State #1 - Florida
We left St. Pete just before 11:00 EDT. Today's journey took us from St. Petersburg, FL to Spanish Fort, AL...a total of 532 miles. To make up a little time, we only stopped at rest areas and picked up Chick-fil-A for lunch.
We traveled up I-75 to I-10 and then headed toward the panhandle. I never knew how many colleges were in that area, but saw signs for quite a few, small and large. It was nice to see lots of rolling hills, green trees everywhere, and a beautiful bright blue sky with huge fluffy clouds. As we rode, it was fun to look for animals in the clouds. Kathi, we even saw a flying pig.
After we passed the Apalachicola River, we crossed over into Central Daylight Time (CDT) before we got to Sneads, FL. Now, we see firsthand how on election night, a portion of Florida still has an hour remaining due to this time zone division in the Florida panhandle.
As we got in the Pensacola area, we saw the overpasses on I-10 all had Blue Angel designs on them. They were really cool. I had enjoyed seeing them perform last year at Sun 'n Fun in Lakeland.
We crossed into Alabama at 5:45 CDT. We stopped at the first rest area and found a history lesson in the making.
Can you name all 6 flags that have flown over the State of Alabama? There is the challenge for the day.
We made great time and found our Courtyard Marriott hotel. The front desk staff were extremely helpful and suggested a place for us to go eat. What a great pick!
We went to the Original Oyster House which is a long established restaurant in Mobile.
The view was spectacular, the food was yummy, the history of the famous people on the walls was amazing.
Tampa Bay was represented with photos of Tony Dungy, Derrick Brooks, and Keyshaun Johnson.
It was very interesting to see pictures of the before and after damage to the restaurant from Hurricane Katrina.
You can tell we are in Alabama...War Eagle!!! 
After dinner, we came back to the hotel and went to the fitness room. We really want to try to use the fitness rooms each day on this trip. Of course, Pat sent us mint brownies and cinnamon chip bars so now we are using the fitness room to work off our travel snacks! Thanks, Pat!
Good Night, Day 1! It was a great start!
