Panama City Beach - The Red Neck Riviera

It is about 2 hours from Tallahassee to Panama City Beach. Another 4 hours drive would have you in New Orleans. 

A nice walk on the beach at sunset completed a beautiful 3 day vacation for me - a work  trip for Lulu.

We love our beach tent. It is free standing - the front can be closed to use it as a beach cabana for changing clothes. I wonder if it is waterproof. It has screened windows and a sewn-in floor. That is our hotel in the background.

Even though Panama City Beach is in Florida - it appears to be "owned" by the people of Alabama. They like to call it the Red Neck Rivieria. Note on the maps that it is surrounded on 3 sides by Alabama - and the other side is the Gulf. The only thing left to complete the picture is Jackie and Tami.

The water is warm - the sand is white and fluffy. The beaches are wide. 

The picture above is our sun tent in front of the Legacy by the Sea Hotel. They is a row of rentals chairs and cabanas but most of the beach people are on their own chairs and blankets. They also have coolers full of food and beverages - lots of beverages. Our hotel had a nice pool and hot tub. Outdoor showers can get you nice and clean for the 111 mile ride back to Tallahassee. 

Our New Home Energy Consumption Is Low

We are very pleased with the energy consumption on the new house. When we designed it - we were very conscious of features that took advantage of the Florida climate. 

The above bill was for July. Our home has 2400 square feet on the first floor. It has another 1200 feet on the second floor. 

The home is lined with SucraSeal - expanded foam insulation. It has an R-60 rating in the roof and R-30 in the walls. There are no openings in the roof for vents - chimneys - etc. There is a two foot overhang of the roof all around the house for shade and rain protection. Two long porches shade the tall windows. The room ceilings are 10 feet high throughout. There are no ceiling fans.

The heat sump has a SEER rating of 19. The appliances are basic GE with low energy ratings. The water heater is an on demand Rennai tankless unit. All light bulbs are LED's that use 1/5th the power of a normal light bulb. The above chart says we used $16 for lighting for the month - that includes 10 porch lights that are left on at night. 

Tallahassee Utilities has been ranked the number one public utility in the USA. They offer all of these services on one bill - electric - gas - water - sewer - garbage - water runoff - fire protection. 

As you can see on the chart - the average bill for a home our size is $263. Ours was $143. As they say - of course your mileage will vary. 

New Poster in Town - Pretty Silly If They Lose the First Game in Dallas

Florida State is ranked number 1 in the nation before they play one down. I cannot help but remember in 1988 - they were preseason number 1. They even cut a rap video called the "Seminole Shuffle." Then they shuffled into Miami opening day and lost on national TV - 31-0. They won the rest of their games that year - we went to the Sugar Bowl to watch them beat Auburn. 

Being cautious - the preseason hype is just over the top. All it takes is an injury or two - or an arrest - and the season is over. 

Panama City Beach For Three Days

Lulu and I at the Hofbrauhaus in Panama City Beach. At 2 PM - beers are 2 for the price of 1. Note the crowd. This is the first picture with my new bionic eye. 

Lulu has a conference in Panama City Beach for the next 3 days. I go along to carry her bags. 

As we pulled out of our home on Seminole Drive - we noticed the moving van at 1607 Seminole. Right on time - the furniture for the Kling's arrived. It was raining lightly as they started unloading the stuff into our old house. 

From our house to Panama City Beach is 111 miles if you go the shortest way - but it is not the fastest way. It rained off and on as we drove west - the highways were not crowded. As we arrived at the beach we noticed the streets were not that crowded either by cars or people. Panama City has some of the most beautiful white sand beaches in the world - but it almost seemed like the off season started. School starts this Monday in Florida. The clerk at our hotel assured us that the hotel was booked solid. We had to wait for our rooms - so we went to Pier Park - a neat shopping center. 

Hofbrauhaus has a beergarten there. Between 2 and 4 pm they had 2 for it drafts. I am not a big beer fan - but Hofbrau is a great beer. We have traveled to the famous Hofbrauhaus in Munich to drink this smooth beer. The brewery is in the same spot almost 500 years. Someday we will visit it for Oktoberfest.

As we enjoyed our beer - Lulu was texted to say our room was ready. The hotel is about 1 mile east of Pier Park so we drove back - unloaded our bags - and got the key to our 9th floor room. As we opened the door - it was hard to miss the big Jacuzzi tub right next to the bed. You can soak in the hot tub and peer out the window at the surf. 

We will spend two nights here - driving home Friday evening. Too bad - because Hofbrauhaus has free draft beer in the beergarten after 6 PM on a Friday night. I certainly could not drive after a night of that.

This picture is the real Hofbrauhaus in Munich Germany where Hitler became Fuhrer. 

Our beach and pool from the lobby of the Legacy by the Sea.

