravines and "torpedoes", an early version of land mines.

Redoubt #4 was the site of the final assault and the surrender of most of the remaining Confederate troops. Redoubt #4 is a substantial ruin but it is difficult to tell how it was laid out.

reconstructed cannon
ports - Redoubt #4

The state, the Civil War Trust and various reenactor groups are trying to preserve the battlefield. There was a town of Blakely located near the fort but nothing is left other than a cemetery.

Union trench line

Angle - Redoubt #4

Dinner was sandwiches from a local take-out deli.

Tomorrow we are going to see the USS Alabama, a battleship docked in Mobile Bay that is open for tours.

Panama City Proper

Today was cloudy and foggy and a little cool - there were even fewer people on the beach and they had jackets. We have a resident cat that lives out on the beach under the boardwalk but he was curled up in a ball in the sea oats  and just hunkered down all morning. Of course the beach bed mattress guy showed up and set up his umbrellas and mattresses but there was no one interested.

We figured this would be a good day to go over to Panama City...not the beach but the town. They have two "historic" areas...one is called St. Andrews and the other is the downtown area.

Historic St. Andrews is the few blocks surrounding the marina. We walked around a little and visited a couple galleries. There were several bars and restaurants. We ate lunch at Uncle Ernie's...pretty good food. We are starting to approach our quota on seafood although no fish species have become endangered due to our visit.

Uncle Ernie's is also a brew pub so we had one of their beers...an amber ale. It was more like a porter...much darker than an amber ale...but it was good.


The historic downtown area was bigger and more diverse - lawyers and doctors offices mixed in with the galleries and antique stores and fewer bars and restaurants. We wandered into a couple galleries. Some of the stuff was Florida beach cutesy but much of it was pretty good. Not all of it was Florida or beach-based art. The galleries were quite large with several exhibit rooms.

As things go, that pretty much took up our day. We leave for Mobile in the morning and will stay there one night before heading for home.

We're Not Dead, We're Only Sleeping

Well, It took several days and it was quite a struggle but we have finally conformed (succumbed) to the vibrant pulse of Panama City Beach...yawn, scratch. We're not dead...we're only sleeping.

The beach bed mattress man was late this morning, Whoa! What was that all about? Must have been something serious...but he looked the same when he finally showed up. He probably leads a double life or maybe he's a terrorist. Good thing we're staying on top of that. Y'all can rest easy 'cuz we got the mattress covered...

Now, today was the day when we planned to get wet -- we were going to enter the ocean. We walked across the beach and waded into the surf...up to our knees. It was sunny and 72 degrees but a little windy and they had that yellow flag up so we decided to be extra careful. But, the water was fairly warm so we did OK. There was no one else on the beach so I guess we were pretty brave to be out there under those conditions. We have seen folks walking around wearing coats.

We had lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville down the beach road by the mall...the one just across from the pier. The place is huge, like other restaurants in town, but the lunch crowd was about five tables. Of course, we had to wait to be seated and then the question was "sun or shade?" Damn, so many decisions. We found an acceptable place and then waited for our server  to show up.  She arrived and dragged a huge umbrella over so we were in the shade whether we wanted to be or not. Prices were high and things didn't look all that good but we finally got fish and chips and a beer.  We asked if they had malt vinegar for the fish..."yes we do".  We should have asked..."would you bring me some malt vinegar?" We finally got some and it was a big improvement on everything except the beer.

We stopped off at the Winn Dixie, our local wine merchant, on the way back home. We've taken a liking to Argentine Malbec.  It's our one vice....that and nap time.

Supper was the nightly forage through the fridge and pantry. Not much more to report and this is wearing me out.

A Stroll on the Beach

Today we managed to stay out of the car for the entire day.  We had good weather again even though they kept saying that it might rain. We decided to just hang out close to home. Paul chose to bask in the sun on our balcony. Since it faces south the sun is our constant companion when outside...plus you get to watch the various goings on on the beach (not much).

One of our high points is watching the guy with the mattress and umbrella concession come out at 9 AM in his ATV and set up the beach beds. He sets everything up and then retreats to his little booth a few hundred yards down the beach and  watches to see if anyone lights on one of his beach beds...then he races up on his ATV to collect his money. Yes...entertainment is hard to find but he's the only show for most of the day.

I decided I was going to take a walk on the beach down to the fishing pier. The pier is clearly visible and didn't seem that far away...just a little barefoot stroll down the beach. Walking ankle and calf deep in the water was nice. The water is still warm enough for swimming. Folks were out looking for shells in the surf...there's not many. Most of the shells are broken. There were a few other walkers out on the beach...including a large pelican who was maintaining authority over a small section of shoreline. People would come to a stop when they reached the pelican, not sure what to do...he wouldn't fly away and wasn't going to budge. Finally they would make a wide detour around him and continue up the beach.  It took an hour to reach the fishing pier and an hour to walk back to the condo...about 4 miles all together. That was much farther than I had anticipated walking in bare feet on sand and broken shells. But it was an enjoyable morning and the few other beach walkers were a friendly bunch.

