Camping in Port St. Joe, FL

Hey, Y’all!  Before camping at our beloved Canal Campground in Grand Rivers, KY came to a seasonal end in October, we were already looking for a warm destination for our upcoming vacation at the end of November. Since we would have our new fifth-wheel by then, and we hadn’t been to Florida since February, we knew it was going to be somewhere in the Sunshine state. This would also be our maiden voyage pulling our Montana High Country for a distance greater than the 2 hours it took us to bring it home from Nashville, TN., so we felt like the Panhandle region of Florida would be a good area.

Scanning through my Facebook feed one day, I saw where a high school friend shared that they were staying at a small RV resort, right on the water in Port St. Joe, FL. I made a note of the RV resort, did some research on the area, and checked out what the weather is typically like during the time we would be there. I also, of course, checked with the RV resort for availability. I was happy to find they had waterfront sites available for our dates. So, I made our reservations at Presnell’s Bayside Marina & RV Resort. A link their site can be found here…. (RV Resort & Marina on Florida’s Gulf Coast | Port St. Joe, FL (presnells.com))

Leaving very early on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we headed out. We decided to drive halfway the first day, staying just North of Atlanta, at a very small Corps of Engineer campground on Allatoona Lake. Clark Creek North Campground, in Acworth, GA, to be exact. With it being Fall, the lake was already at winter pool, but it was still a nice water view. I could tell it would be a really beautiful area during the Spring and Summer months.

A large reason why we chose this overnight stopping location was so we could visit with Tom’s cousin, Kelly, his wife, Suzanne (who just happens to be one of my best friends…Hey, boo! I know you’re reading this!), and Suzanne’s daughter, Payton. They live about 30 minutes away from the campground, so we took a little drive over to spend the evening with them. No matter the amount of time I get with Suzanne, it’s never enough. I’m always left wanting more, and missing her as soon as we say our goodbyes. But, isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be when you find someone you truly connect with?! To be able to call her family is just the icing on the cake!!

Early the next morning, we set off for the Sunshine State…also known as the state that makes my heart nearly EXPLODE with HAPPINESS! (Yes, yes, that’s a bit dramatic.  But, truly, my happiest childhood memories with my family happened while in Florida. So, my heart and soul is happy when I’m there.  Even better yet is getting to make new memories with Tom.)

After about 6+ hours of driving and a few gas-ups/camper bathroom breaks later, we entered Port St. Joe. As you come to the stop light at the intersection of Hwy 71 & Hwy 98, right across the street is St. Joseph Bay. My soul was so happy to see that beautiful water!! But, we were still a few more minutes from Presnell’s Bayside Marina & RV Resort. This was fine with me, because I was still taking it ALL IN.

Soon, we were pulling into the RV park.  It only took a few moments to finalize our stay, get a map with directions to our site, and have a few questions answered.  I was quite impressed with the efficiency of the check-in process as well as the lady behind the desk handling it all.  Once that was complete, it was back in the truck to find our site.

Our temporary home for the next few days was site #13.  Just LOOK at that view, y’all!  (Two months later and I’m still swooning over it.  Also, get used to seeing Tom from a distance.  He’s supportive of my blog, but not of having his picture taken.  And, I respect that.)  

The weather on the day we arrived was less than appealing but better than it was in Kentucky.  It was in the low 50’s and SUPER windy.  So windy, in fact, we were uncomfortable leaving our slides out overnight for fear the awnings above them might be damaged.  I suppose Florida is allowed to have less than perfect weather from time-to-time, I would just prefer it happened when we aren’t there,  But, such is life.  We “control” what we can (ourselves), and adapt/make the best of the rest.  And, that’s just what we did!  After we set everything up, we headed back into town for an early supper.

As I always do before we take a trip, I researched the area and made notes of restaurants with positive reviews.  One of those on my list was the Uptown Raw Bar, located on Reid Avenue.  Reid Avenue is lined with a number of restaurants, boutiques, private businesses and a couple of coffee shops.  One of which is also a book store, No Name Cafe. If you are ever fortunate enough to visit Port St. Joe, be sure to go in and get a slice of their freshly-baked cake.  You’ll thank me!  (I had the lemon bundt cake with lemon icing on our last night.  WHOA!)

