Author: tophatpat

St. George Island SP (SGISP), Eastpoint, Fl.,   58 mile jump

 

We got up at dawn and grabbed our bikes to ride north to the end of the road. There is a parking lot and a bike rack there. We walked along a roped trail though a strange land of white sand dunes to a desolate beach. The wind was blowing so hard the sea birds were absent except a couple of tiny sandpipers.

It is nearly an out of body experience to be in such an exotic environment; it’s like being transported to another world. The landscape was unlike any we have ever witnessed. These are the moments that are most instructive to our myopic sense of reality; reality is way more than our fixed circle of experiences. Visiting a strange land like this barrier island opens our minds to the “otherness” outside of our comfort zone. One might ask, how has my myopathy limited my vision? What else can I learn outside of my comfort zone? How do I correct my short sightedness?

The short drive along the Forgotten Coast to St. George Island was like a dream come true. Last year we were advised by a couple we met in Keokuk, Iowa, to visit Apalachicola, the Oyster Capital of the World*. It is like a time machine, very laid back, old school. Remember, we tried to book a campsite at SGISP, for weeks. Luckily, one night at midnight, I reserved these five nights. Last year, we camped 30 miles away for a week and fell in love with Apalach, as the locals call it. And now, we were almost to our bucket list destination!

We stopped at familiar spots on the way through Apalach: Ace Hardware for propane, Piggly Wiggly for groceries and beer (they have our favorite Two Hearted Ale by Bell’s Brewing, just outside of Grand Rapids), and the Post Office to mail some post cards that had been playing on the dashboard for days. From there we crossed the expansive Bay Bridge over to Eastpoint, then turned south over the gorgeous four mile St. George Island Bridge and northeast eight miles to Sugar Hill campground. (It looked like sugar on the ground!)

An awesome roomy campsite with vegetation screening us from neighbors on either side and a modern shower house just across the lane welcomed us. After setting up, we went out to the beach for the sunset, but this island is on a NE/SW orientation, so the sun set on the other side.

* The mural Penny painted on our camper is inspired by  the Mississippi River at Keokuk, Iowa.

St Joseph Peninsula SP, Port St. Joe, FL

This morning we rode our bikes to the east side of the peninsula to see the sunrise. Too bad we forgot the bug dope, they were on us like white on rice. No way to ignore them in your ears, nose, eyes. But, we toughed it out and came up with some pretty photos of a phenomenal sunrise, surrounding landscape, and beautiful shorebirds.

Penny made a super breakfast out of last night’s boudin and I chopped strawberries for a side dish. Yum! Then, she stripped the carcass of the rotisserie chicken we bought at Port St. Joe on the way here. Out of it, she made a delicious chicken salad that we ate for lunch AND fantastic chicken noodle soup that we enjoyed for dinner. Amazing!

Later, I went for a 12 mile bike ride while Penny visited the beach to do some sketching. I got home before she did. After a cool down period, I got to the shower house and returned for lunch. We are moving to St. George Island tomorrow, so the afternoon included some preparation for the move and a nap necessitated by the GU game at 10:15PM (7:15 GU time). If they win, they will be 30-0 to close out the conference season!

The soup was killer! While waiting for the game, we watched the sunset, reviewed the many photos we have recently taken, critiqued each others, and chose our favorites. Penny went to bed and heard the first few minutes, but sleep overcame her.

Looking forward to the move tomorrow, we will be within 7 miles of our favorite oyster house and 10 miles of Apalachicola, our favorite town on the Forgotten Coast. This is a term coined to describe this portion of the panhandle that has remained undeveloped. There are no high rises, few condos or strip malls; it looks much as it did in the 1960s, unlike most of the rest of the Florida coastline. Again, thank goodness for state and national parks. My case in point, St. Joseph Peninsula State Park is on the north end of the peninsula. From the south boundary of the park, housing developments are springing up everywhere. We have seen this phenomena of commercial and/or residential encroachment surrounding state and national parks. Yes, it is beautiful land and it is valuable. My point is we, the people, need these sacred spaces protected from encroachment as a treasure to future generations. Do we really need to drill for oil in the pristine wilderness?

The Zags lost. It’s 12:30 PM. Good night!

St Joseph Peninsula SP, Port St. Joe, FL

The only downside of this park is the cell service is poor; I am typing this on a word processor since there is no internet connection. When we get connectivity, these posts will get uploaded to the blog site and photos will get added. But, it’s not totally bad. Not hearing about the political scene is a big plus.

