What a Difference a Day Makes

Monday morning we left the state park--reluctantly--and drove around the bottom of the peninsula that drops down from the Florida panhandle. If you are looking for a piece of Florida that is pristine, uncrowded and undeveloped, this is it. Only a few fishing villages and communities dot the shores; the two-lane road is free of traffic. Plenty of beach houses line Cape San Blas, but you would have to stock up on groceries at the Piggly Wiggly in Port St. Joe before going to spend time out there. A long bridge connects another island, St. George Island, to the mainland in this area and there is another state park at the end of that one also. Florida state parks are well-maintained and well-planned. Unfortunately, they are also very popular (cheap and they have basic hookups) so a person has to reserve early. The peninsula area is prime bird-watching country and oyster habitat too. The next time we are in Florida, we will head down here.

Well, back to civilization via good old Highway 98, joining up at Perry and then traveling blind--trees line both sides of the roads-- until Crystal River and crowding hits you. The area between Perry and Crystal River is mostly swamp and forest; the most common sights on the roads are logging trucks. We drove to Homosassa where we stayed at a park, Nature's Resort (snicker, snicker), where there was plenty of partying in progress. No, not THAT kind of resort. The best part of the place was the short walk to cross the street to a nice little restaurant/bar. Their seafood was excellent--just ask the black cat that wound itself around our feet. Of course, if you are going to read my blog, you had better get used to sunset photos. When we get to the east coast, the sunrise photos will be few and far between if that makes you feel better.

This morning we had a little coffee and a light breakfast to fortify ourselves to hit the freeways through Tampa and St. Petersburg. Traffic wasn't bad, but our one gas stop turned into a nightmare of construction. At any rate, we managed to find our way, thanks entirely to Miss Charmin Garmin, to our stop for the night, the Pearl Beach Inn on Manasota Beach. Laura and Ken and the boys had stayed here a few years ago; the boys love this beach. One thing that makes it appealing is its reputation for fossilized shark teeth washing up on the tide. We went right down to start looking for them; Jim found a few, but the best time to look is at low tide and that won't be until the wee hours of tomorrow morning. Maybe we will just help ourselves to the complimentary ones in the resort lobby. Just kidding, kids. This place is absolutely charming and reminds us of the cottages where we stayed in Hawaii. It sits right on the beach. Right now my door is open and I can hear the waves breaking on that shell-strewn beach. A few bugs are buzzing around to remind us that we are in Florida.


About sundown, we disregarded the warning signs on the road (low canopy, 12 feet 3 inches) and drove five miles down the road to eat at a nice little pub with live music, a lovely little marina, and a pleasant outdoor seating area. We keep forgetting that Florida allows smoking on outdoor decks and, sure enough, the people next to us who weren't smoking when we sat down lit up while we were eating. Grrrr. Florida needs to get with the rest of the country on this one. Tomorrow morning I will have to climb up the ladder on the Coach and see if we lost anything when we were brushing under those trees.

Tomorrow we will move down to Ft. Myers Beach, not really very far at all. Until then. . .