While we had originally planned to enjoy the beaches of Florida, most of our time spent in the state was spent worrying over Charlotte, picnicking in local parks, and squeezing in the occasional dip in a spring to break the heat and stress. Once Charlotte was fully back on the road, we were excited to leave Florida behind us. But we didn’t quite expect how lovely our next destination was going to be, and how it would finally give us those beach days we were so excited to see.
Despite the stress, Florida wasn’t all bad. Craig and I have birthdays that are only a few days apart, so we celebrated with a lovely weekend in the Tampa Bay area. We dined on incredible vegan wings from Vegan International Co, and stumbled upon the perfect set of breweries to please both of our palates. Tampa Bay Brewing Co had delightful sours for me, and Cigar City came in heavy with well crafted IPAs for Craig.
While in Tampa, we found ourselves a kayak launch at Gandy Beach to explore some mangroves - and even found a manatee friend! We returned to Ocala, a special place for us, as we consider it our first big adventure with Charlotte last year. There were a few of our favorite places we wanted to visit again, especially the stunning Rainbow Springs and the quiet Sholom Park. We even discovered a new picnic spot at Salt Springs in Ocala National Forest, where we spent the day lounging in the sun like our alligator friend!
Although Charlotte’s breakdown was all around rather stressful, we were able to find some lovely afternoons at local parks while we waited for our final fixes. We became experts in the art of “crudite and chill", spreading our blanket out at Dade Battlefield Historic Park for an afternoon of reading and history. This was a particularly fun find - we were just trying to find places to kill time while keeping Charlotte off the road as much as possible, and came here where the First Seminole War began. There was a super informative nature trail that told the story of the complete domination in battle by the Seminoles, and we were even lucky enough to come across a friendly park ranger who fleshed out the history even further.
The real highlight of Florida for us, though, was the discovery of regional water management sites that allow free camping, with a permit. We had stopped at Lake Panasoffkee for a night, before our engine troubles, and when we finally got our baby back on the road, we knew we all needed a few nights to breathe easy. So we returned to Lake Panasoffkee, and parked ourselves in a beautiful spot under the Spanish moss and spent our days walking the trails of the area and our evenings by the fire. We cooked some delicious homemade pasta and baked a Kings Cake. It was a perfect place for restoration.
One thing we were both hesitant about was continuing our new hobby of running in the increasing Florida heat and humidity. But I figured, hey, we managed 10 degree days of a New York winter, we can probably handle the other side of the spectrum. And I have to say, Florida really delivered on great running spots! For our longer runs, we both immensely enjoyed early morning runs on the Withlacoochee State Trail. Heavily used by cyclists, we managed to mostly have the trail to ourselves, arriving early in the morning to a foggy path, just starting to wake up to another hot day. I particularly enjoyed my birthday run at Blue Run in Dunnellon. This 1.5 mile trail starts at a kayak launch, and takes you through a delightfully shady path that connects with the Withlacoochee Trail. In looking for good running spots, we ended up at the Marjorie Harris Carr greenway, where running was less than optimal on the Florida National Scenic Trail. But as we pursued this fascinating site, formerly planned for a canal through Florida, I realized I had missed a nice paved path that led over a landbridge further along in the park. But as someone fascinated by thru-hiking, I did enjoy getting my taste of the Florida Trail. As we made our way along the panhandle, we stumbled on Lafayette Park in Tallahassee, a decent trail that made for a great loop around Piney Z Lake. Running while traveling can be tricky when you don’t know exactly where to go, but it sure is wonderful getting to have different sights to see every time you run. Not only is it a phenomenal way to explore, it also keeps running challenging and interesting!
Since we were making our way through the panhandle, it was officially time to stop at the lowest high point of all the United States - Florida’s Britton Hill! At a whopping 345 feet, I appreciate their honesty with the “hill” moniker. We drove up to the park, where a stone's throw from our parking spot was the stone monument marking the crest. They kindly offered short trails through the woods, so you could feel like you did something while you were there, but there was no USGS marker to be found. But this was Charlotte’s 3rd visit to a state high point, so I’m pretty proud of our old girl!!