We got up before dawn to walk north up the boardwalk to the other campground here. There are two branches off of the main boardwalk where benches allow one to sit and soak up the wildlife and unique scenery. We were plenty early and waited in silence for the sun. When I realized the the pond in front of the other viewing platform would reflect it, I ran  there.

The birds were really active at dawn. Mockingbirds, red wing blackbirds, mourning doves, cardinals were singing and the bullfrogs were croaking the bass line. A dove and a cardinal shared a dead snag. Walking back to our camp, we saw pelicans flying over the dunes on our right, so we visited the beach where we enjoyed the pelicans, willlets, sandpipers, and gulls.

 

Next was a bacon and egg breakfast before we broke camp to move to another campsite for two more days in that north loop. This one has deep sites at a 45 degree angle to the lane, so backing in was much easier. We are tucked into the trees and bushes; our picnic table area is very secluded from the lane and any other campsites. We rode our bikes to the new site, then walked back to move the camper. On the short ride between the two sites, we saw egrets and a heron feeding in a backwater pond.

The afternoon was dedicated to laundry and trailer maintenance, but we didn’t want to miss the sunset festivities. Lots of campers carry their chairs and drinks down to the beach to watch the sun go down. Tonight’s clear sky made for a “routine” sunset, but it seemed a fitting bookend to our day.

We find ourselves shaking our heads when we recognize how gifted we are to share this adventure. We love our tiny house on wheels. We eat like royalty. It is a wonderful life, for which we are very grateful! We believe the gift giver must appreciate our gratitude.

Pork boudin and potatoes on the grill and a beer closed out the day, another wonderful day on the road, which we hope goes on forever and the party never ends. God willing!

St Joseph Peninsula SP, Port St. Joe, FL

Sleeping until 8:30 is not our style; probably due to yesterday’s long slow drive, being up late and switching time zones. After breakfast, we explored the park on our bikes. It is really amazing with great beaches and dunes on either side. Trees and marshland in the middle. It is a great bird habitat!

Together we covered about 5 miles. Then, I rode the other direction to a little grocery just outside the park to get some half & half with which to bread two dozen fresh oysters we bought yesterday. What a scrumptious lunch; we taste tested three different pepper sauces. I like Slap Ya Mama. Penny likes Ed’s Red. Melinda’s Chipotle finished a respectable third. We reserved the second dozen for dinner.

The 16 miles on the bike tired me out and made for too much sun exposure, so Penny went for a walk on the beach while I napped about an hour. She returned to make a great salad and fried the remaining oysters; it was a delicious dinner! We missed the sunset party on the beach and went to bed early.

St Joseph Peninsula SP, Port St. Joe, FL, 162 mile jump

The rain diminished over night but continued to spit small showers in the early morning. My meditation was facilitated by wonderful birdsong, the cardinal and the mockingbird serenade held my attention and made the 20 minutes seem like 10. Penny did a walking meditation through the woods and out to the beach. We both felt transcendentally alive so I played Beethoven’s Ode to Joy for breakfast.

Our jump today was only 162 miles, but much of it was 45MPH, so Suri estimated 4 hours. It actually took 6.5 hours due to purchasing diesel ($2.39), groceries, and a lunch break. US Highway 98 took us SE along the panhandle coast through a variety of tourist towns. Between the tourist towns commercial interests were springing up, poorly timed stop lights about a mile apart created the need to stop and go repeatedly. Then there were long stretches through the Tyndall Air Force Base of 45MPH, but there were few intersections.

We were looking for someplace to stop to stretch and eat our PB&J sandwiches; I was looking for a church parking lot on the highway. After we left the AFB, Penny spied a sign for a county park, so we turned off the highway and immediately saw a sign for St. Rita’s Catholic Church. We laughed at that “coincidence” and found the church parking lot. It was tucked into the trees just off the highway in a very nice setting. We ate our sandwiches standing up and watched a cardinal and a blue jay foraging amongst the trees and down on the ground.

Shortly after that, we encountered a number of towns in the Panama City area. St. Andrews was one of them; we stayed there last year. From what we saw these towns were struggling. Lots of businesses closed or run down; I don’t know of a hurricane to blame. Times are tough for a lot of people while others live the high life. The disparity is obvious and sad.

We arrived at our destination a little after 5PM EST. A lot like Ft. Pickens, St. Joseph is on a narrow white sand peninsula in some places only 200 yards wide. It makes one feel pretty vulnerable; a Tsunami could roll over it like a speed bump. But we don’t need to worry about that!

