"The 'Forgotten Coast' extends from St. Marks and Shell Point Beach on the east to Mexico Beach on the west. It is not nearly as crowded and busy as the beaches to the west toward Panama City and the rest of the Redneck Riviera. One of the reasons is that's is a long way south of Interstate 10 and miles west of Interstate 75" (id #1)
We enjoy the opportunity to explore Florida via day trips and on our way to Mississippi and return. This time our route was to take us along the southern Panhandle route along the Gulf of Mexico). To do that we decided to take secondary roads mostly Route 98 along the Panhandle's Gulf (forgotten) from St Marks to Pensacola ... of courrse from Home in Redington Beach), taking side excursions and destinations that sounded interesting.
St. Marks ... this is this coasts's starting point. We knew of St Marks from our early explorations of Florida - photographing Florida's land-based lighthouses. It's interesting to note that the St Marks Lighthouse is located in the St Marks Refuge and was built in 1830. At the time, St Marks area was an important port of entry for the prosperous planting region of Middle Florida and some counties of South Georgia. However, ships had some difficulty navigating the waterways and a lighthouse was needed to insure safe passage. See history. To visit the actual lighthouse you take Lighthouse Rd about 8 miles from Rt 98, to the lighthouse through the St Marks wildlife refuge. Along this two lane access road you will see hikers, bird watchers and visitors enjoying nature and this undisturbed part of Florida.
St. Marks ... this is this coasts's starting point. We knew of St Marks from our early explorations of Florida - photographing Florida's land-based lighthouses. It's interesting to note that the St Marks Lighthouse is located in the St Marks Refuge and was built in 1830. At the time, St Marks area was an important port of entry for the prosperous planting region of Middle Florida and some counties of South Georgia. However, ships had some difficulty navigating the waterways and a lighthouse was needed to insure safe passage. See history. To visit the actual lighthouse you take Lighthouse Rd about 8 miles from Rt 98, to the lighthouse through the St Marks wildlife refuge. Along this two lane access road you will see hikers, bird watchers and visitors enjoying nature and this undisturbed part of Florida.
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Crawfordville ... for any road trip we take, we try to identify destination that fit a photo theme: it could be Florida lighthouses, old towns, back road , end-of-the-road fishing towns and anything that is unique or abandoned. We learned of the Ford Truck Cemetery through our web search, that was located just south of Crawfordville. When you arrive, be careful there is a drop to the small field, but once safely parked, you are in an area containing rusted Ford cars and trucks that are overgrown with vines and grass. They appeared to be set in chronological order dating back from the early-1900s to the mid-1970s. There was no hesitation by us not to stop and we saw several others exploring the unique location along the road. See TripAdvisor for more info.
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Sopchoppy ... just the name makes us interested in visiting this town/location. As it turns out, Sopchoppy is a small, unique town located near Crawfordville and 45 minutes southwest of Tallahassee. As we came to learn, although limited 'attractions' and photo ops in Sopchoppy, we learned of two interesting visits - one was a unique one-man business - pottery, that is tucked away in the woods. Although this was a random find - no real address or website, we asked some locals at the local grocery store and a few street maintenance guys "hey, what's to see in town"? Both answered "Griffin's ... down the road a piece".
So traveling Main St. we turn onto a dirt road and came upon George Griffin Pottery. George's marketing approach is simple - word of mouth - he has no website, no cell phone, no email ... he relies solely on visitors sharing their visit on TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc. TripAdvisor. (update: I just received a note from our neighbor stating "In the 50's when my dad was a salesman for the Mennen Company, he actually called on the one small grocery store in Sopchoppy.") ... it's a small world.
As we travelled to the driveway sign - we did pass another site - the Sopchoppy Historic Train Depot - of course we retruned to it and grabbed a few photos. See Train Depot for photos
So traveling Main St. we turn onto a dirt road and came upon George Griffin Pottery. George's marketing approach is simple - word of mouth - he has no website, no cell phone, no email ... he relies solely on visitors sharing their visit on TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc. TripAdvisor. (update: I just received a note from our neighbor stating "In the 50's when my dad was a salesman for the Mennen Company, he actually called on the one small grocery store in Sopchoppy.") ... it's a small world.
As we travelled to the driveway sign - we did pass another site - the Sopchoppy Historic Train Depot - of course we retruned to it and grabbed a few photos. See Train Depot for photos
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Carrabelle ... we found the smallest police station in America. Located on Rt 98. It seems years earlier, when the town was young and felt the need for police presence, that required an office and a phone. The solution was cost effective and fit the need - a phone booth! Now, the story from locals is that the 'police station' remained in operation for a short period of time. Residents realized that the officer would have to leave his 'office' from time to time to attend to an emergency, and while the station was vacant, the locals would use the phone for their own use.
