St. George Island

We have arrived......

Continued from (click here) On to St. George Island......

I backed out of the dead end street and checked the maps. No more listening to “Toots” till we got back to State Highway 98. We hooked up the Toad without incident and headed down the road still following the winding secondary road that skirted the Gulf of Mexico. The view of the Gulf was awesome. We saw pristine white sand beaches gleaming in the afternoon sun. These beaches were off the beaten track and several of them were completely empty. We did pull off from time to time when the beach was close to the road. What a unique experience – having an entire beach all to ourselves.

A mile or so further down the road we might find mud flats where shore birds were busy digging for a tasty morsel.

It was sure different driving for miles along this lonesome road without seeing any waterfront development – no glitzy condos advertising the “upscale” life style. Here and there we would see a farm and some cattle grazing but all in all, it was old time Florida that most tourists never take the time to see.


What was this? There was a fork in the road and a Florida road sign “To Hwy 98”. After our little run in with “Toots” I felt secure in the decision to take to fork to the left. Sure enough, a mile or so further we merged onto Hwy 98. Another hour took us into Apalachicola. It was a little after noon and we wanted to get a good campsite at St. George Island State Park, so we drove right through town and on to Eastport. Here stretched a ribbon of concrete and steel running 5 miles out into Apalachicola bay to St. George Island.

We started to cross this bridge and were amazed by huge swarms of butterflies – hundreds of thousands of them. We had arrived during the annual migration of the Monarch Butterflies on their way to Mexico. The next day we drove back over the same bridge and they were gone.

St George Island is a Barrier Island. It is about 30 miles long but only about 1 mile wide at the widest point. The eastern end of the island is the State Park which was our final destination.

We pulled up to the gate house and were greeted by the park attendant who told us that the campground was 5 miles down the road. The best bet, she said, was to unhook and drive the car down to pick a good site then come back, register, and pick up the motor home.


The campground was one of the nicest we have ever been in. The sites were large and with the native vegetation, they were quite private. It took us about 15 minutes to back in, level the motor home with the automatic hydraulic jacks, hook up the water and electric and put out the slides. Our home was all set up and we were ready for fun and adventure.

We took the car to the beach since we were not sure how far it was. On the way we passed a small lake where we amazed to see an alligator sunning on the shore. I didn’t think that alligators got that far north since the winters in the panhandle can be cool, and frost is not uncommon.

The beach was spectacular – mile upon mile of silver white sand and only a handful of people. We enjoyed walking the beach and looking for unusual shells. The water was on the cool side, but still warm enough for wading and swimming.

On the other side of the road from the beach were the dunes. These dunes were formed by sand blowing off the beach. Over the course of years they would become 20 feet high or more and would help calm the effects of hurricane like winds and waves.

Hurricane Dennis did a number on the island damaging the dunes as water washed over the entire island. The State park was closed for a couple of years after that to repair the damage and allow the dunes to start to heal. Now there were signs posted to keep anyone from walking on the dunes and inadvertently damaging the fragile vegetation that was holding the sand in place. This was certainly a rugged and beautiful untouched landscape – preserved for all to enjoy.

The next morning we took Gizmo for her morning walk. So many interesting things to sniff, she was enjoying every minute. Three campsites down we came to a strange sight. This campsite was occupied by two Honda Gold Wings pulling trailers that actually opened up to be tent campers. I admired the bikes and we stopped to visit with the bikers. These two couples who were on their way back to Texas after touring and camping all over the eastern half of the country. They had an electric fry pan and a coffee pot on the table and were enjoying all the conveniences of power and water.

They related stories of their travels and sheepishly admitted that they stayed in a motel in the mountains when it got too cold. One of the bikers told of the camping he had done in previous years, including a luxury million dollar motor home. He sold it and bought the Honda Gold Wing.

Two fascinating couples, they were. The youngest of the four was one of the ladies who was 67. The oldest was one of the men at 78 - proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that old age is a frame of mind…..















Next...... buckets of fresh oysters........