The campsite was difficult for me. Narrow lanes with trees on either side made it hard to swing the 22’ truck around to get the trailer where it needs to go. But we managed to get it done. Then we followed the crowd of gray haired snow birds across the boardwalk (across for our site) to the beach to watch the sunset. After dinner, we took a blanket out to the beach on which to lie while we gazed up at the Milky Way. Using an app on my phone, we identified Venus (really bright) and Mars over the western horizon. We even saw a shooting star. What a day! Glory be.

Ft. Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Gulf Breeze, FL

It rained hard from about 1AM  and is still raining. That’s good; I needed time to catch up on the blog and other indoor stuff. We went to the shower house about 7AM, in between squalls. Then Penny cut my shaggy locks; I lost weight!

After we had wrapped up our indoor stuff we had cabin fever, so we drove a couple of miles to the historic Ft. Pickens which defended the Oak grove along with two other forts strategically placed around the mouth of Pensacola Bay. It was truly formidable, a massive brick complex with huge cannons all round. The museum displays kept us occupied for an hour as did wandering around the bowels of the fort.

Slaves did all the carpentry and brick work, but their “owners” got paid. Isn’t it ironic that slaves built these forts and the US Capital? Facilities that are icons of our republic were built on the backs of human beings to whom no credit was given. And, they were forced to live separately for years after their freedom was attained in gun battles between these forts in the Civil War. The NPS placards at the fort made mention of this historical fact and it has been irritating me all day.

Tomorrow is a four hour jump to St Joseph Peninsula State Park!

Here are some random photos:

Ft. Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Gulf Breeze, FL

What a day! Starting before sunrise, we hiked to the north side of the island (it slightly faces east) to catch it coming up through wispy clouds for a dramatic sunrise. In the thin light of dawn there were lots of gulls and pelicans, a heron, and sandpipers were scurrying about. Penny asked if brought my Nikon, which I did, thankfully. She predicted a field day of bird watching.

And, she was right again! In the short walk home I was able to get good photos of red winged blackbirds, mourning doves, mockingbirds, cardinals, as well as a few landscapes tinted by the sun, both swamp grasses and live oaks. Back at the camper, I got two osprey brooding in their nest.

Then, it was time to move to a different campsite. This new one is between two small live oaks and has a longer apron on which to place the truck and trailer. Our breakdown/setup skills are polished; it only took about 35 minutes.

In the early afternoon, we hiked to the Gulf side beach. Leaving our flip-flops at the end of the boardwalk, we went a mile west and back along and sometimes through the surf. The sun and reflection off the water was pretty intense so we limited our exposure to a little more than an hour. But in the meantime, we got photos of laughing gulls, willets, and sandpipers. And, got a little color as well!

Hoping for a romantic sunset, we returned to the Gulf beach but found the western skies densely covered in clouds. Added to that was a stiff breeze blowing off the water. In spite of the adversity, we stood out there hugging for warmth (and love) enjoying the end of a beautiful day.

Ft. Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Gulf Breeze, FL,   138 mile jump

Leaving Davis Bayou is getting harder each year; it is a special place! We were lucky to get six nights allowing us to do most of the things we hoped to. On the way out, the alligator was laying in an unusual position; we were able to parallel park truck and trailer to get out and have a look. The gator was joined by her friends the heron, the turtles, the water moccasin, and the bullfrog. We appreciated the big send off!

Penny’s favorite bird is the sandhill crane, so I suggested stopping at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane Refuge. It was in the direction we were heading. However, Suri totally failed us again. We wasted time looking for the actual Visitor’s Center, not the virtual one. Finally, we headed east on the I-10 toward Alabama. As we approached the next exit, we saw a huge sign for the Mississippi Sandhill Crane Refuge! We had the time so we turned in that direction. As I pulled into the actual Visitor’s Center, we were met by a closed iron gate; they are not open on Sunday!

On to Ft. Pickens! In doing so, I-10 arcs gently NE to Mobile, AL., which sits on the north end of Mobile Bay, some 30 miles from the Gulf. At that point, the interstate glides SE through forested swamp land to Pensacola, Fl. Being a Sunday, the traffic was light in Pensacola until we joined US 98 to cross Pensacola Bay. That bridge must have been five miles long, two lane bumper to bumper starting before the bridge. It is a toll bridge, so all those cars had to stop to pay the $1.00 fee before entering Gulf Breeze, a city on the tip of a thin peninsula on the east side of the mouth of Pensacola Bay. From there was a bridge crossing Santa Rosa Sound to Santa Rosa Island, still lots of traffic, but not bumper to bumper.

