Day 2I usually like to sleep well past daylight but I had a lot to think about on this trip and awoke early. Looking out the window, I could see the sky was starting to lighten. Since the sun had set behind the dunes last night, I knew sunrise would be out over the ocean. Not what you’d expect on the FL panhandle but St George Island gives one a little different perspective. So I decided to walk over to the beach and catch the show. The night had been cool so I bundled up, grabbed my camera, tripod, folding chair, and a flashlight. The opening scene had just begun as I settled in at the beach.
As the light increased I adjusted my seat a little to include some of the sea oats in the view.
I couldn’t find the gizmo that screws into the bottom of the camera so I had to hold it on the tripod to keep it steady. It was cold enough that I’d take a few pictures then remove the camera and warm my hands while I watched the changing scene. And what a scene it was with a delightful mix of sand, surf, sea oats, and sky.
Cue the birds! All of the little black specks at the edge of the surf are birds too.
The dry leaves of the sea oats streamed out like pennants in the cold wind.
The clouds were just right for an amazing sunrise but the sun eventually started to climb above them so I took one last shot then returned to the warmth of my camper where I could wrap my cold hands around a mug of hot chocolate.
After breakfast, Dad and I went for a walk. We started down the 2.5 mile Gap Point Trail at the end of the campground. The sandy level path winds among tall slash pines and low thick bushes. The sap of these pines can be used to make turpentine and this was a big industry here in the early to mid 1900s. This came to a halt during WWII when the island was used for bombing practice.
It wasn’t until I was writing up this trip report that I found out this bush is rosemary. Guess I didn’t get close enough to smell it. And I read that it makes a good drought tolerant bush for the garden. Now that’s my kind of shrubbery … looks good, low maintenance, and tastes great!
In shady openings under the trees we say large patches of a lichen called deer moss. Lichens aren’t just plants, they’re an organism that is made up of a fungus and an algae with the former creating a scaffold for the latter. In return, the algae absorbs water and nutrients from the air so the presence of lichens is an indication of clean air. Deer moss is slow growing and susceptible to fire so a patch this size indicates the area has not burned in a while.
Up close the moss looks like the foam one sees at the edge of churning salt water waves.
Less common were mushrooms. It looks like this one just recently pushed its way up through the pine needle strewn sand. There are so many types of mushrooms that look remarkably alike so I won’t even attempt to identify this one.
I wasn’t the only one taking pictures.
And what better a thing to take pictures of than flowers!
Took me a while but I finally figured out this is Ashe’s Savory, a common plant in the mint family. And it’s being visited by a common ladybird beetle.
After we’d gone a short way down the trail, Dad asked “How much further is it to the beach?” I told him the trail we were on went to the bay, not the beach. He hadn’t seen the beach yet so we turned around and went back through the campground …
… to the beach. A flock of sanderlings were resting above the high tide line.
Several sported colorful bands on their legs for identification. Either that or they’re into the wrist-band fundraising trend. Let’s see, orange bands usually say “Hope, Courage, Faith”. That’s a lot of words to fit on such a tiny band!
Closer to the surf was a one-legged willet. As I edged closer for a photo it let me get to within a certain distance then always hopped away. It did eventually reveal the other leg which it was holding up tight to its body for warmth.
We had the beach to ourselves this morning. The skies had cleared and the bright sun was warming the air up fast as we strolled across the sand.
We circled around through the picnic shelters and returned along the road. A solid bank of huge white dunes parallel the road on the land side.
This photo was taken looking east along the main park road from the campground entrance towards the picnic shelters. Past the picnic shelters the pavement ends. One can drive several miles further on an unpaved road for an extra fee. We’ll try that on another trip as we have to keep moving to make it where we want to stop for the night.
On the way back to the campground I spied some red berries that were practically glowing in the sunshine. My Audubon wildflower book indicates these are yaupon berries and that they are rarely eaten by birds which explains why there are so many of them. It also says Native Americans used the berries as a laxative and emitic … a good reason not to eat them! Smart birds!
For this photos of our campers I wish I’d included the rig to the right. It is a boat in which a volunteer couple lives with a tent off the back for some extra room. It would have been neat to talk to them but we didn’t get the chance to do so. We did talk the night before with the nice volunteer couple on the other side though.
I wanted to eat lunch in Apalachicola so off we went back across the 4-mile long Hwy 300 bridge then across another 4-mile long bridge on Highway 98 that brings one right into town at the mouth of the Apalachicola River. We circled along a riverside road so Dad could see the outfits where the area’s most famous product, oysters, is processed. This area is the source of 9 out of 10 oysters harvested in FL but the oyster harvest has been curtailed during the last few years due to a decline of uncertain origin. Some blame the problem on low river flow due to upstream diversions. Others blame it on dispersants used after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill a few years ago. Still others say the oysters have been over-harvested. Whatever the cause, or more likely causes, the bay just isn’t the same without the sight of the oystermen standing in their low boats, working their rakes to scrape oysters from the shallow water. I remember seeing them the last time I visited. The only signs of the oyster harvest I saw on this trip were these two piles of shells.
There are a few small hotels and oyster dives along the river but I’m not particularly partial to oysters. So I led Dad over to a restaurant at which I’d enjoyed some delicious shrimp and scallops during my previous trips to Apalachicola. The Seafood Grill is easy to find as it sits in the corner where Hwy 98 makes a right-angle turn. We found a couple parking sites just down the street from the restaurant, the white building under the “East 98” sign.
We found nearly all the tables were occupied but there was plenty of room at the bar. Since the chairs at the bar sit higher than those at the table we found this was actually the best place to sit as one could see across all the tables and through the windows.
I was able to do some more bird photography while awaiting my meal.
I would have taken a picture of the delicious local shrimp and scallops we were served but they disappeared too fast! So, appetites sated, we walked just a bit of the town before climbing back behind the wheel. There are a lot more sights I’d like to see here so I’ll probably return soon. Maybe this area would be a good place for a TC gathering :-)
From Apalachicola we drove Hwy 98 to Panama City, making a quick stop for a few supplies. There we studied the map and decided to try for Topsail Hill Preserve State Park. We figured there was no time to tarry if we wanted to make it before the gate closed at 5 PM so were soon back on the road. The GPS tried to turn us off Hwy 98 which didn’t seem right so we stopped to figure it out. With this wasted time we despaired of making it in time then we realized we’d passed into the central time zone and had an extra hour. (This is the only thing I didn’t like about FL state parks … they don’t allow walk-ins after dark.) We made it to the park well before the gate closed and, once again, got the last two sites available. They weren’t side by side but they were in the same loop so we were happy with that.
And so ended Day 2. Check back later for Day 3!
See Page 3 for Day 3! Topsail Hill Preserve SP to Florida Caverns SP 
