Friends and Family on a Southern swing, Pt 4

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We left Inverness and headed for Mexico Beach. We followed familiar routes on US 19 (as a kid, this was THE main route to St Petersburg) and found the road devoid of heavy trucks and a peaceful, easy way to go. In Perry we grabbed fuel, lunch, and groceries and followed the "forgotten coast" along the Gulf to Mexico Beach. This is a beautiful route and well worth taking time to savor the views, the shopping and the food.

We got to Mexico Beach and to the Rustic Sands Campground, found a site, and set up. This was our third visit and we felt like old-timers, very comfortable with the campground and the area. The tall trees, both oak and pine, gave shade and yet there were open areas where the sun came through and warmed us during the day. The cats seemed to really like it as both went out, prowled about, checked out the area and then stayed outside near the coach. They sensed they were in familiar territory and were happy. (Yes, we even let Slinky out since we would be here 6 days; we figured she would get hungry sometime in those 6 days.)

The stop in Mexico Beach was to savor the excellent food, swim in the Gulf, relax, and check out a couple of new spots we had read about. We did most everything we wanted to, and discovered, to our disappointment, some of our plans weren't going to work out as we hoped.

Swimming in the Gulf: we didn't head to the beach until we had been there a few days. The wind was cool and the chop on the water made it look cooler. Finally the wind died down and so we headed out about 10 AM. The water was reasonably calm and the local TV reported a water temp of 80 degrees. We had almost the whole beach to ourselves and after setting our mats on the sand, waded in. It did not seem like 80, more like 60 degrees. Have we become so accustomed to warm weather and water that we have become wusses?? We both exclaimed it was chillier than we expected. We kept wading out and finally Trish dove under, came up and said once you got in, it wasn't bad. I finally screwed up the courage, dove under, and disagreed. It didn't help that an off shore breeze was starting up. I bounced up and down a bit, tried to warm up, but was not successful. So I waded in to get warm and Trish followed a bit later. Maybe it's too late in the season, maybe the wind affected us, maybe we were just tired--but it wasn't the fun we had hoped. Yes, it was warmer than the springs but it chilled us nonetheless. The good part was as we were sitting on the shore warming up, we saw a porpoise gently swimming parallel to the coast about 200 yards off the beach. What a graceful, beautiful sight!

Visiting new sites: We drove into Port St. Joe, about 10 miles east of Mexico Beach, and spent some time walking the streets. It's a small port time and though some industries seem to have left, the main street still has a vibrant economic life with small stores, cafes, professional offices, and gift shops and real estate agents. Yes, there are some empty store fronts, but there are some interesting places to visit. We found a pet boutique with special gifts for pup and cat, including hand made biscuits and special treats. There was a bookstore/coffee house with free wi-fi. They also served sandwiches and desserts. There were gift shops with unusual tropical/Gulf oriented products and antique shops with everything from silver tea service to paintings and furniture from the early 20th century homes on the coast. We found a sports shop with dive gear, camping supplies, swim suits, exercise equipment and things for kids to do on the beach. Port St. Joe is worth an afternoon or better, a morning (with specialty coffee at the book store) and afternoon.
On another day, we drove north to Wewahitchika. This is the area just south of the "Dead Lakes" area. The lakes are unusual in that there are dead cypress trees all over the lakes and now just the "knees" stick up. We found a county park with boat launch, campground and picnic area and spent a bit of time enjoying the quiet and different scenery of this area. Then we drove south toward Port St. Joe and through White City, home to Tupelo Honey. If you saw the movie Yulees Gold, it was filmed in this general area. Lots of bees producing honey from the tupelo trees.

Food: We stopped again at the Fish House in Mexico for a great seafood lunch. Unfortunately, this time we were too full to enjoy a chocolate rum cake after. We also went to the Killer Seafood stand for lunch one day and had fish tacos. They were as good as ever. However, Ruby Rum Runners and Two Crabs (with steamed oysters) had closed and so we were unable to revisit and feast. On the last night there, we decided to try Toucans, on the beach. It's a sports bar, beach spot seemingly popular with the young folks and beach goers. We gave it a try and were very pleasantly surprised. We had a dozen baked oysters with garlic and Parmesan cheese for an appetizer and then split a large bowl of linguini with lobster sauce and Gulf Shrimp. It was excellent and the prices were very reasonable. The seating was at wooden picnic like tables and we overlooked the beach, watching the sun set over the Gulf. Good food, great view, reasonable price; everything you want in a restaurant.

Most of our days were spent relaxing, reading, and just enjoying the quiet ambiance of the campground and the "Forgotten Coast" of the Gulf of Mexico. We let the cats out since we were going to be here for 6 days and they loved it. The cats even decided to "go public" and slept on the front dash of the RV or just sat by the steps, safe but enjoying the sand and sun. We swam in the camp pool a couple of times, went for some walks, and were happy to realize we didn't have to "rush" back to work. No phone calls from the boss confused about some paper I had left or project not to his liking; yep, really enjoying the retired life.

We left Mexico Beach and drove back up US 231 through Alabama, retracing parts of the route we had followed 3 weeks earlier going to Josh's. We had a pleasant drive and got home well before dark. We got the essentials unloaded and then went to bed. Plenty of time to clean the RV the next day. In summary, we saw friends and relatives, swam in a lake, the ocean, a spring, the Gulf and a pool. We ate great meals cooked by friends and relatives, tried some new places and visited both old and new haunts to enjoy and remember. Our next trip, not far off, will be in the opposite direction, heading to Virgina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee. I'll post pictures and notes on that trip as we go.

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Photos

Rustic Sands 1
Getting smarter, I anchored the awning down with ratchets and had no problems with wind. The picnic table was under a tree and we had a couple of meals out in the fresh air.

Dead Lakes
A river changed course, damming up another river and flooding it, causing the cypress trees to die. Notice the "knees" all along the lake. It's said this is some excellent fishing territory.

Trish at Dead Lakes
There were nature walks and chances to go to the edge of the lake and look at the trees. Spanish moss hanging from trees, birds and butterflies--all made for a calming afternoon with nature.

Fish House
We came back to this eatery for the great food and chocolate rum cake. Alas, we ate too much food and passed on the cake.

Cat REALLY relaxing
The cats don't often get this relaxed unless they really feel comfortable in a place.