The Uptown Raw Bar is a small restaurant with a variety of menu items.  This region of the Florida coast is known for their oysters, so there are numerous “raw bar” restaurants in and around the area.  I’d never tried oysters before and was feeling adventurous, so I ordered their grilled oysters.  I added a skewer of grilled shrimp as well as a basket of fries to share with Tom…but, mostly because Coonie was in the truck waiting and he isn’t very understanding if we come back from eating without something for him.  (Yes, he is spoiled rotten!)  Tom ordered their variety platter…grilled shrimp, baked oysters and boiled crab legs.  He’d never had crab legs before, so he was being adventurous also.  That’s kind of a theme for us (especially Tom) when it comes to eating out while on vacation.  If they have something different on the menu than we’ve ever tried or heard of, we tend to order it.  So far, we haven’t been disappointed.

After supper, we took a drive north of Port St. Joe.  We ended up driving all the way up to and through Mexico Beach.  If that town sounds familiar to you, it’s because it was hardest hit by Hurricane Michael back in October, 2018.  Although there were obvious signs of rebuilding, there were also still signs of the destruction from the hurricane.  It was a quaint little area, not very touristy at all in my opinion.  I’m anxious to see it again once they fully recover and rebuild.

As we were leaving Mexico Beach, I looked over towards the ocean to see the above sight.  I quickly found a place to pull over, jumped out and snapped a few shots before it changed or disappeared.  Then, I stood there for a few moments just to take it all in.  The rays of bright light coming down through those heavy, dark clouds spoke to me. They still do as I sit here reflecting on the image and how I felt that day.  I so appreciate the little reminders like these that although there may be darkness in our world, there is also most certainly light that will push its way through and shine brightly.  It is up to each of us who bear our own light to go out and share it with others, never allowing the darkness to overcome.  But, I ramble on…

Since we’d gotten up early and driven most of the day, we were pretty tired.  So, it was an early evening for us in preparation for the day to come.  The wind was still quite wild through the night, so it was probably a good thing we were so tired or else it likely would have kept us up more than it did.

Anxious to see what kind of day we were going to have weather-wise, I was up and at ’em early the next morning.  Thankfully, the sun made an appearance and most of the clouds had cleared out, but the wind was still blowing uncomfortably.  This made the decision for the day’s activities quite easy, though.  We would take a drive to check out the areas to the south of Port St. Joe.  Leaving out around 9am that morning, we drove down Hwy. 98 checking out Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, Apalachicola, St. George Island, Carrabelle and ending our day’s adventure at Alligator Point.  Each little town was appealing in their own right and we could see a draw to each of them for future visits. 

Florida’s coastline is divided into 10 coastal regions, named by what the area is best known for.  The area we were in is called the Forgotten Coast, “because it’s the last remaining stretch of unspoiled, pristine Gulf Coast beaches that haven’t been overrun by high rises and strip malls”, according to www.floridasforgottencoast.com.  I have to agree with that statement.  It felt far from touristy or overcrowded, which made it the ideal area for us.  It was hard to believe that not too far to the west were the cities of Panama City Beach and Destin, which I’d describe as quite busy, touristy, with a good number of high rises.  Having traveled with my family all over the Sunshine State, I have a rather good vault of comparison to draw from and I can definitely say that this area was like no other part of Florida I’d ever seen before.  And, most certainly one we plan to visit again in the near future.

Since we arrived back at our campsite just in time to see the sun set, there was no way I wasn’t going to snap a few pictures.  It was so odd, yet also quite great, that well after the sun had set the light still lingered.  Whereas, as soon as the sun goes down here at home, the light of day also disappears.  It was a welcomed surprise for us to have our day lengthened.  