After I recovered from my walk and Paul recovered from basking in the sun we decided it was time for lunch. There was a little cafe and oyster bar across the street and up the block that didn't look like much but had great reviews. We figured we could risk it and strolled over to get something to eat. Wow.  I started out with a pint of Guinness and Paul had a pint of Stella Artois and things went up from there. I got an excellent plate of baked oysters and then a couple grouper tacos. The grouper was wonderful. Paul got a big plate of fried shrimp with fries -- lots of food. We had to have more beer but, of course, it was happy hour...how fortunate can we get?? I suspect we will make it over there again.

Later in the evening we went up on the roof of the condo (in the meeting/event room) to listen to a aging folk singer who has a standing gig each Wednesday singing to the vacationers. He has a long list of songs that he does so he opens it up for requests. Every song requested for the first 45 minutes were sad tear jerkers. What fun that was!  Finally things lightened up and it turned out to be a semi-enjoyable evening. He ended the evening with "Run Around Sue" and "This Land is Your Land" which were big improvements.

Since we were still full from our big lunch we gave up on eating supper and just grazed on stuff we had in the kitchen.

Introducing Kids & Dogs to the Ocean

Panama City Beach is a popular and accessible beach destination and, compared to some other places, it has a family-friendly reputation and is pretty laid back. Countless thousands of kids have been introduced to the ocean here, including my daughter, Jill, and it has been fun watching the parents and the different methods they use. Some just take the kids out and stroll along the beach and let them see it without any pressure to get in or even get wet. Others take the toddler-age kids in their arms and walk into the surf  out to knee depth and jump in the waves. Some parents encase their kids in various inflated devices and encourage them to play in the waves. The kids may, or may not, take to the ocean and if they do, the taste of sea water is the second shock to their system.

I enjoyed watching the families and the young dads trying to get the kids in the water. The moms are usually in charge of the camera and sometimes the grandparents are nearby offering encouragement. Today we got to see a puppy go through the process. A couple guys were on the beach with a puppy trying to get him to fetch a stick. Nope...he didn't want to. He wanted to run and check out the beach. An older dog was there with them and it was concerned with keeping track of the puppy. There were so many distractions...sea gulls, waves, people, odd smells. The guys finally just sat on the beach and let the puppy investigate it on his own.

Not too far down the beach road is a fairly large mall so we went there for lunch. We had lots of options but settled on the Hof Brau Beer Garden, a Munich-style beer hall with tables inside and out and German music. The menu was strictly German but with a little American, Turkish, Indian fusion going on. The waitress was dressed like she had come straight out of Bavaria. It was a good place to sit and watch people. This place, and others, must be crammed full of peope during spring break or the summer season.

We had the dunkel (dark)  beer with big, soft pretzels and some brats with sauerkraut. The food was good but the music was predictable...think Beer Barrel Polka. The men's bathroom showed a little bit beer garden humor.


We walked around the mall a little and over to the fishing pier. The mall at least had some activity going on...much of Panama City Beach seems to be hibernating.

One place that wasn't hibernating was the Sea Breeze Winery.  They have 100 acres of muscadine grapes, which makes them the largest vineyard in Florida. Muscadine grapes are much different from the standard variety grapes we are used to in Missouri. The wine is quite different as well. We tasted about eight wines and some special fruit wines plus a port and a sherry. I have to say that the wines were drinkable and might have been great muscadine wines but I wasn't familiar with the type to say it it was good or bad. Paul is more familiar with it and was happier with it. We had a good visit with the attendant and talked wine and wineries for about a half hour. We left with a few bottles of wine.

We ended the day back at the condo watching a soccer game and having sandwiches.

Tuesday Morning

Enjoy... 8 AM on the beach...

Lazy Day (#1)

We didn't do a whole lot today. The weather is great but started out cloudy for a few hours. We had coffee and breakfast on the balcony and spent most of the morning just enjoying doing nothing.

The morning is taken up with pelican and sea gull watching. The pelicans can dive from 30 feet into the water and always come up with a fish. The sea gulls will pose on the beach trying to look cute until some poor sucker decides to feed them and then all hell breaks loose. Every sea gull within earshot shows up and demand to be fed.

After resting from our morning efforts, we decided to try finding a bocce court someplace. Not an easy task. Apparently bocce hasn't been as popular here as it is in other parts of Florida. People we asked said they never heard of bocce and didn't know what we were talking about. The online phone book said that "Joey's On The Beach", a NY pizza joint, had bocce courts. When we finally found Joey's they didn't have bocce courts and didn't have a clue what bocce was. The pizza was good, however.  When we got back to the condo we asked the front desk attendant...she thought that bocce was something like rugby. She found a place for us but it turned out to be a company that installs bocce courts. By that time it was too late to check them out. We will call tomorrow. There is at least one bocce court in the town of Rosemary Beach, a little ways up the beach but not exactly local.

That's about it.