St George Island Wrap-Up

Well,  we are back in Ohio.  Normally, I'd have a really bad case of post-vacay blues, but the re-entry hasn't been quite as turbulent as in vacations past.

Someone asked me in a meeting this morning what my favorite part of vacation was for me.  I immediately answered "The eagles."  I got to thinking about my answer as I rode home for lunch.  I have never seen eagles in the wild before.  While never seeing them outside of a zoo setting and then seeing five over the course of a week was truely amazing, I think I have to amend my answer considerably.

This was Foxy's first vacation.  I know, she's a dog.  But Foxy is a part of our family and it was very fun bringing her with us.  She is nine now and she was acting like a puppy again.  Romping and carrying on in the sand.  I think that she understood that we were on a vacation.  It was really good to experience that.

Foxy Cleopatra on a beach walk

There is also something to be said about where water meets the land.  Three of the four elements coming meeting really does something to me.  It helps me find my zen and lifts my attitude.  St George Island was a beautiful place.  The sunrises and sunsets were stunning every day that we were there.

Good morning, SGI!

Another great part of this trip was the exploration.  We would take roadtrips to different little towns along the Forgotten Coast.  The one thing that remained the same with each stop was that the more you spoke with a local or looked into something, the deeper you can go.  We only scratched the surface of the adventures to be had.  There is also a rich, deep history in this area.  Many times stories revolved around the civil war.  It was a very interesting and different perspective.  It connected me to the history lessons I learned in school on a very real level.

Cape San Blas Lighthouse

Downtown Port St Joe

Me and the Mrs.

Grady Market Apalachicola

Carrabelle Beach

Carrabelle Harbor Marina

Sea grasses at St George Island State Park

Scuttle to SGI lighthouse lantern room

SGI halloween decorations

Thanks for visiting.  See you on the flip flop side!

St George Island Day 8

One last hurrah.  See you on the flip flop side.

Beach sunrise

St George Island Day 7

Today is our final full day.  We took a really long walk on the beach this morning with Foxy.  I think she can sense that we have only one more sleep here.  After a quick errand we had some lunch and hit the pool at 300 Mile.  This is a very nice condo community.  There are two pools total.  After a couple of hours at the pool, we retired to the crow's nest to enjoy the ocean sights and sounds.

Foxy was planted in her bed on the crows nest and Dar would pop in and out of the sun for the finishing touches.  I wanted to post a little video for all of you so that you can enjoy the sun, sand, and sounds of St George Island.

After a very relaxing day at the beach and pool, we had to start the inevitable task of cleaning up and packing.  Do we go home?  Do I YouTube how to fish in the ocean and clean it so we can stay and be beach bums?  This level of contemplation requires Corona.  

After that sad state of affairs, we drove over to Apalachicola for dinner.  We ended up at Tamara's right on the main drag.  We scored a prime outdoor table along the side of the building.  Darla got the seafood linguine with red sauce.  It had mussels, scallops, and shrimp in it and Dar enjoyed it very much.  What drew us there was the pecan crusted grouper.  It was good, but fried and didn't seem like the best piece of fish.  Our overall experience was good.  We would return, but after we've tried some of the other places first.

After dinner we took a stroll through town to let our food settle.  Dar stopped into the Artemis Boutique to make sure there were no more sales to be uncovered before our departure.  The owner there suggested that we go check out the art opening down at the Bowery Art Gallery.  There were some very nice pieces of artwork in this gallery.

Bowery Art Gallery

We continued to walk off dinner and found some interesting old buildings.  You just have to wonder what their story was.

We also found a raw bar and a Marina/Hotel that will have to be tried on our next tip to the Forgotten Coast.  While we were in the Bowery Art Gallery a fellow patron suggested to check out the Apalachicola National Estaurine Research Reserve.  They were also having a gallery opening.  We strolled back to the car and headed to the ANERR.  

The Apalachicola National Estaurine Research Reserve should be on everyone's must do list while you are in the area.  I could see spending at least a half-day there learning about all of the critters and ecosystems in the area.  The half hour that we spent there this evening sealed the deal that we would return to the Forgotten Coast, if not for this center alone.  Fortunately, there are at least a dozen things on our list to see and explore next time.

Up The Creek Raw Bar

With that, I bid you adieu.  See you on the flip side.