Lulu loves the beach - particularly this one - note the sugar white sand and blue/green water.

This moving van was unloading the Kling's furniture as we left town. 

Craigslist - We Bought A City Gas Weber Grill for $110

Weber grill bought on Craigslist last night

Two burners - stainless counter top - Weber

Our old house had an electric grill on the back porch. Before that we always had a grill with a propane tank underneath that used to run out at the most in appropriate times. Our new home has city gas - we even put an outlet on the back porch for a grill and generator. 

We went to Home Depot to check out grills - they had a nice Weber grill for $399 - pretty basic - but the main thing was that it ran on city gas. After checking on Craigslist - we found the same model unit for sale for $165. It was about 12 miles away - so we put our carrier on the Prius and we went on a road trip. The seller lived in a nice house - he claimed that his new house did not have city gas - he had a new propane grill on his deck. 

I offered $100 and he came back with $110. Lulu said okay. No tax. No shipping. We loaded it up and brought it home. We stopped by Home Depot on the way to get a fitting to hook the grill up to our house. We got a quick release fitting - just one quick slide and it is off and it turns off the flow of the gas. I can use the same connection for a city gas generator that Honda makes.

Thermometer goes to 600 F

We cleaned it up it up in the dark. This morning I hooked it up to the gas line and away it went. It has two burners - even set at medium it pinned the thermometer at 600 degrees. 

Today Lulu will grill some chicken for supper - along with her foil potato bags. 

Yes I need to paint the city gas pipe - this shows the quick disconnect - no propane tanks to buy - it will also work during a power failure

When it is disconnected - the gas is shut off automatically. You can quickly store it inside when your travel.

Two burner controls and a a battery powered electric spark

Inside there is plenty of storage without a propane tank in the way. The unit is easy to roll without a heavy tank.

20/20 - 4 days after surgery

I just returned from a post op visit to Doctor Palmer. My lens and cornea are in great shape. I tested 20/20 for the first time without glasses. I can read the finest print on my computer and in the newspaper without glasses. No squinting. If you look at my old pictures I was always squinting. 

www.harry.everhart.com

Lulu and I Took This Year old Ragtop for a Ride

Lulu drives a 1986 Dodge Convertible. We took this year old Chrysler 200 for a ride yesterday. It is a $33,000 new car - the guy wanted $17,000 for this one with 18,000 miles on it. 

Went Down To Gulf To See The Super Full Moon and All We Got Were These Pictures of a Damn Sunset

We drove down to the Gulf and the bridge at Panacea FL to see the full super moon and clouds obscured the eastern horizon. All we got were these sunset pictures. We rode Lulu's 28 year old convertible thru the warm evening breezes.

We Just Welcomed The New Homeowners At 1607 Seminole Drive

Get ready for a wonderful story. We sold our old home - just 5 doors up the street. The new owners just saw it for the first time an hour ago. Their names are Joe - Diane - Jennifer - and Simon.

They flew into Tallahassee for the first time last night. We greeted them at the airport and they spent the night in a hotel.

We have the house furnished just enough for them to live until their furniture arrives on Wednesday.

24 Hours After the MultiFocal Lens was Installed In My Eye

The marker over my right eye reminds the doctor to not do the wrong one. You can see my right pupil dilated wide open. You can almost see my cataract.

Praise the miracles of modern science and medicine.  For 66 years I relied on my right eye to explore this world. Since birth my left eye has been simply a placeholder - a rock the doctor calls it. So you can imagine my concern when the doctor said my right eye's lens was cloudy and I should replace it. After much hand wringing I decided to have the operation. 

Here the doctor is slipping the new MultiFocal lens into my eye.

Yesterday at this time I was on the operating table - with Dr Richard Palmer hunched over the microscope controlling the insertion of my new multifocal lens. The operation took 15 minutes- I was awake the entire time - and I walked off the table when it was done. The procedure is simple enough - they pounce a needle into the eye - it acts as a vacuum to suck out the old lens. Then they slide the new lens down the needle like a rolled up carpet. Finally the doctor unfurls the new lens. The cornea remains intact and pressure holds the lens in place.

I Just Had A Lens Removed From My Eye One Hour Ago

I just had surgery to place a bionic lens in my eye. The surgery was at 10:30 - I am home typing this at 11:30. Simply - I only have had one good eye all my life. I developed a goofy cataract lens in that good eye. The procedure was straight forward at a clinic at my doctor's office. They do a pounce with a needle into the eye. Then they suck out the old lens and clean up the area. Then they insert a new lens in the hole all rolled up. Finally they spread it like a carpet and hold it down with stitches. The whole thing took 15 minutes - I was awake and watched it all. They inserted a multi-focal lens - that gives me vision thru all ranges. I will never need glasses again. It is like a series of concentric rings. A regular single vision lens costs $900 - medicare paying for it all. The multi-focal lens costs an extra $2600 that I had to pay. I would guess my eyesight is 20/40 right now - a little cloudy. I am wearing those big sun glasses. Tomorrow it should be 20/25 - and Monday it should be 20/20. I am typing without glasses - something I seldom did before. Remember I am off the operating table about an hour. Lulu was there with me. I cannot drive or drink for 24 hours. I cannot lift stuff for a week. I cannot swim or tub bath for 2 weeks. I will be having a ceremony to crush my old glasses. Of course I was nervous because they were working on my only good eye - but I believe in science. I will update my progress.

