Again, Where Have I Been?

Now, where have I been?!

Hubs and I left last Tuesday for a get-away to celebrate our 54th anniversary on August 26. We headed to the west coast and then followed Florida's Big Bend to the Panhandle, from Cedar Key to Fort Walton Beach. 

Yellow stars indicated where we spent our nights in Apalachicola, and Okaloosa Island

Our first stop was Cedar Key, a place we'd visited in June 2024. We were there just a few months before Hurricane Helene hit in September. (This YouTube video gives you an idea of how damaging Helene was.) We wanted to check out the condition of the little town that's at the end of a 21 mile peninsula. 

We ate lunch at Steamers. The food was as excellent as I remembered, though the restaurant has temporarily relocated due to damage from a September 2024 fire - yep, first a hurricane; then a fire. A new, elevated restaurant is being built.

Overall, the community appears to be in a slow recovery mode, with many waterfront buildings being renovated and put on stilts. The only grocery store remains closed, so residents have to drive 30 miles to Chiefland for supplies.

Located on the waterfront, the "Pink Pearl" is where we stayed during our last visit, and though it's on a waterfront street seemed to be the same... likely due to it already being on stilts.

We continued driving north, bearing slightly left to travel along SR(state route)98 with the unseen Gulf of America to our left. I took pictures as we passed along this "Big Bend" so you can see that Florida isn't all beaches and congested entertainment areas. 

Chiefland area

It looks quite bucolic in places, with occasional deer crossing and bear crossing signs. 

Eastpoint area

I always liked it when SR 98 took us along the empty oceanfront. 

We spent one night at the Gibson Inn in Apalachicola, an historic town along the Apalachicola River that spills into the bay/gulf. 

photo courtesy of Gibson Inn

We arrived without reservations (something we do when traveling mid-week around Florida). The Gibson Inn was established in 1907, and much of the old character has been retained.

We had a lovely third floor room.

Our window view of downtown looked toward the river and bay. One block away, Water Street was once the site of more than 40 three-story cotton warehouses. In the 1840s to 1850s, Apalachicola was the third largest cotton shipping port in the US behind New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama.

Nowadays Apalachicola is known for it's production of Tupelo Honey. Apparently it's highly prized, and unique among honeys.

White tupelo trees along the Apalachicola River produce white blossoms for two to three weeks each April. During that time, bee hives are loaded onto boats and taken through swampy areas to pollenate the trees. The honey produced is a light golden color and never crystalizes. It's supposedly beneficial to diabetics and people with allergies - even people who do not live locally. 

https://www.tupelohoneyflorida.net/

I took a picture of a picture hanging the wall of our Gibson Inn room. I wish I knew the year it was taken and who the women were. Charming, isn't it? They're on the beach. See how they're holding the tails of their dresses between their legs, to keep their skirts dry? 

Continuing our SR98 journey the next day, this is still the Apalachicola area. 

This is the Port Saint Joe area.

These are Port Saint Joe residences to our right along SR98, overlooking the Gulf. 

Homes built along here have to expect hurricanes. 

This part of Port Saint Joe along the ocean remains mostly pristine. 

I appreciated seeing natural sea grasses and sand dunes. 

This is a typical home on Port Saint Joe Beach. Lots of properties are for sale, but none are at a bargain price. We agreed that renting is the best way to spend time in a hurricane-prone ocean front home.

This is a cabbage palm at Port Saint Joe Beach. 

Our SR98 view of Mexico Beach. This area is referred to as "The Forgotten Coast."

Going toward Fort Walton Beach is a stretch of SR98 - Henderson Beach State Park - where you can see dunes and grasses protected and left to their natural beauty.

Our second and third nights were spent on Okaloosa Island at Beal House, a six-story hotel on Okaloosa Island at Fort Walton Beach. You can see why this is stretch of beaches is called "The Emerald Coast." 

From our fourth story balcony we had unobstructed ocean views... 

...though the sunset was just out of sight, to the west. 

The full moon. 

We walked on the beach, enjoyed meals out - something we don't often do at home - and played gin rummy while appreciating beach views... seeing occasional leaping dolphins. 

Hotel staff suggested a couple of webcams to watch.

One is from the Boardwalk toward the ocean, and sand volleyball nets where tournaments are held.

The other is the Okaloosa Island Pier marine webcam. That pier can be seen in my full moon picture.

Interestingly, Eglin Air Force Base isn't far from Fort Walton Beach, so we saw and heard fly-overs of F-25 Lightning II fighter jets. (I got this info after uploading my picture to Google Gemini to determine what we were seeing and from whence they came.) Pairs of jets were on fighter pilot training missions.

This was our last view of the beach before heading home. 

Almost unbelieveably, our entire return trip home along the same route was through steady rain. I'm glad I took "going" pictures as keepsakes of our lovely trip.

It's always good to visit new places in one's home state. Linda