Places Visited:
Florida: Grayton Beach SP, St Andrews SP in Panama City Beach

Friday, January 11, 2002
Grayton Beach, State Park: Off highway 33A Grayton Beach,
Florida

After getting up late we finished packing and said good buys to
several neighbors as we finally started rolling around 10:30am. They
all wanted to know if we were going to be gone for another seven
months. Not this time was our reply. We have been home in Pensacola
for the past two months enjoying the holidays and taking care of
Mike's hernia surgery. He is supposed to take it EASY for 6-weeks. It
has been four and he promises to take it easy for another two weeks.
Visiting with family and friends has been a joy and Joyce has really
enjoyed our home, SHOPPING and having lunch with girlfriends. Not to
mention being close to Jeff and Kathryn and enjoying their company. We
are ready to continue the adventure. Lets roll!

Our plan is to see and experience Florida. Although we have lived in
Florida most of our lives it is absolutely amazing how much of it we
have not "really" experienced first hand. The first week or so we
plan to spend some time in a variety of State Parks scattered along
the Panhandle's Gulf beaches. Grayton Beach State Park is located
about 15-miles east of Destin, Florida and is right on the Gulf. We
skipped Henderson Beach State Park located in Destin because we did
not know that they had RV-sites. Henderson Beach State Park does
indeed have 33 RV-sites, as of last year, and plan to add 30 more this
year. Anyone, especially with kids, that is looking for a good beach
with plenty of activities, shopping, restaurants etc., will find that
Henderson Beach is as close to nirvana as it can get. Those looking
for something more secluded will like Grayton Beach State Park.
Between Henderson and Grayton Beach is Topsail Hill Gregory Moore
RV-Resort State Park. I have no idea why we passed Topsail Hill up in
favor of Grayton Beach. We have decided to drive back to it tomorrow
and see what we missed.

Mike picked the Red Bar in downtown Grayton Beach as our dining
destination this Friday night. Joyce had planned on eating in the
motor home since we had a big meal at lunch. Mike just didn't want to
eat salad and that is what Joyce was planning. The Red Bar was
recommended by the park ranger and turned out to be a popular place
for the 30's crowd. The food was OK but very expensive. The décor
could be described as interestingly tacky or beachy rundown, although
some might say it had character. They only took cash or checks!
Although we wanted to be impressed, we weren't. It must be us, since
the place was packed. Oh well! Sometimes we hit a home run other
times we strike out. The Red Bar wasn't a home run, in our opinion.

Saturday, January 12, 2002
Grayton Beach, State Park: Off highway 33A Grayton Beach,
Florida

We headed out for our daily walk under cloudy skies. The nature trail
we walked was through a mature dune system. This is an area where
sand is constantly moving. Each time the wind blows sand shifts until
it is stopped and held by plants. Every tree able to scratch out an
existence in this hostile environment is gnarled and stunted. Live
oaks, magnolias, yaupon holly and palmettos hold most of the inland
side of dunes in place. Sea oats hold dunes in place until the oak
thickets can catch hold. On the backside of the dunes are the oak
thickets. The oaks grow so thick in these thickets that it would be
virtually impossible to penetrate. Although these trees are less than
6 feet tall they produce large numbers of acorns. They are pruned by
wind born sand and salt. Saw Palmetto is another predominant plant in
this region. Saw palmetto's are palm trees with trunks growing along
the ground. Fruit of the saw palmetto plant is harvested to produce a
product touted as good for the prostate. You can see the "saw
palmetto" product in the herbal remedies section of most pharmacies.

Grayton beach is consistently rated as one of the top ten beaches in
the United States, including Hawaii. The sugary white beaches make
the State Park one of the most pristine coastal spots on this
continent. Back in 1994 it was rated as the number-one beach in the
United States. The dazzling sugar white sand contrasts with the
emerald green waters of the Gulf. Shorebirds, searching for food,
rush in and out with each wave. Large dunes line the shore crested by
beautiful stands of sea oats and the wind-sculpted trees. These truly
stunning seascapes literally beg to be captured on film or canvas.

