Saturday, December 5, 2015

Another ASTC affiliated museum, the Emerald Coast Science Museum, was nearby on the outskirts of Fort Walton Beach.  We took the slow route and drove much of the length of Santa Rosa Island through the unspoiled dunes protected by the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The Emerald Coast Science Museum was a small hands-on school field trip destination.  We had the place to ourselves for about an hour before the first busloads of kids arrived.

Joani demonstrated her robot skills deftly grasping and moving all sorts of objects in this display.

Of course, I scored a strike with the air cannon.

From our site in the Loop A campground, it was probably less than a quarter mile hike, including a short length of boardwalk, to the beach.  Sunsets at the beach were a popular attraction, so we saw several of our neighbors every time we headed over.

At the Visitor Information Center we got the scoop on the Pensacola Beach Christmas Boat Parade. There was quite a crowd for the annual event.

The first boat was more than an hour late and we had given up our seats at the bar overlooking the water, opting instead, to join the throngs of people on the pier. With no rails between me and the water, I was very nervous about getting pushed over by some of the more rowdy patrons.

A guy on one boat threw a T-shirt at me. With a camera in my right hand, it was only his incredible aim that accounted for me actually catching it.

There were fireworks scheduled following the parade, but we were underdressed for the wind (we were cold).  Leaving early allowed us to beat the crowd but, more importantly, we were able to crank up the heater to thaw out on the way home.