Took a drive along the Mississippi Gulf coastline.  Very easy to understand how devastating it was to the residents when the oil spill happened.  The beach is almost pure white and wide open most of the width of the state.  Lots of casinos tho, across the street near Biloxi.  Stopped by a Frank Gehry designed art museum but they were in the midst of arranging an exhibit so had to cut my visit short. Lots of water, lots of bridges, lots of boats. 

 Off to Alabama and a couple of lovely surprises.  First, saw a sign that said “FERRY”.  Had no idea where it went but decided to fly by the seat of my pants, made a right turn and found myself crossing a bridge to beautiful Dauphin Island. Took the ferry (along with other Midwesterners – including 4 from Champaign) to Ft. Morgan, just a bit west of Gulf Shores.  Decided to take some R & R (me and every other mid-westerner over 65).  Got some good advice on places to see (and eat) from my sister’s sister-in-law who vacations here.  I also re-confirmed my lack of interest in walking along beaches, although I love driving by them. I took some woodland walks in wildlife refuges - Bon Secour being one.  There I saw the beach area where the sea turtles come ashore with signs warning against any type of lighting during the hatching time.  Babies become disoriented by the lights and can’t find the ocean and volunteers are recruited to help.  Also, first time I’ve seen “nudity” listed as a no-no.

Stopped at the Port St. Joe McDonald’s for an iced tea.  They’d lost the knife so I couldn’t have lemon in it.  She said knives were not allowed in the restaurant and they’d been sneaking one in but it had disappeared.  A strange and rather unsettling story

Patience was due for her 25,000 mile check-up so decided to begin the drive to Tallahassee.  Took the beach route for a while and then drove up thru the Apalachicola Wildlife Refuge which turned into the Apalachicola National Forest. Lots of rolling hills. Passed Tate’s Hell State Forest. The legend is the old codger went looking for a panther that was killing his livestock, got stuck in the swamp, bitten by a snake, had to drink murky water and when he emerged, said he’d just come from hell

The town of Apalachicola was quite a surprise – it was once a huge port and is now a quaint fishing/tourist place with lots of restored old homes with a scenic and quiet drive along the coastal area.

Arrived in Tallahassee and got a recommendation to see the Maclay Gardens.  It was once a winter retreat that was donated to the state for a park.  Beautiful walkways with Spanish moss covered trees and camellias blooming.  Was told this area was “really’ Southern Georgia.  All the states I’ve visited have had surprises from how I’d envisioned them.

Another recommendation was the Wakulla Springs State Park where I took their boat ride and saw my first manatee. 

On to St. Augustine!  Stopped at a tourist info office and for a 1 hour presentation, I could get a trolley pass, 4 museum passes and a $25 Visa gift card.  Raise your hand if you’ve heard this before and could have told me it would take almost 2 hours to untangle myself from a “chance of a lifetime” vacation club offer.

Anyway – I wandered thru the Castillo de San Marcos. It’s had several defensive uses. One story has the British who forgot to call the Weather Channel so troops and cannons slogged thru the swamps and tried to attack during hurricane season. Didn't work out so well.

Took the trolley tour and heard the story of the back and forths among the French, English and Spanish who were laying claim to Florida. Go ahead and throw in some pirates. The French got there first, closely followed by the Spanish and Ponce de Leon and his fountain search.  In one particularly ugly situation, the French Huguenots could have escaped execution by the Spanish had they copped to being Catholic. St. Augustine is a bit miffed because they’re REALLY the first European new world settlement.

Toured Flagler College (formerly the Flagler Hotel).  Henry got the idea from the fellow across the street (who built a smaller replica of the Alhambra) to build his hotel with poured concrete walls.  Henry repaid his friend’s kindness by refusing to allow furnishings for HIS hotel to be shipped on Flagler’s railroad.  The hotel went broke.The Flagler is a beautiful building with huge decorative brick towers that stored water, Tiffany glass windows in the dining room and lovely furnishings. Pretty fancy place for college students.

Next, the Everglades!