As I was snapping my numerous pics (’cause you just never know which one is going to be “the one”!), I noticed the fella from the next camper (2 sites over) was also taking pics of the sunset.  He looked over, apologized to me for “getting in the way”, which I responded that he sure wasn’t.  This opened up the opportunity to ask where they were from.  Wanna guess??  C’mon!  GUESS!! …….  Well, if you guessed “Kentucky”, you are RIGHT!  How crazy to have traveled all that distance to end up camping next to folks from our own state!  They (Donna & Dennis) were from more of the central/eastern area of our state.  We chatted a few minutes and that was that…for then.

The next day, we decided to drive a bit north of Port St. Joe to a small town called Wewahitchka.  This town’s name comes from the American Indian expression meaning “water eyes”.  It’s located along the Chipola River and the Dead Lakes, and is best known for the harvesting of the only pure Tupelo Honey, gathered by bee keepers from bees who’ve collected the nectar from the Tupelo Gum trees.  This honey was the main reason for the 45 minute drive.

In my research of the area, I’d found another travel blogger who had mentioned visiting Smiley Honey.  Intrigued by her post, I felt like we needed to check the place out for ourselves.  When we arrived, we were a little apprehensive since Google Maps had taken us to a small home in a subdivision, with what looked like a small metal outbuilding behind it.  Still questioning if we were in the right place, we pulled on up to the building to find ourselves right where I wanted to be.  We got up to the door, knocked as the sign asked, and was greeted by a very nice lady who invited us to come in.  We were taken into another room to find an area where the TASTING was done!  This facility not only bottles Tupelo Honey for resale, but also various other kinds of honey from around the USA as well as other countries.  We were offered to try as many different ones as we’d like.  So, we tried the local Tupelo Honey (of course!), Blackberry Honey from Washington state, Coffee Honey from Guatemala, Orange Blossom Honey from Florida and Basswood Honey from Michigan.  It was so crazy the difference in taste from one honey flavor to the next.  Each familiar flavor tasted just as you expected it would, especially the orange blossom!  We ended up purchasing some of the Tupelo honey, blackberry honey and coffee honey before we left to check out the rest of the area. (Side note…we were so impressed with their honeys that less than a month after our visit we made an online order so we can share our find with family & friends.)

While in the area, I wanted to find the Dead Lakes.  From the pictures I’d seen it looked really interesting.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find what I felt like was the “best” location to check it out like I’d hoped to.  But, we did ultimately find a portion of the Dead Lakes.  With its cypress knees and stumps, I could see that it would be a very appealing area to explore via kayak or small boat.  Maybe on another trip.

Back to Port St. Joe for lunch where we ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant, Peppers Mexican Grill & Cantina.  This was a rare choice for dining out for us.  In fact, I can say with confidence that we had never, in 20 years, eaten at a Mexican restaurant together before this outing.  I can’t say when the last time Tom had eaten authentic Mexican, but for me it had been over 5 years.  I must say, if this restaurant was local, we’d be a regular.  Yep! It was that good!  Make a note, my friends!

After lunch, we drove around Port St. Joe and found where the marina was being rebuilt after Hurricane Michael had destroyed the original.  As we were driving over, I could see so many PELICANS!  I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again…I am mildly obsessed with them!  So, of course, I had to jump out and snap a few (dozen) pictures.  Don’t ask me why I have such an admiration for them…I know, they’re funny looking birds. But, they are part of my love for all things coastal!  The picture below is my favorite of the literal DOZENS of snapshots I took.  I mean, there is so much going on in such a small frame!

After snapping my dozens of pictures, we went back over to Cape San Blas to check out the boardwalk we’d seen while on our drive the day before.  Once we had parked on the bayside of Salinas Park, we also found a pier that overlooked St. Joseph Bay.  Surrounded by saltwater marsh, we walked down the pier and stood there, just kind of taking it all in. Of course, I was also taking pictures!  From there, it was a very short walk over to the boardwalk.  This boardwalk ran along the bay, while also winding in and out of some beautiful natural scrub, pine trees, palm trees and even some magnolias.  It all felt very “untouched”, like what I imagine most of Florida would be if left alone and undeveloped.  This type of landscape draws me in as much, if not more than the beautiful beaches.  Actually, the older I get, the more I appreciate the realness of most everything…most especially people.  I am drawn to them like magnets…just as I am repulsed by the opposite. 

