Shelling on St George Island, some of the best

From sand dollars to letter olives, these are just a few of the beautiful shells we found along the beaches of St. George Island. Some of the other treasures are, several different Welks, the largest a lightening Welk, Cockles with the hinge still attached are know as the heart of the sea, assorted scallops, Pen and clam shells, this beach had a nice variety. A good day of shelling after the storm stirred up the panhandle.

Carrabelle

As we travel along the coast of the Florida panhandle we made a lunch stop at the little fishing village of Carrabelle. The protected harbor makes it a favorite place for anglers. Carrabelle is also the base where World War II soldiers trained for the D-day invasion. Carrabelle is also home to the world's smallest police station, actually, it's a phone booth!

Ochlockonee State Park

This week we moved upstate FL to what they call the panhandle and stayed at one of 5 state parks we have yet to visit. The first park is along the Ochlockonee River and named the same. It's a small park with less than 30 sites but the location on the river makes this a great place to stop. Blue had some wonderful walks and we had some fresh fish complements the Ochlockonee River. We will come back in the future to explore the river and fishing opportunities.

White Squirrels of Ochlockonee

Along the Ochlockonee the squirrels have mutated to a variation with white coat and dark eyes, some with a distinctive head patch and dorsal stripe. The condition is known as leucistic and the result of a melanin gene. These squirrels are not albinos. They are loved in the park and not strangers to people come up to greet you while you are setting up your campsite. Need I say, Blue thinks they are special as well.

Thoroughbred farms of central Florida

Today we took a new road up through the center of Florida, right through the heart of the horse Capitol of the world. The area near Ocala has produced some fantastic horses including the 1978, Florida bred-and-raised Affirmed who won the Triple Crown that year. Today, The area is one of the major thoroughbred centers of the world. It has more than 1,200 horse farms, including about 900 thoroughbred farms, totaling some 77,000 acres. Seeing these beautiful lands and even more spectacular horses reminds me of days gone by when I enjoyed some very special horses myself, not of this caliber but wonderful in the eyes of a teenager. It's a bit of a surprise to see these massive farms in Florida because it is not what you expect to see in the land of the Everglades, beautiful beaches and swamps. But early horse breeders new that one of the features that made the Kentucky Blue grass country so special also exists in the soil of Florida, an abundance of lime in the soils makes for grass that helps build a fast and beautiful horse.