Grayton Beach State Park, with its pristine white beaches and the
variety of specialty shops readily available, is a paradise for Joyce.
She could stay here forever. However, as you know, we are always
looking for a good small town restaurant featuring unique home
cooking. After our walk we drove to the small town of Freeport for
lunch at the Corner Café. We both ordered mullet, a local favorite,
expecting it to be fillets but to our disappointment it was full of
bones and very salty. We should have known better. During the
summer, area restaurants serve large succulent black mullet fillets.
During the winter black mullet migrate to deeper water in the gulf and
local fishermen rely on the much smaller silver mullet. The silver
mullet are so much smaller that restaurants just filet one side and
leave the backbone in the other. Strike two in our attempt to find a
truly great local restaurant. Oh well! We have only begun this
search. You might ask why did we drive to Freeport (11 miles north of
US-98 on hwy 331) when we are staying in the mist of all these
high-class establishments. Well, Mike talked to a man, from New
Hampshire, on the beach this morning, that spends his winters in the
area, and he recommended the Corner Cafe in the small little red neck
town of Freeport. What does someone from New Hampshire know about
mullet anyway? That is kind of like asking a redneck about the Opra
isn't it?

Joyce is itching to get back to something classy (read that
expensive)
and maybe take in some music and dancing. She scoped out the
Santa
Rosa Golf and Beach Resort. They advertised dinner and dancing
on
Saturday nights. Too bad it is closed for remodeling. Joyce is
disappointed to say the least. We take the short drive from Grayton
State Park to Seaside so Joyce can browse in the upscale specialty
shops. While there it begins to rain and turn cold so we headed back
to the motor home to enjoy the remainder of the day reading and
writing.

On our short drive this morning along hwy 30A we stopped and
toured
Topsail Hill State Park and it's RV-Resort and learn that it has only
been a State Park for three years. It was previously a private
RV-Resort. The rates are $32 per night, $202 weekly and $515 monthly
(3 consecutive months for $430) (4+consecutive months $410). It was
packed to capacity with snowbirds. It is a beautiful park with
clubhouse, tennis courts and enclosed heated pool. It is Good Sam
rated 10,10,10 and Wooddall's rated WWWWW, need we say more. We are
paying eleven dollars per-night at Grayton State park for water and
electricity. We both agreed that Topsail would be a nice place to
stay for a couple of months next winter. It is only about 65 miles
from our home in Pensacola and we would be close enough to still rock
our twin grandbabies that will be born in July. We don't want to get
to far from home that first year! If you are interested in checking
it out contact Topsail Hill State Preserve the address is 7525 W.
Scenic Hwy, 30A Santa Rosa Beach, and Fl 32459. For Reservations call
1-877-232-2478 or email address Topsailhill@gnt.net. Or look them up
at www.Topsailhill.com It looks like a great place to meet and
fellowship with others.

Sunday, January 13, 2002
St. Andrews, State Park: Panama City Beach, Florida

It turned cold last night. When I peaked out from under the down
comforter this morning the temperature in the motorhome was 52
degrees. Mercy! We got the heaters going then jumped back under the
covers until the place was warm and cozy.

In keeping with our goal of more exercise and less food we took off on
another one hour plus walk down the beach. I sure hope that these
walks will help keep the blood pressure and weight in check.

Next we moved the motorhome 32-miles east to St. Andrews SP
located on
St. Andrews Bay in Panama City Beach, Florida. The campground
is
awesome. The ranger checking us in tells us it is the most popular
RV-park in Florida's State Park system. Like Grayton Beach SP St.
Andrews SP has one of the top 10 beaches in the U.S. In fact it was
voted the best beach in 1995. When we get to our site I can see why.
Out our motorhome's front window, across picturesque Grand Lagoon is
world famous Bay Point Resort. We are paying $15 per-night and those
folks can't even get their car parked for that! Does it get any
better?

We spent the early evening hours at my parent's house in Panama
City
with them and my younger sister and her husband (my personal
computer
guru). Everyone should know at least one computer guru that will
return a phone call. <VBG> Very Big Grin.

