If you have followed us here on the blog, you may have realized that we like national, state, and local parks. Whether hiking or just walking the dog, there is so much to see in every state. here, at our second to last stop, we found High Falls State Park. If you are going to travel like us, take the time to visit the parks in the area. Also note that we are WAY behind in our posts as this stop was 4 weeks ago. More explanation will be in the next post.

Since we had been to Savannah two years ago, we didn’t stay as long this time. Nearby Hilton Head Island is always a must see for it’s quaint little shops and endless beaches. The next day, we travelled to the Savannah Botanical Garden. About the smallest one that we have ever seen, it still had quite a number of trees, shrubs, and plants in bloom. Also, just outside of Savannah is Skidaway Island State Park. Trails pass through forests and marshes along a boardwalk and the entire site is filled with waterfowl and wildlife. Another day we hiked through the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.

Nearby St Mary is On the coastal Florida Georgia border lies a sleepy little town of St Marys. In downtown St Marys, you can catch a ferry to Cumberland Island or explore the shops on the main street. Kings Bay Submarine base is nearby and makes this a good place to have a Submarine Museum. We went hiking at Crooked River State Park. Among the forests and salt marshes lives countless maritime life like waterfowl, turtles, and more. Also not far away is the town of Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island. This historic district is filled with shops and galleries along with some fine eateries.

Here in the middle of Florida is what I call the amusement capital of the US. And with the parks here charging well over $100 a person per day, it can send you to the poor house. We chose the cheaper stops like Disney Springs. This free place is filled with shops, restaurants, venues, and things to do. When we tired of walking, we hopped a boat shuttle to a local resort and rode back. Another day we visited the Disney Boardwalk. More shops and restaurants and then a trip on the Skyliner in a new style gondola around Epcot. On the Skyliner, we passed over the Caribbean Beach Resort where we stayed in 2003. Yet another stop here was Celebration, a small town of galleries and eateries and a great walking path thru trees and along lakes. A birdwatcher’s heaven.

SW Florida is known for its beautiful beaches, warm temperatures, and nasty no-see-ums. We stayed on Pine Island which is just off the coast of Cape Coral. To get to the island, you pass across a much smaller one called Matlacha Isles. Here there is a mile long strip of quaint shops, boutiques, and restaurants. There is also a nice park hidden behind the shops. There is always great seafood when you are this close to the ocean or gulf. Sanibel Island has endless beaches with clear water, tropical breezes, and lots of clams. Lighthouse Beach Park is on one end of Sanibel where we strolled along the beach before driving back up the road to the Lazy Flamingo for lunch.

Actually, we were in Palm Harbor and this put us next to Tarpon Springs. Tarpon Springs is a Greek fishing village where the catch of the day are sponges. Walk along the docks and you see nets full of fresh sponges. From there, the street is loaded with little shops and restaurants. Great Greek food and also seafood can be found here. The whole Tampa area is full of great beaches and we walked along several while we were here. We saw Howard Beach, Sunset Beach, Courtney Beach, and some others as time allowed. We also returned to Ybor city for a walk back in time, some fresh cigars, and some Cuban sandwiches. And we also were lucky enough to attend the opening day at the Tampa RV Super Show, one of the country’s largest. So many campers of all shapes and sizes.

So, for this next leg of the trip, we were traveling from Eastpoint to Ocala to get some recall and other work done. Ocala was to be only four nights as the work would take just a few hours, but one thing that should have been a couple of hours and a couple of hundred dollars to fix turned in to two days and several thousand dollars to repair. Two nights in a motel after every night for two plus years in the RV were strange for us and the animals. We did leave on Friday as scheduled to move to Clearwater, but we broke a trailer bearing 15 miles down the road and had to spend the weekend in another park waiting for the parts stores on Monday morning. We did get to our next stop on Monday and knew that this all could have been way worse, but the biggest regret was having to eat fast food for two days – yuck!

So this is our third and likely our last Christmas in Florida. My niece has been a gracious host each year and has a party of about 15 which is loaded with great food and good company. We also spent time walking the beaches in Carrabelle and on St George Island. We also returned to Wakulla Springs State Park for a boat ride to see the manatees. Sadly, the state has put a stop to oyster harvesting in this area to allow the oysters to rebuild their beds, so there were no oysters in the shell to grill this time. still, the quiet and the beauty of this area is wonderful.

My wife posted on FaceBook that she “loved, loved, LOVED the Gulf”. I do agree that it fun to visit but we scratched it off our list of places to retire due to hurricanes. We are finishing up at our first stop on Perdido Key, Pensacola. Our first adventure was to walk the beach at Gulf Islands Nat Seashore here on Perdido Key. The park includes islands from the coast of Biloxi MS to Destin FL. Just beautiful unspoiled shoreline. Next day we travelled across the state line to Gulf State Park. Although more commercial, these Alabama beaches are beautiful, too. We got to get some great hiking in at Shoreline Park, Big Lagoon SP, and Tarkiln Bayou Preserve. We also got to see Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. The fort was active until 1947. Although civilians are still not allowed on the Pensacola Naval Air Station, a tour service has a retired Coast Guard pilot that takes small groups on the base to see the Lighthouse and the Air Museum. even though there are a good number of aircraft on display, too many are hung from the ceiling and are hard to view. Still, it is a worthwhile stop so call Go Retro Tours if you are in the area. Lastly, NAS Pensacola is the current home to the Blue Angels and we were lucky enough to see them several times flying overhead.

We have driven across the gulf coast in Alabama but never right down the center. Our first stop was in Cullman in north central Alabama. From here, we first drove up to see the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. The museum here is a little worn, but is still a great source of info on how the rocket motors for the US space system were developed and built here. The building with the Saturn 5 displayed above has great exhibits, pictures, and stories on Dr. Wernher von Braun and his team’s struggle to get to the moon. Also right in Cullman is the Ave Maria Grotto. Here, Brother Joseph Zoettl, a Benedictine monk, recreated some of the world’s most famous sites, all in miniature. Basilicas, shrines, and other holy sites are here to view. We also hiked around the Clarkson Covered Bridge, one of the few down here.We also stopped in Montgomery, the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement. We strolled thru Riverfront Park and watched the city’s Christmas tree being put up. We also got to visit the MOOseum at the Alabama Cattleman’s Association headquarters. Great history on cattle found here.