#88 Florida Panhandle

#88  Florida Panhandle

Tuesday November 26, 2019

At this point we are moving toward Tallahassee for a one-night stop before heading west.  We stayed at Big Oaks RV Park.  We met nice people and viewed the oaks.  Several large oak trees covered the park, but the one in particular had us standing in awe of its beauty.  If the “Old Senator” in St. Augustine had an estimated age of 600 years, this one must be even older. I can’t even describe the feeling of standing beneath its limbs and looking up . There was no way to view all of the tree from one viewpoint. Amazing!

Wednesday November 27, 2019

We followed this kind of fence line for miles along I-10.

In the RV world being parked for holidays needs planning.  We chose the Destin West RV Resort as our Thanksgiving location.  Destin West located in Fort Walton, Florida on Santa Rosa Island lies about 40 minutes west of Destin, FL.

Our  primo RV sites sat next to the water.   We opened our door and there were the boats!

Lynn and Jay’s site opened right up to water.

We could watch the boats, the beach, the birds or the sunset from their site.

Thursday November 28, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Lynn and Jay located a Thanksgiving Buffet for us to attend in Destin, FL. It was about an hour away so we left early.  The white sand dunes peaked through the dark vegetation.  We pasted this lovely building that I think said  vacation rentals. 

Our destination was the Watercolor Inn. We were surprised to see a planned community similar to Seabrook by Pacific Beach WA.  Lots of people out walking or bike riding. Green spaces allow for gatherings.  I think this community also includes shops, stores, pools, tennis courts and other things for the active family.

The large hall provided linen table cloths and an attractive centerpiece on each table. 

The table located in the center of the room had heaping cold shrimp and oysters on the half shell at one end.  The middle section held appetizers: crackers, cheeses, salami, etc. The end of the table had everything you needed for a toss salad.

The South side of the room held a breakfast buffet and a fresh fruit buffet. The breakfast foods included scrambled eggs, country potatoes,  bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, waffles, muffins, danishes, etc .

The north side of the room provided the dinner entrees. Three kinds of vegetable sat in the steamer trays.  The sweet potatoes with marshmallow sauce tasted delicious. I would have liked less marshmallow, but the potatoes were yummy.  A variety  of dishes came next.  Ravioli, something else and turkey cut into thick rounds came next. Cornbread dressing, thick and heavy sat with the gravy heavy with giblets. Prime Rib was being carved and fresh yummy breads were available. 

 A childrens’ table sat about 2.5 feet off the floor.  The kid’s table featured mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, broccoli, waffle fries, vanilla pudding and sugar cookies.  Probably don’t need to mention that adults visited the kid table, especially for the mac and cheese. Derrille may have made a couple of trips.

Two corners held the desserts. The display with triangular plates that slide into the Plexiglas slots fascinated me.  The Pecan Pie Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Sauce melted in your mouth.  Part of the rack held Sweet Sugar Pumpkin Rolls with didn’t need replacing as much as the Pecan Pie Cheesecake.

The array of food was amazing and we paid for it.  However, we have different tastes. I like my turkey sliced thin, my gravy without giblets and bread dressing. To our surprise mashed white potatoes and pumpkin pie could not be found.  In addition to the fancy place, the fancy food, and a fancy price tag, we received a $30 service fee on top of that, and then they expected a tip on that!  But as with all things it was an experience and you never know quite what you’ll get.

We hung out another day, and enjoyed our RV site.

Off to Dauphin Island Alabama