New Year’s Eve – Julia A. Keirns – Author, Blogger, Writer

Sunday, December 31, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

We started the day with breakfast and mimosas. Afterward, Rich helped a neighbor lady fix her television that wasn’t working, and I spent the entire morning reading and writing.

A good Mimosa is just pulp-free orange juice and good brut champagne. Half and half, or two-thirds orange juice and one-third champagne. Depends on your personal preference as to how strong you make it.

We video-called family and watched them open the Christmas presents we sent.

The toys, games, and books were a hit with the grandsons.

After the youngest grandson decided he was done and turned us off, we headed to The Wharf in Orange Beach for supper and New Year’s Eve music and fireworks. A couple we met at the campground followed us there.

We parked the car and walked toward the main street and noticed confetti on the ground everywhere we looked. Earlier in the day there was a confetti drop for the kids. How fun it would have been to be there for that.

We headed to Yo Ho Rum and Tacos for supper. We found this place a while back and loved it. The ambiance makes us feel like we are in a high-quality place while eating reasonably priced-food. Tacos are only $4 each here at regular price and are amazing.

We visited and talked and laughed while watching the sunset in the west.

After supper, we headed to the Boat Bar and sat in some of these blue chairs near the band. The four of us had a blast drinking and laughing and people-watching. I found out that the lady we were with has the same birthday as me. How often does that happen?

I was glad we showed up early, ate some food, and found perfect seats before the huge crowds showed up. It was quite chilly once the sun went down and we were cold. We all had on long pants, long sleeves, and coats and we were still cold.

Some of the people, especially young girls, walked by wearing shiny miniskirts, four-inch high heels, and skimpy tops. They looked beautiful, but I bet they were freezing in the 40-degree temperatures.

I never did find out the name of the band, but they were quite good. They played a mixture of 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. I heard a lot of Elton John songs, Fleetwood Mac, and even some country songs by Alabama.

It was a great New Year’s Eve. It ended up getting too cold for us four old people to stay clear until midnight. We left at 10:30 as it was also getting too crowded and too loud. We wimped out on the fireworks.

Crawling in bed at 11:30, we were able to hear the huge fireworks at midnight only two miles away. I have seen so many fireworks in my lifetime that I was able to close my eyes and see them as I listened to them.

It was a great way to end the year of 2023. We had a nice evening out with new friends, good food, and good music.

I hope you had a nice New Year’s Eve too.

Thanks for reading.

Saturday, December 30, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

It’s New Years Eve Eve!

As I sit here drinking my coffee and glancing out the window, I can see that the campground is beginning to fill up with RVers from all over the country; mostly northerners coming south for the winter.

I expect that a lot of them stayed home to spend Christmas with their families before coming south to warmer weather for January, February, and March.

We have met travelers from Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, just in the last few days. Last week someone from Montana pulled in.

It was such a nice day we decided to get out of the RV and go do something. The first place we went was to the Gulf State Park on Lake Shelby.

Although we have driven through the park we had not pulled in and parked or looked around much. The pier is partially closed due to damage sustained from Hurricane Sally.

There were lots of decorations and I bet it is pretty after dark. I wonder what people in Ohio would think if we had put a lighted alligator in the yard.

Or a shark. The park was booming with tourists. There seems to be more people now that Christmas is over. It is also vacation week for many and we have been seeing more college students.

From the park, we headed east from Orange Beach to Perdido Key. The condos and hotels along the shore are magnificent, and gated.

We drove past Perdido Key to Pensacola and pulled into Palafox Pier. It was packed and all parking spots were full. I didn’t want to walk two blocks so I just snapped a picture of the Plaza de Luna Memorial Monument as we drove past.

Located on South Palafox Street at the end of Palafox Pier. Visitors to Plaza de Luna are greeted by a life-size statue of Don Tristan de Luna, a splash fountain, concessions, and historic markers. It’s a great place to fish, walk, and enjoy a cool breeze. — Pensacola Parks & Recreation

This is a beautiful area, and we will come back on a nice day and much earlier so we can park closer.

We drove by an old Rolls-Royce and Rich said to get a picture of it.

Google says it is a 1960s (63 — 65) Silver Cloud.

Next, we pulled into the picnic area on the south side of the Naval Live Oaks Nature Preserve, which is north of Pensacola Beach.

The seagrass beds in the shallow waters here provide habitat, food, and protection for fish, crabs, and shrimp. A family (mom, dad, and three little children) walked past us carrying buckets and scoopers. I asked them what they were looking for and they said crabs.

Rich walked around down near the water while I stayed up on the shore.

My right knee is quite sore, and swollen, and hurts to walk on it. Rich said he didn’t want me to go down there cause the sand looked wet and squishy.

We both wondered what these hundreds of little sand volcanoes were so I Googled it of course. It seems during extremely low tides, ghost shrimp will burrow up to four feet deep and wait for higher water.

Ghost shrimp live in the Gulf of Mexico and are more closely related to crabs, than to shrimp.

I doubt he is going to find anything. Google says that these shrimp burrow up to four feet deep. Ghost shrimp can live up to six days in burrows such as these without any air or oxygen.

We drive by Columbia Southern University every day on the Foley Express. It is a beautiful building and I decided to get a photo of it today.

We didn’t have much alcohol on hand for the new year, so we decided to stop in a liquor store and pick up a few things. We do enjoy drinking whiskey and soda (like Sprite Zero and Pepsi Zero). This package of Jim Beam and a glass was only $15.99.

We also enjoy some Vodka and Diet Cranberry Juice occasionally. This bottle of Seagram’s was only $6.99. We drink diet because of our sugar. Rich is a severe diabetic and has to watch. I am only borderline.

And of course, for breakfast, a good Mimosa cocktail hits the spot. Some people like 2 parts Champagne to 1 part juice. We usually just do about half and half.

Thanks for allowing me to share another day with you. And thanks for reading.