After photographing the 'station', we inquired about the possibility of other interesting sites in town and we were informed that a home owner had constructed a building and lighthouse out of glass bottles. It was nearby and the home owner did not have a problem for visitors to enter their property - just close the gate when leaving.
After photographing the 'station', we inquired about the possibility of other interesting sites in town and we were informed that a home owner had constructed a building and lighthouse out of glass bottles. It was nearby and the home owner did not have a problem for visitors to enter their property - just close the gate when leaving.
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Apalachicola ... A charming fishing town once known as the oyster capital of the world. To us it felt almost like a small version of Cape Cod. Apalachicola offers terrific seafood, waterfront parks, bed & breakfast inns and yes - shopping. It provides a glimpse of the Florida Panhandle's timber and fishing history. A few years back, a reduction of fresh water caused a significant impact to oyster bed production. When the beds were productive in past years, a local oyster farmer could harvest 8-10 full baskets in a day ,... today they would be lucky to net 1-2. Fortunately, with tourism, real estate and fishing, the economy is holding its own. A great place to visit. You can enjoy a relaxing weekend or spend a few days exploring the town. Lots of history! Oh, we plan on returning. Click visit Florida.
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Cape San Blas & Port St Joe ... Reaching back to our earlier journeys, we learned that the lighthouse at Cape San Blas was relocated to Port St Joe. Weather damage, age and community need sometimes requires an existing lighthouse to be relocated. But sometimes, the location information on the websites referring to a particular lighthouse is not updated. That requires extraordinary means (lol) to find where that lighthouse now resided. To do so we have had to corner town maintenance personnel, historical societies and gas stations inquiring "where did you move my lighthouse ..." (PS: of course I had to try to duplicate the billboard photo with a photo of my own).
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Mexico Beach ... (not to be confused with Mexico City) ... came to 'fame' after being literally destroyed by Hurricane Michael in October 2018. About 2 weeks after Michael hit the Panhandle, we traveled to Mississippi and drove through Mexico Beach. We were shocked to learn that 20 miles east and west of that community were also devastated. Along Rt 10, trees were literally sheared off at 25 ft and many sections of road contained debris (we were impressed that heavy equipment and tree service contractors were in key locations clearing the road and replacing fencing). As we traveled along Rt 10 we saw homes and farms on either side without roofs and most rest stops were closed due to major damage. Since much of the reporting on the hurricane was focused on Mexico Beach, we wanted to see just how badly they were hit.
Below are some original images we captured 2 years ago and those taken recently. It was encouraging to see a positive improvement in the conditions we saw 2 years ago. Yes, homes on the Gulf side were furthest along to being restored or replaced - all on piles. Most roofs were now metal and many homes had concrete piles - elevating living space 11-15 ft. On the community side, maybe 30-40% of the homes are under repair/replacement ... but the entire community is still years away from 'normalcy'. We did capture a photo of the one home that the news media had reported as the lone survivor due to planned over-building and reinforcement.
Below are some original images we captured 2 years ago and those taken recently. It was encouraging to see a positive improvement in the conditions we saw 2 years ago. Yes, homes on the Gulf side were furthest along to being restored or replaced - all on piles. Most roofs were now metal and many homes had concrete piles - elevating living space 11-15 ft. On the community side, maybe 30-40% of the homes are under repair/replacement ... but the entire community is still years away from 'normalcy'. We did capture a photo of the one home that the news media had reported as the lone survivor due to planned over-building and reinforcement.
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Destin and Fort Walton Beach ... these communities were visited on our most trip to Mississippi. They are best known for white sands and emerald waters. Destin has the title of 'The World's Luckiest Fishing Village' and boasts one of the biggest fleets of charter fishing boats in the country. These two towns are resort communities with both vacationers and fishermen visiting year-round. An abundance of hotels, rentals, boardwalk shopping and of course many restaurants are there for visitors. We found limited historical areas to explore. However, in Fort Walton we found one of three Florida coastal Indian Mounds dating back hundreds of years, in addition to an old Schoolhouse and Post Office over 100 years old.
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Pensacola ... the last of our Panhandle journey from St Marks. Pensacola is the most westerly city in Florida and one of the oldest and most historical in America, with a settlement that predated even St. Augustine's (but only lasted a short time). Pensacola became part of the U.S. in 1821, and it was officially incorporated in 1825. Its history far predates this time, and it was ruled by five different flags in its history. So much to see in Pensacola from the historic district, to the lighthouse to the waterfront, it could take days to see it all. Lots of rich history. See Pensacola Wiki
