Heading home

Heading home with mixed emotions. On one hand I'm going to my home and for Blue, the big house means room to run and high places to hangout. It's time to enjoy family, the lake and my yard. But then, the bitter sweet, we are no longer traveling to new places, no more camping and the hikes are just not the same without the gators, snakes and with any luck, no more scorpions in the car.

Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park, our last Florida park this winter

It always such a pleasure to find new parks in areas we have traveled through but did not stay in the last time we came this way. Especially when they have all the things we love, like great large sites removed from each other, hiking trails, water near the park and a short drive to services like grocery stores and entertainment, and to top it off, a low cost to stay. This park has it all and at this time of year, it also has nice weather! Rocky Bayou sets across the Choctawhatchee Bay from Destin and Henderson Beach, our last campground, near the Elgin Air Force Base but far enough removed so the occasional explosion of ordinance does not shake the rig. The campground is otherwise peaceful and the bay full of birds including a reminder from home, loons. If it weren't for the sign reminding us that alligators can be found in these waters, you would think you were on a lake in MN.

The forest floor

Henderson Beach State Park

Our campground is in the heart of busy Destin along the pristine beaches of this stretch of the Florida panhandle. Two sites down from ours sits a rig with three dogs. We know this from our walk by which stirred the pot and had all three barking at us. Except for the occasional flyby from the local air force base, the park makes you feel you are in the old Florida of years gone by. The RV sites are set back from the beach to protect the beach and dunes, the park has a board walk for you to get to the beach without eroding the delicate sand dunes.

Oysters at the Boat House

Before and after, within minutes of each other!

After our walk through Harbor Village we stopped for lunch at this funky little oyster house named The Boat House. It was the size of a boat house and the inside was lined with dollar bills, signed by patrons of the epicurean experience. The Boat House is known for their fresh shucked oyster from the Apalachicola served many different ways. It took us no time to polish off a plate of these beauties.