Flo' fo' Sho'

Sorry for how long this has taken! I know you all, especially Mom, have been waiting with bated breath to read about my adventures in an alien world, none by some as Florida and by others as The Place Where Blue Hairs Go to Die. In my first couple weeks here, I’ve learned the both are acceptable names (but TPWBHGtD can be time consuming to write or explain).

After a great birthday party for Rachel/going away party on Sunday (July 26^th), I left Springfield on Monday morning, with my trusty co-pilot and girlfriend, Amanda. The drive down to Pensacola, TPWBHGtD took about 13 hours I think. It took us through Missouri (naturally), northeast Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and finally Florida. Memphis, Tennessee is probably the armpit of the United States. Pretty much everything is under construction and no one there knows how to drive. That was by far the most miserable part of the drive by far. Mississippi is now the new Kansas for anyone interested in visiting me. We drove through pretty much the entire state. The good thing about this is that no really pays attention to the speed limits, so traffic moves along pretty quickly, which is always nice when you’re on a long drive. We drove through Downtown (at least I think it was Downtown) Mobile and it was actually pretty nice. I wouldn’t mind going back there to visit sometime.

Contrary to what I repeatedly told Amanda, I made several stops for both fueling and off-fueling (going to the bathroom).

We got into Pensacola around 11 that night, checked into the hotel, and passed out from the long day.

On Tuesday, we went apartment hunting. After a couple of false starts, I finally found a place I liked. Since the apartment managers were located off-site, and were going to lunch at 11:30, they gave Amanda and me the keys to the place. We got a little lost on the way, but finally found it, and I liked it. By the time we were done looking, it was past 11:30, so we set up an appointment at another complex for noon:30 and left to get some lunch at what passes for a Chinese buffet.

At the buffet, Amanda ordered a water and a Dr. Pepper. Since the hostess was very Asian, she didn’t really understand Amanda and brought here a water and Dr. Pepper, literally a mixture of water and Dr. Pepper. It was pretty gross, but equally hilarious.

After lunch, we went to the appointment. That apartment was nice, but I still liked the other one. So we went back to the apartment complex managers, and they told us that while we were out, someone came by and put a deposit on the one I wanted! Drats! So we looked at another place, and I liked that one to, so it is from Apartment D, Sugarwood Apartment Complex in Milton, FL that I am writing this.

By the time all of the apartment stuff was done and the lease signed and my car unloaded, Amanda and I were bushed. We got cleaned up at the hotel and then headed Destin, FL (about an hour away) to go eat at the Lucky Snapper. Amanda has been to TPWBHGtD a number of times, and she said that this was her favorite place to eat, so I treated her to some seafood on the coast for her efforts that day. The Lucky Snapper is really cool! It’s built kind of like a pier, and has big open windows all on the Gulf side of the restaurant, so there was a good warm breeze coming in all night. It was kind of drizzly, but was still really good. It’s also built right next to a bunch of boat slips, so all the deep sea fishing charters that had come in for the day were docked there. After dinner, Amanda and I strolled the boardwalk by the boats. We drove back in a massive rain storm, which turns out happens nearly every day in this place. But at least they never last too long.

We spent Wednesday spending lots of money getting stuff to outfit my apartment with the essentials. That afternoon we went to Pensacola Beach for a little while before to eat at a place called Bull Feathers, also in Pensacola Beach. We went back to the hotel to change and shower before dinner. It was pretty good, and was once again right on the coast, but this time it was on the bay side. Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Gulf Breeze, and a bunch of other little beach towns are all on a little strip a of landing running east to west. The bay side is a lot calmer than the Gulf side, but the Gulf side is much more relaxing and more of a tourist destination.

We spent Thursday doing more shopping for my apartment and went back to Fort Walton Beach. I promised Amanda at least a couple days of beach time, and it was the least I could do for everything she helped with this week. Fort Walton Beach was awesome! It has really, really fine white sand and crashing waves. I don’t really like the sun, but I was decked out with an umbrella and beach chair and a book, so it was pretty nice and relaxing. After this, Amanda and I drove back to my apartment and start setting stuff up. Amanda was flying out of Tallahassee the next day. Tallahassee is three hours east of my place, so Amanda wanted me to come back to a set up apartment so I wouldn’t be so lonely.

First we had to clean though. It was a bit of process. The apartment had been vacant for a few weeks, so it had some vacancy-debris in it. Amanda was a huge help in cleaning the bathroom and kitchen while I vacuumed and set up the futon, coffee table, and TV stand. We didn’t leave my place until around 11:00, but we figured hey, we’ll get in at 2:00 and Amanda’s flight leaves at 12:15, so that’s not too awful. Well, we forgot that we’re in the Central Time Zone, but that Tallahassee is in the Eastern Time Zone, so we actually got in around 3:00. Bummer.

