Marlon made us breakfast and then we left early around 7am. The car is packed and we are on our way for a 7 hour journey. We decided to make this trip a journey along the coastline on Highway 98 THE FORGOTTEN COAST. We saw lots of scenery in this part of Florida that we have not been since we took no freeways. Part of the area had lots of pine trees with underbrush of some kind of palm trees. As we got farther North of Florida the landscape was trees with more palm trees under them.
We stopped in a town along the gulf coast called Carabelle. All the small towns we have gone through are fishing towns. Very interesting to see all the places to buy fish and most of the restaurants along the way specialty was fresh fish. We chose a place called The Fisherman's Wife. I am so happy we did, the place was perfect. I got blackened grouper, baked beans, and hushpuppies. Marlon got blackened snapper, baked potato, and hushpuppies. The husband caught the fish and the wife and crew cooked. The place was booming with customers.
We stopped at Alligator Point to read about oyster harvesting that was going on in the panhandle of Florida. A thick fog hangs over Alligator Harbor, 20 minutes south of Panacea across Ocklocknee Bay off U.S. Route 98.
When we pulled in we saw a huge pile of oysters that people had more than likely been sitting there eating and discarded the shells.
thousands of black polyurethane baskets strung in long rows in 80-foot-wide parcels. Sixty-seven of those parcels stretch across some 100 acres of the harbor that is leased by the state of Florida to oyster farmers.We are now traveling over this 7-mile bridge over to Saint Joseph Point.
Port St Joe as it is called by locals is another great lighthouse. The town is cute too. I met the most friendly and knowledgeable lighthouse volunteer. He provided me with lots of history about the lighthouse and the family that lived there. A tremendous amount of work has gone into rebuilding this lighthouse to get it back to its original state. This area also was hit hard by Hurricane Michael.
Going to St. George island now which is on our journey of the forgotten coast. October 21, 2005, the Cape St. George Light collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico. On Monday, December 1, 2008, the reconstructed lighthouse was opened to the public. First built in 1833 and rebuilt in 1848 and 1852 on what is now Little St. George Island, the Light finally succumbed to beach erosion and pounding waves. Working with state and federal government support, the St. George Lighthouse Association spearheaded the effort to salvage the pieces of the Light. Volunteers cleaned the mortar off thousands of the old bricks. The original plans were obtained from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and the lighthouse was reconstructed on St. George Island, using as much of the original materials as possible.Construction of a replica of the original keeper’s house was begun next to the lighthouse in the fall of 2009. The two story brick building was opened in the summer of 2011 and houses a museum which tells the story of the lighthouse and its keepers and a gift shop that offers visitors the opportunity to take home a memento of their visit to the historic lighthouse
These homes lined the beach
Red Flag flying means the ocean is dangerous.
Beautiful boardwalk to the gulf
Beautiful Lighthouse
Now back over the bridge and on to Destin, Florida. We were in traffic for the last 10 miles and it was stop-and-go traffic, approx. one hour.
Checked in and everything is in room 404, here in The Garden Inn, which is a Hilton Hotel. Decided to eat dinner at Austins Oyster Bar & Grill. The restaurant was within walking distance from the hotel. The food was absolutely delicious. Now back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.