On the west end of this barrier island is Ft. Pickens, where a number of gun batteries were built in the late 1800s to defend the Naval Live Oaks grove from foreign powers seeking to use the remarkable wood for their own navies. Around the turn of that century, wooden ships became replaced by steel ships and the government abandoned the fortress in 1947. It is now a wonderful part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore run by the NPS.

Our first night campsite is directly under an expansive live oak! The site is a tad short, so we have one wheel off the pavement; a no-no! We are playing musical campsites again, taking what we can get. This is a lovely spot with paved roads and sites, water and electric hookups and nice coed showers. ($11/night) It’s an easy walk to either beach; the Gulf side is very wide, currently with gentle surf. We will see the other side at sunrise.

Davis Bayou, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Ocean Springs, MS

I caught the ranger making his morning rounds; he said he had one family that might leave early. If so, we could take their spot. He said to check with him in 30 minutes. And, we got in! We are living a charmed life! Now Penny and I can do the ride the rain put off yesterday.

I noticed a school bus had moved in last night. As a veteran of the school bus crowd, I stopped in to say “hi”. Will and Nancy had a 56 passenger International Harvester diesel. They were heading from West Virginia to Big Bend National Park in southwestern Texas. They came down to see Penny’s artwork and we shared some stories before they had to move on. He is going to be a river guide for the national park! They said they were going to visit the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi on their way west.

This inspired us to do the same thing; we pushed our bike ride back until late afternoon so that we could be sure to have time to enjoy the museum. We had seen it on our way east and meant to see it during this week. Having this extra day afforded the possibility so we wanted to take advantage of it.

The compound was designed in some crazy architecture by Frank O. Gehry; it was campus style with lots of brick buildings with metal roofing that ached over and became walls. The light was brought in through skylights or the glass entryways.

The featured exhibit was George Ohr, the self proclaimed “Mad Potter of Biloxi”. Some of his pottery was utilitarian, but much of it was individual artistic work. Unrecognized until long after his death, he never enjoyed the fruits of his labor. Now they are shown in this Smithsonian Affiliate.

Another exhibit displayed exquisite lathe turned wood art work by a few very talented turners. It appeared to be magically created, other worldly. We had never seen wood sculptures like these.

Another building exhibited information about Hurricane Katrina. In our two trips to the Gulf Shore, we were amazed by the extend of the damage and the difficulties rebuilding these beach communities. But, the photography in these displays helped us to see the big picture. One hundred miles on either side of New Orleans got flattened, just smashed to pieces. Unbelievable!

Once back to Davis Bayou, we did squeeze in a bike ride along the Beach Rd. We rode until the sun set over Biloxi. Having no lights, we turned back to camp arriving safely in the dusk!

Davis Bayou, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Ocean Springs, MS

This day turned into an active one. I rode almost 10 miles on my own before lunch and hoped to get out with Penny in the early afternoon. But the skies grew dark and rain developed. Since we had just showered, bike riding in the wet would require a second shower, so we decided to drive to a trailhead on the sandhill crane refuge. Our raincoats and umbrella should due well in keeping us dry. We walked about an hour with occasional sprinkles, but no wildlife sightings. As we got back to the truck, the cloudburst hit.

By then it was late Friday afternoon; traffic was snarled on the main drag and we were headed across town. McElroy’s Restaurant was our destination; we had eaten two appetizers there last year and they were delicious. Once again, we ordered a dozen baked oysters covered in a New Orleans BBQ sauce, cheese and parsley for one dish and a seafood bread smothered in shrimp, cheese and sauce for the other. Oh, and two glasses of wine!

We decided to rent a movie so we found a Redbox to get Woody Allen’s Cafe Society. On the way, we were passing a homemade ice cream shop we had been meaning to try since we first saw it last year. We got two scoops of strawberry chocolate. It was rich and creamy and seriously silly to buy after all the seafood. But, I managed to eat it all by sharing some with Penny Jane.

The movie was classic Woody Allen filled with humor and pathos, as well as the typical New York Jewish stereotypes. It was good cheap entertainment; we should do that more often! It ended close to 10PM, our usual bedtime. It was a good day!

We don’t have a reservation for tomorrow night; we are hoping for a cancellation. Otherwise, we will be in someone’s parking lot. Weekends are booked.