From there, we started back to the truck.  But, along the way we noticed a couple of horse trailers parked across the street, on the Gulf side of Salinas Park.  So, we decided to check it out.  We found another small boardwalk, but this one lead us out to the beach.  We didn’t walk out onto the beach, but instead we chose to stand and watch as three people rode by on horses.  We’d seen this service advertised, and the horse trailers parked by the road was a definite sign some were there, but not a guarantee we’d see them.  It looked like fun to me!  At this point it was time to get back to the camper to relax and grill supper.

Our last day on vacation had arrived.  Just like the others, we were up and out rather early.  We aren’t ones to waste time sitting around, especially in an area we’ve never been to before.  On this day, we went back over to St. George Island to the Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park.  I’d read where they had some hiking trails, and also a beautiful stretch of beach.  I want to say it cost $6 for us to enter the park?!  I’d say that’s a pretty nominal fee to use a park all day and also contribute to their upkeep in order to have it available for future use.

The State Park is located at the eastern tip of St. George Island, with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Apalachicola Bay on the other.  There are 2 hiking trails in the park, one of which leads to primitive camping at the very tip of the island….which is the one that we took for a couple of miles, getting maybe halfway to the end.  The other trail is actually located within the State Park Campground.  We have a future trip planned to stay at this park, so we will be exploring that trail then.  The trail that we did take was very undeveloped.  By that I mean that it was basically made by removing sand down the middle of some dunes, with dunes and natural scrub all along both sides.  Along our hike, we’d been seeing numerous small holes in the sand.  We figured they were homes of small crabs, but it wasn’t until we saw one that we knew for sure.  Well, Tom spotted it first.  As quickly as he saw it, it “disappeared”.  We stopped, both of us looking for it and finally caught sight of it again…it was a ghost crab.  How appropriately named!  Neither of us had ever seen one before.  Pretty cool looking crab…for a crab.

After our hike, we were ready for lunch.  We headed back out figuring we’d stop back in at Apalachicola.  But, as we turned back onto Hwy 98, we saw a small local place, The Red Pirate, that had quite the crowd for 1pm on a Wednesday.  So, we turned around and gave it a try.  We were not disappointed!  I had the shrimp basket with onion straws (think onion chunks instead of onion rings), and Tom had the fish of the day basket with fries…because, well, Coonie! Like we always do, COVID or not, we sat outside so we could have Coonie with us.  This place, it wasn’t much to look at, but their food was amazing and we will be going back on our next trip to the area.  After we ate, we were ready to get back to the camper to relax, sit around our fire pit, and prepare for our drive home the next day.

On returning to the camper, we were happy to find that the temp was pleasant, the wind was basically non-existent and there was going to be a beautiful sunset.  We were not the only ones out taking advantage of the evening.  Not only were there numerous folks out walking their dogs, but there was a small group of mature-aged folks who’d gathered at an area behind our camper where there was a picnic table and fire pit provided.  I couldn’t help noticing them since they were playing music from two of my most favorite artists…Eric Church and Brothers Osborne.  Tom kept teasing me that I should go join them, but I wouldn’t.  And, I’m proud I didn’t because soon our fellow-Kentuckians returned from their day’s adventure and came over to visit.  We invited them to “socially distance” around our fire pit while we got to know one another better.  In fact, after our evening around that fire pit, Donna and I exchanged Facebook information and have stayed in contact since returning home.  We even have hopes of camping together this year at the Canal Campground!!  It appears this will be an ongoing theme with us….meeting amazing people while camping and forging lasting friendships.  I cannot wait to see who the good Lord brings into our lives next!

Okay, Y’all!  I know this was quite a lengthy post.  And, I’d appreciate some feedback, if you will.  Please be sure to scroll down and comment below what you think…too long?  too much detail?  just right?  Tell me what you think!  Appreciate each of you taking the time to stop by!  XOXO!

Our final night in Port St. Joe, and the sunset sure did not disappoint.  This is definitely one of my favorite shots I captured during the time we were there.