I'm going to miss pelicans

During the last part of my drive back through the panhandle, I saw some pelicans fly close by overhead as I drove over a bridge and I realized I'm going to miss them when I go back inland. They've become a frequent sight these last few weeks.

Once again I drove by lots of damage from Hurricane Michael, and the effect was different heading the other way. On the trip East, I didn't start looking for damage until I got close to Mexico Beach so I didn't notice it until I couldn't avoid noticing it. It was on the East side of Parker that I started seeing tarp-covered roofs and pieces of buildings missing. On the way back West, I noticed much more damage in Parker and Panama City. Whole blocks fenced off with big chunks of buildings missing. Whole apartment complexes abandoned due to damage. Whole shopping centers being torn down. A car dealership open for business, but with plywood for most of its external walls. A church with very tidy blue tarps covering the entire roof. And then on the other side of Seaside, a good 60 miles from Mexico Beach, I saw this bus stopped in a parking lot:

I'm not sure if it was a bus that's used for anything more than a billboard, but it was in an area where I hadn't noticed any damage. It's entirely possible that's because I hadn't looked closely enough.

On the recommendation of a friend, I made a side trip just before leaving Florida to what I was told was an iconic destination, Flora-Bama on the Florida/Alabama border. I pictured it as my ideal version of a tiki bar -- a beautiful fantasy setting with a spectacular ocean view. What I found is probably the world's largest dive bar. It's certainly possible that some of its shabbiness is because it's recovering from hurricane damage, but a lot of what I saw looked like intentional dive bar atmosphere. If you want more of a sense of what it looks like, lots of pictures are available online. I only took a couple, including this one of some bar stools:

I had planned to take a break from driving and get some kind of fancy appetizer for a snack. When I arrived I parked on a sand lot across the highway and used the marked crosswalk to get to the building. Outside the front door were multiple signs telling people that they couldn't bring their coolers on the premises. Inside the front door was a man sitting at a table offering to autograph his books and greeting people as they came in. He asked me what I was looking for and I told him that I needed to use the restroom before I could give anything else any serious thought and he gave me complicated directions that I was sort-of able to follow. He also mentioned that food was available somewhere and that they were playing bingo somewhere else. There were multiple levels to the structure and a number of the doors between areas were made of the kind of plastic strips that you sometimes find in the doorways to walk-in refrigerators that inhibit airflow. Somewhere in my wanderings I passed an empty stage, pictured here:

They advertise that they have live music 365 days a year, so I was just there too early for that. I wound my way through at least 3 rooms and found the restrooms. As I rounded the corner a man was coming out of the men's room still in the process of zipping up. The inside of the women's room was all plywood, including the stalls and the walls. All the plywood was covered in magic marker names and dates and similar bathroom graffiti. I suspect that when there is absolutely no place left to write on the plywood, it's pulled out and the process starts over. I wouldn't be surprised if former bathroom stall walls get repurposed to add a new room onto the Flora-Bama.

The idea of trying to find a place to buy a snack and actually staying there long enough to get used to the contrast of what I was seeing with what I had expected to see felt a bit overwhelming. I knew I had snacks in the van and they were starting to look way more attractive than exploring this place, so I left. On the way out I cruised once around the gift shop. They have a huge selection of shirts and other kinds of souvenirs for sale, all announcing that they came from Flora-Bama. I found out later that this is a favorite destination for Spring Break. No doubt they are well stocked at this time of year, shortly before the throngs arrive for Mardi Gras and Spring Break.

The area this is in is stunningly beautiful, and I'm happy that I got to see Orange Beach at a time of year when hardly anyone is there. Now I can say I've been to Flora-Bama if anyone ever asks me again.