Day 163 – Tuesday, November 23, 2010

87° 54.060’ W

30° 32.60’ N

Eastern Shore Marina, east shore of Mobile Bay on Fly Creek (day 2)

Fairhope, Alabama

It’s been a great day full of surprises. This morning we received a knock on the boat and Bob Riggs came to our boat to invite us to their home for Thanksgiving dinner! Bob and his wife Vicki, who was waiting in the car with a broken foot, are the AGLCA harbor hosts in Fairhope! They are hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner for loopers passing through this area. Once we realized who was coming we changed our travel plans and quickly accepted their gracious invitation. 



Fairhope Avenue



Panini Pete's



Later, Carl called and said he and Ricki would pick us up around noon. We drove into Fairhope to do a little Christmas shopping and just enjoy the town. Lunch was in order so we ate at Panini Pete’s Café and Bakeshop. The restaurant was featured on the food channel and is listed as one of the top 100 places to eat in Alabama! The temperature was close to 80 degrees so eating outside was perfect as was the food!

Barb and Ricki continued to shop so Carl and I found a watering hole and waited for their return! They didn’t take long to return so Carl and I didn’t get into to much trouble!



They just dropped us off at our boat and departed for Dog River where their boat is being repaired. We will see them again Thursday at diner.



We had a call from Bruce and Chris who will cross the Gulf tomorrow morning starting around 4am! They will take the fast route a 180 mile run to Tarpon Springs from Carrabelle.

When Barb and I start out for the west coast of Florida we will do the slow route to conserve fuel as well as visit a few additional cities along the way. Considering we don’t have a schedule to keep and the additional cost for gas for accelerated speed --- slower makes a lot of sense!