Friday was even a bigger bummer because Amanda had to go home. That was really not fun at all. Then I had a three hour drive to make back to a nearly empty apartment, with no reliable internet or cable. Double bummer. Plus I had to check-in with my base so they knew I was here. I changed into blues and checked in at Pensacola Naval Air Station (NAS). I did some more shopping for the essentials, like a TV antennae so I wouldn’t be bored to death until I got cable.

Well, it turns out I wasn’t supposed to check-in at Pensacola at all! I went back there Monday to start doing this checklist I was given there, and the people there were like, “Uh…I think you’re supposed to be up at Whiting. You’re not supposed to be here yet.” “Okay.” And so I drove back up to Whiting NAS, which is where all the pilot training is done. I checked in there, and after about 45 minutes of filling out paperwork, the sergeant on duty told me I was good to go…until Thursday morning! Sweet. Another couple days off…but with no cable or good internet. Yahoo! I had called Mediacom on Saturday to get my internet and cable set up and had an appointment scheduled for Saturday morning, but I got that rescheduled to Wednesday afternoon. Woohoo! As always, I did more shopping, this time for food and them some more essentials.

Thursday morning I went back to Whiting. We sat through some briefs and did about 4 hours of paperwork. That might seem like a pain, but normally we would individually need to go to all these various offices scattered around Whiting and Pensacola to get all the work done. Luckily, the Air Force Liaison Office scheduled all the people to come to us, so that saved all of us a ton of pain and at least a few migraines. We were also supposed to our jobs that day. There are about 35 Academy grads stationed at Whiting for pilot training, so it was nice getting to see some friends and familiar faces of knowing virtually no one in the area since Amanda left. Well, about 10 of those 35 are going to do some training really soon, so they weren’t given jobs. Another 15 or so were selected for jobs, leaving about 10 of us with no jobs whatsoever. After the briefings were done and all the paperwork filled out, we were released for the day.

Even though I didn’t have a job, I had to come in on Friday at 0800 and check-in with the Liaison Office. Me and the other guys without jobs sat around for about 20 minutes before asking if we could leave since there was nothing for us to do. The guy in charge of us said that was fine and to have a safe weekend. Normally, at an Air Force base, we would get shopped out to all the other locations on the base to help with whatever. But Whiting is a pretty small base, as opposed to the massive AF training bases, so there weren’t very many requests in for jobs. So hopefully I’ll stay jobless for a while! It’s pretty nice!

I took this opportunity to turn in some paperwork at Whiting (medical stuff), and workout. Whiting has a really nice fitness center, so I was glad to see that! After lunch I drove down to Pensacola to set up appointments to get fitted for my equipment (helmet, flight suits, other flying stuff) and a physical.

This weekend was spent cleaning, doing laundry, going to Mass, hanging picture frames, putting down an area rug, and generally doing lots of hanging out, reading, and watching TV, interspersed with workouts up at Whiting.

So far I think I’ve done alright with the solo life. I kind of like not having a roommate to worry about. Making my own meals is pretty easy, but then again, heating up chicken patties, microwaving vegetables, and making Raman noodles won’t get me onto Top Chef. Oh well. It tastes pretty good and I’ve tried to eat somewhat healthy.

It rains here every, single day. And hard. But only for about an hour or some. But during that hour, it rains buckets. It’s pretty cool.

I used a coin laundry mat for the first time today. It was interesting. I’m pretty sure a crazy lady was there. She was muttering to herself most of the time she was in there, so I just kept my head in my book, hoping she didn’t talk to me, mug me, or get close to my clothes because I think she would have attached some sort of funk to them that can only be removed by burning.

In case you missed it, I live in Milton. It’s about 35 minutes northeast of Pensacola, 30 minutes north of Gulf Breeze, and an hour or so northwest of Destin/Fort Walton Beach. I’d say it’s the size of Nixa or Ozark, Missouri, which would be maybe less than half the size of Quincy, if that. There are three main roads here. Dogwood (Highway 87), Stewart (Highway 89), and Carolina (Highway 90). Pretty much anything of worth is close to one of those streets, with most everything outside of a few What-a-Burgers being on 90.

Well, you’re probably tired of reading and I’m getting tired of writing. I’ll let you know if I get a job, or if I continue to be gainfully unemployed.

If you’re going to be in the area sometime, give me a shout. Visitors are always nice! Just don’t expect to stay at my place just yet, because the only two places to sleep are on the floor and on my futon. I call the futon!

Have a nice day!

Sam

***BONUS***

Pensacola/Miltion Region Fun Fact: On August 15th of this year, Pensacola will be turning 450 years old. This Saturday also marks the 450th anniversary of the first Mass said at a permanent settlement in the New World. It was said on Pensacola Beach. The local Knights of Columus erected a 7' marble cross on the beach to mark the site, and it is always well protected during hurricanes. Take THAT St. Augustine!