ahschneid

Jan 317 min read

Our Journey West Across the US

We arrived at Newport Campground in Crawfordville Florida on 27 Jan 2024. Crawfordville is 15 miles southeast of Tallahassee in Wakulla County. Once again we arrived and got set up just before a major downpour. There was actually a Tornado watch in effect when we got there. Thankfully, no tornadoes came to our area. That Sunday we went to 11am mass at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Crawfordville. We both really enjoyed the homily and felt a good spiritual boost. We didn't get any pictures of the church, but it was a non-descript building nestled in the trees.

The campground we were staying at was small, so not much room to get a long walk in. Sunday afternoon we walked out across a foot bridge to the boat launch where a couple of people were fishing, then across the vehicle bridge on the road outside our campground. Just across the bridge there is a hole in the wall place (Ouzts' Too) that looks like it would have good food. We checked it out, but it was not open the next days we were to be there. We listened to a couple of songs sung by the band Alley Cats and then walked back. It was not our typical day, but it's good to do something different every now and then.

Arrived here 27 Jan 2024

In our campground in Crawfordville Florida

Our Sunday Afternoon site seeing walk 28 Jan 2024

Our Sunday Afternoon site seeing walk 28 Jan 2024

Our Sunday Afternoon site seeing walk 28 Jan 2024

Our Sunday Afternoon site seeing walk 28 Jan 2024

On Monday 29 Jan 2024, we went to St. Mark's Natural Wildlife Refuge and to Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park . We took pictures and the Internet had succinct descriptions of those two places:

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, in Wakulla County, Florida, is one of the oldest wildlife refuges in the United States. Established in 1931 as a wintering ground for migratory birds, it encompasses more than 83,000 acres spread between Wakulla, Jefferson, and Taylor Counties in the state of Florida. Natural Bridge is the site of the second largest Civil War battle in Florida and where the

St. Marks River drops into a sinkhole and flows underground for one-quarter of a mile before reemerging.

Out for a drive 29 Jan 2024

Out for a drive 29 Jan 2024

29 Jan 2024

29 Jan 2024

29 Jan 2024

29 Jan 2024

29 Jan 2024

29 Jan 2024

At the Lighthouse 29 Jan 2024

Out for a drive 29 Jan 2024

29 Jan 2024

29 Jan 2024

29 Jan 2024

29 Jan 2024

Limpkin bird (first one we have ever seen) at Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park

29 Jan 2024

Sunset 29 Jan 2024

On Tuesday 30 Jan 2024, we drove to Gulf Shores Alabama. We arrived at Gulf State Park around 12:30pm, having crossed into the Central Time Zone on our drive. We gained an hour in the drive but we missed the sunset the day we arrived because it was at 5:30pm and not the 6:30ish we had been seeing in Eastern Florida. We went out site seeing after lunch and Steve getting his stitches out and spent most of the afternoon in Perdido Key and Pensacola Florida. Gulf Shores is just inside the Alabama line. Our friends, Darrell and Joanie from Easton had told us about a couple of places in this area, so we checked them out. We drove the National Seashore, went to Joe Patti's Seafood Market and finally had dinner at a place called Fisherman's Corner. Joe Patti's is a Seafood Market and much more. The parking lot was full around 4:30pm with folks picking up dinner. You can get your shrimp and have then steamed there, but we got ours and steamed them ourselves the next night. We had plans to eat at Fisherman's Corner that night. You can get wines, cheeses, desserts and just about any fish you want. They have coolers of frozen meals like seafood gumbo, bisques, crawfish etouffee and others. We got the seafood gumbo for a quick meal one night in the future.

Gulf State Park is huge! There are over 400 campsites all with full hookups. There is a huge laundry room with 20 washers and 20 dryers, comfort stations throughout the park, a nice swimming pool, pickle ball courts, bike trails throughout and around the park, and a fishing pier that is not re-opened yet from hurricane damage in 2020. We only had two nights here (we wanted three, but they didn't have availability) and we knew almost immediately that we'll need to come back to this state park for much longer. We got a cursory look at most of the campground, but we saw very little of the state park itself.

Arrived 30 Jan 2024

Best State Park we've stayed at so far!

30 Jan 2024

30 Jan 2024

30 Jan 2024

30 Jan 2024

30 Jan 2024

Pensacola Beach 30 Jan 2024

While we were driving 30 Jan 2024

While we were driving 30 Jan 2024

On Wednesday 31 Jan 2024 we went to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. We had heard from a couple of campers we've met and a friend back in Easton that it is a must see. We spent three hours in the museum and felt like we just scratched the surface. We didn't even see the second floor of the main building or any of the videos. Anita had input overload and could have used an extra day to continue taking in all the information. The museum is very well organized and probably the best one we've seen of its kind. It shows World War I and World War II era planes and has good stories about pilots of that time. We had a good friend Eddie Frederick, who was a navigator and gunner on one of those planes during World War II. He passed away in 2015. We would have loved to tell him we saw the tiny bubble he worked in. The museum has a nice simulation to let one feel like they're on the aircraft carrier during take off and landing of the planes. Those sailors who are stationed on those aircraft carriers have fascinating jobs and I'm sure some interesting stories.

31 Jan 2024 Pensacola Florida

31 Jan 2024 Pensacola Florida

31 Jan 2024 Pensacola Florida