Jen’s Journal – February 23, 2020

Day 239: Hickory Landing Campground, Apalachicola National Forest, FL

Sunny and cool.

Finishing up the Forgotten Coast

First stop from the Apalachicola National Forest: Carrabelle. This town with its natural deep harbor is very quiet on a Sunday morning. We couldn’t even find a coffee shop open. We chatted with some fishermen, and a lady who feeds the feral cats every day, and moved on.

Tom was hungry. We drove down Alligator Point, a long, narrow strand of a peninsula. There was a tiki hut at the marina serving up drinks and food. PERFECT! We shared a blackened shrimp basket. The shrimp was perfect.

This is a good time for me to note that The Forgotten Coast is my kind of place. Pure beaches, lots of shore birds, not a lot of people. There is a lot of storm wreckage from Michael in 2018. At the Tyndall Air Force Base, all the houses were ruined. I don’t think any were livable. But there is lots of rebuilding going on. It will look new one day. Then another hurricane will hit. But next time the buildings will be stronger!

We went to Leon Sinks, southwest of Tallahassee. The sinks are natural depressions where springwater flowing under ground broke up the limestone base. There was a great three-mike walk through the sinkholes.

We were pretty close to Tallahassee by now. We drove through town and ended up on the northeast side for pizza and parking at Walmart for the night. This Walmart has lots of trees with hanging Spanish moss. It feels parklike.