Sailboat at Sunset at DESTIN, FLORIDA

Another evening on the Gulf in the Florida panhandle! Gary buys tickets for a sailboat cruise with AJ's Cruise fleet and to our dismay it could only sail in the bay because the tide was out. We decided to go anyway and see the bay as well as the sunset .

Our Captain said that he had gotten hung up on that shoal just a few days before so would not take a chance! Since we had eaten at Red Lobster earlier, we did not try out their Seafood and Oyster Bar . I am sure that was our Loss! Maybe next time.

When I saw the Pirate who welcomed us on the boat, I thought that he would be the Captain. However, our Captain was much younger and his mate was only 18 years old, but he had been sailing as mate for about a year. When letting out the sails or taking them, he was fast on his feet. This was interesting with all of us sitting around in his way. But it did not seem to bother him. When we began, we passed another sailboat similar to ours though it may have been shorter and ours was decorated in a pirate theme. This is the view of AJ's from the Bay . I would love to eat out here and watch the boats. We also saw people on the dunes which seperated the bay from the Gulf. Wouldn't you love to walk through this sand ?

Right from the beginning the Captain had to listen to a drunk in our group who would not be quiet enough for all of us to listen to the Pirate's tales. Fortunately the little fellow did not have any problem listening and he even got to steer the boat while standing on a cooler to make him tall enough . He was intimidated by the Pirate's gun and the noise that it made. But he did open up and interact with the Pirate before he steered the ship.

Another passenger got a chance to steer the boat also and enjoyed it.

There were others who walked clear up on the bow of the ship for fun. It was a little more risky that I cared to be! I was glad the lady took her heels off before she went up! We were content to just sit and listen to the stories,watch others and look at the sights. There were grand hotels and restaurants all along the waterway.

This was the boat after we climbed ashore after the sun had set .