After making our way through the Florida panhandle, we decided to make our way along the Gulf coast. At this point in our journey, due to our impromptu repairs and the skyrocketing costs of diesel, we started to consider how far west we wanted to go. We had originally hoped to make it all the way out to California, but now with mechanical and financial worries added to time constraints, we need to rethink things. We put off our worries for a bit and made our way to Mobile, Alabama. We were arriving a week or so after Mardi Gras, and the city was still showing decorative signs of the festivities. I was unaware, but apparently Mobile boasts to be the original home of Carnival celebrations in the US! They even have a Mardi Gras park! While I’m sure it was decked out the week before, it was a little sparse on our tour. We meandered downtown, stopping in Bienville Square and some tourist shops before heading out of the city to Magnolia Cemetery to see a unique furry friend protector. We wrapped up just in time to head to Bayfront Park for a stunning sunset over the water.
The next day we figured it was time to really see the water, so we went to Gulf State Park. Since the dogs aren’t allowed on the Gulf beaches, we ended up just going for a quick walk and dip and then took the boys over to Lake Shelby. They were lucky enough to have the run of the dog park, and sure made the most of it with looping zoomies and splashes in the water. There’s something special about the unbridled joy of a dog, especially one like Winston, who’s normally quite reserved and fearful. Unless he’s stealing my spot in bed and attempting to shower me in kisses…
To say we saw it all, we headed down the road to Orange Beach and the related Wharf. It certainly had big beach town vibes, and I felt immediately transported back to Ocean City, Maryland where I enjoyed family summers. Although there’s something still more special to me about the proper Ocean, I appreciated how much these Alabamans went all in on their waterfront vacations.
Our worries about shifting our plans were quickly resolved as we headed into Mississippi. We were at the Davis Bayou area of Gulf Islands National Seashore for a morning walk, where we encountered Park Ranger Tim in their gorgeous nature center. Park Ranger Tim was everything a park ranger should be, down to his love of beer. Tim was passionate and excited about the Mississippi Gulf, and not just the park we were currently enjoying. He pulled out map after map, and highlighted all the sights, as well as giving us some personal beer recommendations. With Tim’s enthusiasm burning bright in our minds, and with our hands full of annotated maps, we decided we were going to really take our time heading through the Mississippi Gulf.
It was an easy persuading to get us to our first stop. One, we were already in the town, and two, it came with a recommended brewery with sours on tap. So we headed over to Hops & Growlers, where we got another taste of Mississippi friendliness and indulged in both beer and conversation. The sours were tasty, and the owners were particularly fun to chat with, as we had all toured similar areas in Vermont and had a great time exchanging recommendations and favorite places. We are certainly ready for our next trip up north! The brewery was in Ocean Springs, which offered a lot more than beer in its extremely charming downtown. This was the first of many towns we ended up going through that would have warranted a whole weekend to explore and enjoy. At this point in our trip, we definitely crown Mississippi the king of lovely towns. The next day we headed out on one of the recommended trails in the area - the Fontainebleau Trail at Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. It was a nice loop, with some great informational plaques discussing the differences between bayous and swamps (as this trail traverses both), and what wildflowers we could expect to see on our hike. While we were a bit early for most, we did spot a honeysuckle azalea in bloom! At this refuge, if you're lucky, you might even see the endangered Mississippi Sandhill Crane, finding solace here in this safeguard.
We made our way out of Ocean Springs toward Biloxi, where we stopped at the Biloxi Bay bridge to admire the stunning murals and so I could enjoy a beautiful run over the water. The murals were a stunning compilation of natural life in Mississippi and the bridge had a great pedestrian path, complete with charming bronze markers at each 0.1 mile point.
With that, we made our way into Biloxi...temporarily. We both decided we could use a bit of dispersed camping, so we headed north to De Soto National Forest, where we indulged in a few quiet days in the woods. Dispersed camping is permitted off numbered national forest roads, and this was the first time we found a spacious enough pull-off to really set up and enjoy. We had a relaxing few days reading, making campfires, taking walks, playing some music, and listening to the magnificent sounds of an evening coyote pack's song. While we love seeing new cities and towns and places and things on our journey, I'll never get tired of also spending time tucking ourselves away in the woods and discovering a little more about who we are.
