Things you can’t do in Minnesota

I was kayaking the other day on the bay, watching some dolphins (no really, dolphins!) swimming around, and thought it might be interesting to write a little bit about things that I’ve found you can do here in Lower Alabama (L.A. oh yeah!) that you can’t do in our former home, Minnesota.

First of all, the only time I have ever seen dolphins before is at the Minnesota Zoo. It’s a nice zoo, they had several dolphins that they trained to splash water toward the crowd and such. However lately, there have been some dolphins (4 of them to be exact) that have been living just a little ways from here. It’s the first time I have ever seen dolphins that close in the wild. In fact it might be the first time I have seen dolphins in the wild period. The first time I saw them they approached my kayak from the side, underneath me. So it’s also the first time I was ever checked out by a dolphin. I can only imagine what he was thinking of that blonde haired Minnesota boy who was in that silly blue kayak.

The Blue Angels. Now, don’t get me wrong. I have actually seen the Blue Angels (that’s the US Navy flight demonstration team if you don’t know what I am talking about) twice before in Minnesota. One time I drove to Hibbing, MN to see them fly in about 1994, and I also saw them in Duluth, MN a couple of summers ago. But down here, wow. Their summer home is Pensacola Naval Air Station, which is about 11 miles or so as the crow flies from the front of Camp Dixie. The Blue Angels practice most every Tuesday and Wednesday during the show season, and if there isn’t too much haze in the air, you can see them from the camp's beach. Also, they let you on the base to view the shows as well! Let’s just say I have seen them more in the last three months than I have seen them in my whole life before that. I’m a big fan.

Last but certainly not least, is beaches. Now, "there are public beaches in Minnesota" I can hear a few of you saying. However, they are on lakes, or even worse man-made-ponds. Here I’m talking BEACH, Gulf of Mexico beach. This is beach that other people in the country come to when they are on vacation. So far we’ve visited Gulf Shores (not too bad a beach) and Pensacola Beach (very nice beach) in our short stay here. It’s still strange to think that we can drive for 30 minutes or so, and be at the real beach. Oh, and in July, the Blue Angels perform a show right over Pensacola Beach. I will definitely have to take in that show.

God’s Peace everyone.
Mac