TOUR AMERICA 2019: FLORIDA PANHANDLE

Home Is Where We Park It:  Blackwater River State Park

Date:  May 9, 2019

Milton, Florida – Riverwalk and Veterans Memorial Park

Another beautiful day that we awoke to today.  It was already really warm and the outlook was for even higher temperatures before days end.  There was also the promise of a cold front coming through with some severe weather behind it.  That weather was not due, though, until much later in the day.  Yes, it did come.  Point of fact as I sit here typing this the rain is pounding on the roof.  What’s the old saying, Into every RV’ers life a little rain will come.

I might also add a bit of smoke on occasion too if the Forest Service decides to do a controlled burn in the surrounding forest.  As we walked out the door this morning we almost gagged and our eyes began to burn.  What in the world was going on?  As we left to go sightseeing we soon found out the reason.  Fire in the forest.

They do it a bit different here we found out.  They light a section and then leave it to burn and move on to light another section.  What if the previous one gets out of control?  Good question.  We asked but never got an answer.

Time to go sightseeing once more.  Today we’ll take a break from the Naval Museum and go somewhere more local.  Don’t worry, over the next several days we’ll be bringing you more of the Naval Museum – promise.  Today we’re headed to the town of Milton, which is right down the road from the Park we are staying in.  It’s sort of funny and sad in a way, all the reviews I read of this area stated that there wasn’t much worth seeing or doing here.  I guess a lot of people don’t know how to use Google or just don’t take the time to go exploring.  How sad.

But we’re going exploring.  First thing on the docket is the Riverwalk Park.  Riverwalk Park  runs along the banks of the Blackwater River in historic downtown Milton.  This is the River as it runs through the State Park.  Sort of small, shallow and tranquil.

The Blackwater River of Florida is a 56.6-mile-long river rising in southern Alabama and flowing through the Florida Panhandle to the Gulf of Mexico. The river enters Florida in Okaloosa County and flows through Santa Rosa County to Blackwater Bay, an arm of Pensacola Bay.

This is the same river at Riverfront Park that flows through the State Park.  It’s gotten a wee bit bigger for sure and is almost at its end at Blackwater Bay.

Riverwalk Park is at the site of former Blackwater Landing in Milton.  Milton was once the center of the Blackwater River lumber trade.  Logs felled up river were floated in rafts to this location and then loaded on larger ships for shipment around the world.

 

At the north end of the walk lies  Milton’s Riverwalk Gazebo, a wonderful place to enjoy beautiful views of the river and waterfowl.

Come stroll with me down the Boardwalk to the other end.

At the other end is a small pavilion.

The best part of the Riverfront Walk, however, is in the middle.  Let’s retrace our steps and soon enough we come to

At the entrance.  I believe the flag between its wings says it all.

A closer look at the interior of the plaza.

The vertical monuments in the interior, one for each branch of the Armed Services.

On the outer wall are horizontal monuments in memory of our countries various wars.  Here are a few displayed.

There were several other monuments at various places in the plaza.

A monument in honor of a historic event in the South Pacific.

This one which was entitled Mail Call.

Let’s end with this and

with this quote that defines the purpose of this plaza:  May all who visit this memorial recognize and appreciate the sacrifices and contributions America’s Veterans have made for all mankind.

That brings us to the end of one part of our exploration of Milton.  More to come tomorrow – after that is we get ourselves settled in at our new home.

Our day on The Road of Retirement has come to an end.  The rain is just a gentle pitter patter now and no more.  I’m sure all the fires are now absolutely out – some where still burning when we returned home.  That’s fine by me!  Once again we had a great day done our way hand in hand, travelling along, singing our song.

Thanks for coming along with us.  We’ll have more to share with you tomorrow.  Till then have a good night.

A parting thought:  A perfect marriage is the union of two good forgivers.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road