After our time in De Soto, it was time for laundry, which meant it was time for Biloxi. As we pulled in to a lot by the beach, I was immediately charmed by this adorably fun beach town. We took a stroll along the West Beach Boardwalk, soaking in the Gulf views and the palm trees. I had found a foodie tourism list for Mississippi, so when we stumbled up to Shaggy's, I knew we had to stop for some fried pickles. This delicacy was first made in Mississippi, so it was time to see if they still did it best. While a restaurant in NY still holds the victory in my opinion, I sure enjoyed the ones we got at Shaggy's, along with the peach jalapeño margarita and fried green tomatoes. To round out our visit to Biloxi, we took a walk through the Lighthouse Park and finished it all up with a stroll up to the Biloxi Lighthouse itself. Apparently the tours through this are pretty limited, only available for 1 hour a day. We're lucky having dogs precludes us from even worrying about attempting it! We ended up finding some gulf front parking for the night, and it's always a wonder waking up next to new beautiful sights like seagulls coasting over the Gulf coast waters first thing in the morning. It also made for an absolutely lovely running spot!
Our overnight spot put us right on the cusp of Gulfport, which was perfect, because after our morning runs we were definitely interested in heading to Beignet Cafe inside Island View Casino for some second breakfast, like the pair of Hobbits that we are. We couldn't resist putting in a few coins and hoping for some triple 7s, but alas, much like my Nana whose spirit guided us there, we walked away with a loss. But, also much in the spirit of my Nana, we were full of too many beignets, so I think we were the real winners.
We killed some time at a local park before making our way to Chandeleur Island Brewing, another solidly Emily brewery. They had an extremely tasty raspberry ginger sour, that we had luckily just managed to catch, as it was at the end of its season. And then we continued our journey west along the Mississippi Gulf, making a few stops along the way. First was the beautiful old Friendship Oak Tree in Long Beach on the campus of the current University of Southern Mississippi. Born in 1487, this towering and twisting oak bestows the pleasures of lifelong friendship among all who stand together in its shadows. Next was the Angel Trees of Bay St. Louis, which we enjoyed strolling through the charming beachside town to find. There are supposed to be 6 total sculptures, angels carved out of formerly alive live oak trees, that are scattered among the town. We discovered 5; one remains at large to tempt us into returning to this lovely waterside stretch of Mississippi.
And then, we were in Louisiana! After departing from family on our way south, our next big destination was New Orleans. However, due to some poor planning and an overly anxious dog, we only spent a morning in the city. That morning was St. Patrick's Day, and we quickly realized we had made a terrible planning mistake. We headed in despite our fears, and at least managed to sneak in some chicory coffee and beignets from Cafe Du Monde. Winston did have some chill pills in the morning, but it wasn't enough to handle the growing crowds and sounds of drinking that started picking up by 11:30, so we took a stroll by the Mississippi River to get a breather. On our walk, we realized that the last time we had really stopped to enjoy and appreciate the Mississippi River was all the way up at Perrot State Park in Wisconsin, which was a little mind-blowing. Not only considering the massive and significant length of this river, but also that we had gotten to see its majesty so far north and again here, almost at its southern terminus. What a truly magnificent trip we've gotten to take looping our way around the United States.
Before we officially wrapped up our time in the Gulf, we simply had to enjoy at least a little bit of the architectural joys that make up the French Quarter. We got our novelty Bourbon Street drinks and strolled around a bit, gasping in delight at each gorgeous wrought iron balcony we saw. While we didn't get to explore or enjoy too much more of New Orleans, it's definitely a place we'd like to return to without our fur babies so we can really get a deep dive into the music and nightlife that New Orleans has to offer.
After New Orleans, we had officially left the Gulf and started making our way westward through Louisiana. There was a lot to see there, and next post we'll talk all about the fascinating trend of salt islands throughout the state, and the particularly beautiful gardens they have to offer. While our original trip itinerary had us coasting through the Gulf, itching to finally see New Orleans, we were so thankful we met a local who could pour a little of his love of the region on to us, and inspire us to stick around a little longer and see it all for ourselves.
Comments