Monday, January 14, 2002
St. Andrews, State Park: Panama City Beach, Florida

It started raining during the night and continued through the day.
Instead of walking on the beach we strolled around Wal-Mart getting
some necessities before heading to Mike's parents house. We visited
and ate with them then headed home around 8:30 pm.

Tuesday, January 15, 2002
St. Andrews, State Park: Panama City Beach, Florida

The rain is gone replaced by bright clear skies. We spent several
hours walking on the beach and around the park. This is a beautiful
place.

We ate lunch at J. Michaels on the beach near the Treasure Ship. Joyce
and I had enjoyed J. Michaels red beans and rice years ago when they
were located on US-98 in Panama City. We did not know what happened
to the restaurant that we liked on US-98 it just was not there one
time when we passed through. Joyce spotted the J. Michaels sign as we
were driving to St. Andrews State Park. We just had to go back and
get reacquainted with their red beans and rice. We ate dinner at
Mike's Mother's house and watched some Fox news with them before
returning to our motorhome.

Wednesday, January 16, 2002
St. Andrews, State Park: Panama City Beach, Florida

Clear blue skies are the order of the day. Nuthatches and
chickadees
are flitting around the trees while great and snowy egrets feed just
outside the front window. Just a little farther out the front window
a flock of scaup are diving for breakfast. All of this and we have
not left the motorhome.

Several of the snowbirds are having a ball catching bluefish both from
the surf and the free pier sticking into the gulf.

We walked the shoreline from our RV around the point to the Gulf. This
was another walk of several hours that did not overlap any of the
shoreline we walked yesterday. Today there was much more life. Along
the shore of Grand Lagoon ruddy turnstones and killdeer were feeding
in the tidal flats exposed by the outgoing tide while willets were
feeding in water around 6" deep. Farther off the beach mergansers are
diving for fish while gulls circled overhead waiting for an
opportunity to rob the mergansers of their catch.

Joyce is always vigilant in her search for excitement. Today she
located it in a place called Chubby's Bar & Grill located in the
Shoppe's at Edgewater (Panama City Beach, Florida). The place was
advertising a "snowbird special". From 3:00 until 6:00 Tuesday
through Friday they offer a "snowbird special" with meals from $4.00
to $7.00 plus music and dancing. Initially we were apprehensive, but
upon arrival we were blown away. The place was packed with snowbirds.
Everyone was having a great time. A DJ was playing 60's/70's
music
and everyone was dancing. The owner/DJ had personality plus. He used
his effervescent personality to keep the audience totally entertained.
We have finally hit a home run. This place is worth doing again.

We finished off the night watching Fox news with Mike's parents
before
heading back to the motorhome.

Thursday, January 17, 2002
St. Andrews, State Park: Panama City Beach, Florida

We took another long walk on the beach before getting cleaned up for a
return to Chubby's. The place was packed by the time we arrived which
was shortly after 3:00 in the afternoon. With every seat in the house
occupied we were beginning to wonder what we were going to do. Then a
very nice couple from Kentucky (near Cincinnati) asked us if we would
like to sit with them. We were saved! This couple, Gene and Ann,
were so nice and excellent conversationalist. They had 14
grandchildren and had been foster parents for 37 years. What a
testimony! They have been wintering on South Padre Island for years
but decided to change to Panama City Beach this year because of the
bridge to Padre Island being hit by a barge. They have enjoyed
Edgewater Condominiums so much that they have already reserved their
place for next year. Joyce and I ate and danced until 6:00 when we
headed to Mike's parents house for another night of watching TV.

Friday, January 18, 2002
St. Andrews, State Park: Panama City Beach, Florida

It turned warm today. Everyone was walking in shorts and many did not
have shirts. You would think it was summer. Today we walked the
entire beach loop from the RV east along the Grand Lagoon side, south
along the pass, then west along the beach to the pier then across the
peninsula and back to the motorhome.

After spending the afternoon with Mike's parents we headed back to
Chubby's for the live band and entertainment. The band was great. The
"snowbirds" were all at a "big-band" dance at Edgewater. The crowd in
Chubby's was mostly locals in the 30 through 50's age group. We danced
until the midnight hour. Joyce is a happy girl. <VBG>

Mike & Joyce Hendrix