Our next stop was St. George Island just west of the crook of the panhandle. Ginny calls it the armpit of Florida, I think because it is near the home of the Florida State, the arch rivals of the Gators, her alma mater. Although the water is not an emerald color like further west (Destin, Panama City) the area has much to offer.
St. George Island is a peninsula with the Apalachicola bay on the north and the gulf on the south. Oystering and seafood are the main industry of the area. Oystering can only be done "by hand" per local law, so you see many small boats in the bay at low tide, with oyster men reaching in the water with long poles with wire baskets at the ends. They wiggle the baskets into the sea bed in order to pull up a lot of mud and a few oysters. It looks like back breaking work and I now understand why oysters are somewhat expensive.
Shrimping is also a big industry but it has suffered since the oil rig spill, just as the oystering industry has suffered. Although they cannot prove it was the oil spill, quantities have diminished, thus hurting the economy. That being said, we enjoyed the area immensely. If you want great seafood, go to Apalachicola, a quaint town across two long, long bridges from St. George. The people were terrific and I would visit again.
St. George Island State park is at the end of the peninsula once you cross a three mile bridge. The park is well over 12 miles long, all bordered by water, with marshes in between. We walked the beach for shells with nary another person in sight. Amazing experience.
As mentioned in a previous post, we met some new friends at Manatee S.P. Each day we had wine hour (or two) and they taught us a card game called Diminishing Bridge. Those of you that know me well know that Slap Jack or Go Fish is about as complicated as my brain can handle. BUT, with their patience I learned to play and had a great time too!
One thing I was worried about in starting to RV was the potential lack of privacy, noise from other campers and actually meeting new people. My worries were not necessary. We have met some of the most interesting, wonderful people I could imagine. And sitting around a bonfire, or under an awning or anywhere else in the outdoors with new people has been the biggest gift of this adventure.
How fortunate we are to have had careers and a life path that allowed us to experience this adventure!
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