Down the chute into the sea

After a wonderful visit at Fairhope Yacht Club (don't miss stopping there when you head south), we're nearing the sea. We passed Lulu's (Jimmy Buffett's sister's restaurant in Gulf Shores, AL) -- didn't stop this time because we were heading for an anchorage to ride out some nasty weather (that the locals said rivaled or surpassed Ida). The anchorage, in Igram's Bayou, was perfect and had dolphins playing all around the boat. The dolphins that didn't welcome us into Mobile Bay did escort us out (do they remember us??), and it was a good day for travel. After two days on the hook with rains and winds, we traveled a long distance today (about a mile) to Orange Beach. We called Jim and Cindy McKay (top photo), old friends from Blue Springs who are wintering in Orange Beach, to arrange a happy hour or dinner. They arrived at the boat with Ray and Delilah West (middle photo), also from Blue Springs, to meet and greet. After using their truck to reprovision, we spent a nice evening happy houring on Ray and Delilah's boat Sundancer and eating big burgers at The Keg (an Orange Beach legend) with Jim and Cindy. It's always nice to reconnect with friends, especially in beach locations! Tomorrow morning early we leave for an overnight offshore crossing to Apalachicola, where we'll spend Thanksgiving and wait for good weather for another overnight crossing to Clearwater.