Added 20 hours later - my vision is even clearer. I did not experience much of the itchy eye they talk about. I will go back to the doctor at 8 AM today for a checkup to make sure the lens is in place and there is no infection. Right now things seem okay. 


Update - 9 AM - the day after. I just returned from a doctor exam. I tested out at 20/25 - and my pupil is still dilated wide open. Doctor expects 20/20 or better. Eye pressure is perfect.  One correction on my story above. No stitches were used - the lens stays in place from cornea pressure. 

Coal Region Park Beats Out Disneyworld

Story about park rankings

Friends To Europe

We make a lot of trips to the airport in a Tallahassee summer. 

Joel and George are on their way to Turkey for 3 weeks to visit former students. 

Jean Charles is going home to France for 2 weeks to see his family. 

The Prius was loaded down with people and bags. What a pretty sunny day for a flight.

Alligator Point After A Hard Day of Work

Alligator Point is 40 miles south of town. It is the closest real ocean beach - in less than an hour you can be on the white sand and into the water.

After a day of working the pipe and wire trenches in our yard - we threw our beach tent into the Prius and headed south. We stopped for a picnic supper to take along - and picked up a dashing bathing for Lulu at the world's best Walmart in Crawfordville.

There were only 3 or 4 families on the sand as we arrived around 5 - and they left pretty soon giving us the beach to ourselves. Can you imagine miles of white sand beaches in Florida with warm water and no people? Well that is what we had. 

We stayed until well past sundown - we were tempted to stay in our tent to see if anyone would roust us. But in the dark - we pulled up stakes - folded the poles and rolled up the tent. Lulu drove home - and in less than an hour - we were showered and ready for bed. 

We found someone to take our picture - this is looking east.

The sunset can be seen through Lulu's hair - looking west. In this photo I used a flash because I was shooting into the sun.

Tallahassee to Alligator Point is 40 miles. Traffic is nonexistent on the 2 lane highway - 319.

Gary Shiver's Latest Project

In the woods north of Tallahassee - Gary Shiver is on to his next project. After finishing our home - he moved onto a commercial property. Now he is building this beautiful barn/play house for his friend. 

Upstairs - there is a finished workshop for the wife. On one side is a giant screened in room with a stone fireplace. A workshop is on the first floor - and a place for cars and trucks.

Harry - Gary - the Owner

Step go up to the second floor on the attic.

The building is being covered with rough cut vertical pine planks.

The fireplace is a stainless feel wood burning unit. It will be covered with stone.

The metal roof has a large overhang.

The fireplace will be in a giant screened party room.

Steps to the loft.

Gary Wayne and Josh 

Sawing rough cut lumber - lots of splinters.

The Prius made an appearance.

This is the north side facing the road.

This is a classic Cracker Style barn

Working in the screened party room.

It Looks Like A Mole Attacked Our Yard

The moles were active at Seminole View.

Do you remember the Looney Tunes of the 1950s? I loved the ones about the moles that would dig up yards making furrows that looked like railroad tracks. This weekend our yard looks like one of those cartoons. 

This trencher did the hard work of digging up our yard.

I rented a trencher. It is a really neat device that digs a trench for wires and pipes. For $80 a day - you can make these neat little tranches without butchering your lawn too much. I can't get my moneysworth any more - I have to stop for a lot of rests. I probably picked the hottest and most humid time to dig. The local rental shop give you a break if you rent on a Friday -you pay one day - and you get to use the tool the whole weekend. That was a good thing - because my job went slower than I expected. I would go broke as an electrician. 

Mower Sale Took Three Days

Mr. Cox from Crestview FL

New $100 Bills With Holograms

I got a text message from a guy in Crestview FL last night around 9 PM. Crestview is 100 miles away - just off I-10. It is where my former students Earl and Jean Eidem live. 

The guy said he would be over at 7 AM with his truck - trailer - and $1200 in cash. This morning at 7 AM - he took a test mow and drove it right up onto his trailer. Right now the mower is heading west on the Interstate at about 65 miles per hour. 

Tuesday I bought my new mower. I advertised it on Craigslist right away. One fellow came by with his truck and $1000. I felt guilty not selling it - Lulu said I should have settled. Today I am $200 richer.