Final Notes on Florida for 2018

On the evening after we toured Legoland John and I stopped for supper and before entering the restaurant I glanced at the moon.  I just had to look at it because earlier that day I had learned that this moon was special as it was a December or Cold Moon.  It will not be for another 70 years until a full moon will happen on December 21st- the time of the winter solstice.

When we visited St.Petersburg we also returned to the Florida Botanical Garden.  It was getting close to dusk and we figured that we might as well stay in the area to see the annual Christmas light display in the gardens.  The garden and lights had changed somewhat since the last time we had been there.  Some of the flowers in the garden were quite beautiful when back-lit by the lights.  Pictured below are a floral display of orchids and calla lilies.

Upon our return trip home we chose to take a different route, with the goal of taking a look at the damage Hurricane Michael wrought to Panama City and Mexico Beach.  Driving on Highway 98 toward those areas we happened to pass by a portion of the Gulf Islands Nation Seashore.

No, that is not snow but large white sand dunes.  This park is on a long sand spit that encloses Pensacola Bay.

We knew immediately when we entered the area hit by Hurricane Michael.  Palm trees had their tops sheared off, other trees were bent almost to the ground.  Billboards stood as skeletons with their innards blown out.  Whole subdivisions of houses had their roofs covered with blue tarps.  The Port Panama Distribution Center only had its concrete walls standing.  A sign by the road directed the public to go to a local elementary school for Christmas eve services.   Quite a few utility trucks could be seen on the streets, their crews filling the nearby restaurants for lunch.  I wondered how many of those men and women had to stay in this area over Christmas so the citizens could have some normalcy return to their lives,