Day 6 May 19 TUES

Well lots of action today. On the road from Panama City to Pensacola. Just west of Panama City there are several religious resorts and a Christian club that looks like Noah's Ark. Don't know denomination. Lots of churches of all types along the way. In FL there were several Primitive Baptist churches in small towns. Not sure what that is. More highrises, etc. Surprised at how much of the beach beyond town says private with very few public access areas. Many of the new houses all along this coast are 3-story on stilts so very high and very narrow. They don't look too stable to me. The gulf is absolutely gorgeous blue green color along here.
Then took the scenic route to hit Seaside which is that planned community you see in magazines with all of the pastel houses, etc. Doesn't look like the pictures. First of all, it is huge. It's a lot like Westchase in Tampa with a town center that has trendy shops and restaurants surrounded by this village of "cottages". Very close together and almost overrun by foliage that they seem to want to be au naturale rather than pruned and neatly trimmed. The whole route that Seaside is on is one development after another. Kind of like Sanibel and Captiva. Posh and packed.
Then on to Destin which is very touristy and Fort Walton Beach which is at the edge of Eglin Air Force Base. There is a lot of new development, shopping centers, outlet mall, etc. Maybe post hurricane stuff in this area but have not idea which hurricane at this point???
In between all of this are several small towns. You can tell it's a small town because it has a Dollar General store. The bigger small towns also have a Family Dollar store. Probably should invest some bucks in these. Their parking lots are always full.
We then went around Pensacola and hit I-10. Had picnic lunch at AL welcome center and went through Mobile and the rest of AL very quickly.
Stopped at WalMart in Pascagoula MS to rent $1 videos. It was so huge. Twice as big as the superWalmart in Tampa and 1/2 again as big as the one in Panama City Beach. This must be the new Walmart model. And very busy. Pascagoula is a ship building port and doesn't seem to have much else going for it. We stopped just west of it in Shepard State Park.
The park was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Ranger said theat 400 Seabees and 400 volunteers restored all of the trails and cleared debris. Even created new trails, etc. Very foresty. In or on a bayou I don't know which but sites are secluded and we are on the river called the Singing River. Supposedly you can hear strange sounds. Long ago a group of Indians drowned themselves in it and it is their voices you hear. Can't see the river from the camp though we are close. It is still very windy. Hard to keep the rv steady crossing bridges, etc.