Chewacia State Park - Auburn, AL

On our way home from Northwest Florida.  There were no direct routes to here...all back roads.  We had lunch on a little lake in Florala, AL. went through Tuskegee.  Deb wanted Easter Dinner, so we were going to have traditional Lamb Stew, but alas, we could not find any lamb, so we substituted pork.  Then instead of an Easter Egg hunt, we ate a Chocolate Bar in front of a campfire.  Chewicia has everything, including expert bike trails.  Deb said "see, we should have had bikes!" Really?

Ft Pickens - Pensacola, FL

Yesterday was a "stay here" day.  Walked to Ft Pickens and as the expression goes, "broke bread with the dead."  A huge fort built by slaves with 22 million bricks. It used from 1834 to 1947.  Geronimo was incarcerated there for a short period of time.  The island is flush with ospreys and blue herons.

Gulf Islands National Seashore - Pensacola, FL

Our last stop on the Florida Panhandle.  Brilliant white sand.  They say the reason there are no shells on the beach is because they end up on sandbars far offshore.  We are on a little spit of land, really just a sandbar, but it's been here a long time.  The beach is lovely, but the campground s full.  It's spring break, somewhere.  This is a stay here day, we will be checking out the local sights.

 

Topsail Hill Preserve - Santa Rosa Beach, FL

Another day in paradise.  The sand is absolutely white, there's no seaweed, no shells, nothing but sand and some small aqua blue jelly fish.  Went through Panama City Beach, yesterday...the self acclaimed "spring break" capital of the world.   Last night, we attended a free local concert... Richard de Val and his 12 string guitar...Deb and Drex left early...enough said.  We are not sure of the appeal here. It's extremely clean, well maintained, very close together. It's great for people watching.  Just for the record we are in site 28 (E/W/S/C)

Small aqua blue jellyfish

Free concert at the park

St George's Island State Park - Eastpoint, FL

Had lunch on a "River," that is just an inlet from the Gulf...with really big turtles.  We finally made it to the barrier islands of Florida.  It's interesting to be on the coast which runs east and west, it destroys my sense of direction.  For some reason, only understood by the Florida Dept of Parks, dogs are not allowed on the beach, which is sad.  There was a major watermain break, so there is a boil order at the campground.  Fortunately, we carry enough water to just avoid the whole thing.  We have a delightful site(22 E/unpotable W) tucked into the woods.  The beach is pure white and, for the most part, uninhabited.

Manatee Springs State Park - Chiefland, FL

Natural underground springs feeding the Suwannee River.  We are camped next to a sinkhole that people scuba dive in to explore 5 miles of underwater caves.  A fantastic Boardwalk goes through the cypress swamps to the river.  Deer roam right through the campground, Drex is not that happy to see them quite so close.  We are in a pull thru (Site 93 È/leaky water).  It was our first "shorts" day of the year.  Deb never realized that my knees could actually be that white!

Little Ocmulgee State Park

This is a differnt sort of place (Pronounced OAK-muggi) with a lodge, restaurant, and golf course.  Restaurant serves southern epicurean...fried catfish, fried chicken, french fries and slaw.  Of course, you can get a side of hush puppies.  They had two kinds of beer, Bud and Bud Lite. Before going to lodge for dinner we took a short hike to tire out Drex.  The campsite is nice and well manicured, but very family oriented (re: noisy). We were nestled in at Site 48(E/W) 

Spanish Moss along the Lake