Life's a Beach
National Park Roadtrip – Days 52-57- Gulf Coast & Ocala
After leaving New Orleans, G and I needed to dry out for a bit in the sun, so we decided to stop at a few spots on the Gulf Coast of Florida before heading to the Everglades. We’ve never paid so much for a campsite, but the flour-like white sand beaches almost made up for the high cost. Almost. The trip from Nola is only about 3 hours so we had plenty of time to stop in Mobile for lunch, thereby necessitating the “Alabama” sticker be placed on our US map. We learned that Mobile, Alabama is where the first Mardi Gras celebration took place and where Jimmy Buffet is from. Who knew? It’s also home to Wintzell’s Oyster House, established in 1938, where they serve fresh seafood with a southern smile. The food was delicious and they even allow dogs on their patio. I had originally wanted to eat lunch in Fair Hope or Orange Beach so we could take a look at part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, but we didn’t want to get too far off our route. Wintzell’s ended up working out perfectly since it was located right off the freeway and we got to drive the scenic route through town to get back on the road.
The Gulf Islands National Seashore actually extends all the way into Florida, and was on our way (sort of/ish) to Destin. It didn’t take too much longer to go the scenic route, so we went for it. We first got out at the visitor center in Gulf Breeze and then drove the coastal route to Destin. All of these beaches along the Santa Rosa Island are absolutely gorgeous. White sand, light turquoise blue water, and tall, dune grass leading up from the road. Stunning. They even have a dog beach in between the national park beaches. Our dogs go nuts on the beach, though they aren’t too keen on getting in the water. They also aren’t really social with other dogs much, but they have a blast together, just the two of them, growling and chasing each other’s tails. No matter where we go, we always try to find at least one activity a day where they can get out and stretch their legs. I think (I hope) they appreciate our efforts!
By the time we got to Camp Gulf in Destin and got all set up, we were able to check out the beach right before sunset. Camp Gulf is located right on the water. There are a few sites that are literally in the sand on the beach, though these sites don’t allow dogs. We were still considered a “beach” site, but had to walk 100 or so yards to get on the sand. We hadn’t figured out anything for dinner yet so we decided to head out on the town. After an ill-fated stop at another popular restaurant close by, we landed at Shan Kishi for a sushi dinner. The yelp reviews were 5 stars for this little strip mall restaurant. It was fairly empty so we walked in hesitantly, but it filled in nicely while we were there. This meal did not disappoint. I have been craving sushi since we left Portland where we live a block from one of the best sushi restaurants in town. We couldn’t fathom eating sushi in landlocked states so had avoided it for most of the trip thus far. My taste buds were singing and I was doing the happy dance in our vinyl covered booth during this meal. So good. Right after my booth dance is almost precisely when both of us hit the wall, nearly at the same time, and needed to go to bed immediately. We paid our bill and drove back to the campsite where we slept very well with happy, fish filled bellies.
Shan Kishi sushi dinner. AMAZING!
The next day we finished off our Commander’s Palace leftover bacon by putting them in breakfast tacos (amazing by the way) and started planning our next few weeks over the course of several hours. I think the whole campground walked by us while we sat sedentary most of the day. We even had some people who commented that they couldn’t believe we were just sitting at our campsite all day in front of our computers and on our phones. What they don’t really get is that we are on this crazy adventure and we didn’t plan everything far in advance. We wanted to be able to make some decisions on the fly and not be locked into reservations. However, as we came upon spring break, we needed to really plan ahead so we weren’t forced to spend some nights in a Wal Mart parking lot. So we spent the day booking plane tickets to the US Virgin Islands, booking accommodations on St. John, booking campsites in the Everglades, Orlando, and St. Augustine, all places we would be staying after our 5 day mini-vacay in the Caribbean. It would have been nice to book all of our stuff while we were seated on the beach with our feet in the sand, but no doggies are allowed on the beach. Which means…no G or I on the beach for an extended period of time. While in Destin we went to the Destin Dog Park twice and to the Alaqua Unleashed Dog Park (awesome place) once on the way out of town. So even though they weren’t able to get some beach time, they did get to stretch their legs and bark at small humans and big dogs multiple times.
Bacon Tacos for the WIN!
Turkey burgers for dinner on night #2
Oh, and do you remember those nice folks from Colorado (@sanjuansports) that we met in San Diego and saw again in Sedona a week and a half later? We got a message from them saying they were 11 miles from Destin camping at one of the state parks. Yeah. Crazy crazy coincidences. Too bad they were working because we could have met up for a beer or 3.
The following morning we drove to Ocala, Florida. Why Ocala? The answer is simple. My very favorite marketing guru from Community Bank of Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada moved there with her family and I haven’t seen her in person in about 9 years. NINE FREAKING YEARS!!! She hasn’t changed one bit, except that she is a wonderful mommy to 20 month old Mia. They came over to our RV park to check out the trailer and dubbed it “The Divorce Trailer” immediately, seemingly because if her and her husband were to spend any amount of time in a trailer that size, they would have a hard time coming out alive! I puffed up with pride that G and I have managed to survive and thrive in our small yellow house on wheels. Our friends, G and I had a nice meal in downtown Ocala and called it a night.
In the morning, G and I decided it was time to try a Waffle House for the first time ever. I knew from the get go that this was going to be a mistake, but you have to do it at least once, I guess? What I found fascinating is that we were in one with an all female staff. Which was awesome! I love women managers, supervisors, and line cooks. The next thing that struck me is that everything is made pretty much from scratch. They have a basket of eggs above the grill ready to go when someone orders them. The toast is toasted to order. The hash browns are griddled to order. That’s pretty incredible, considering it’s basically a fast food restaurant. What is even MORE incredible is that with all that scratch cooking, my sausage egg biscuit (that I ordered without egg, but still came with one) still tasted like a worse version of a McDonalds sausage biscuit. My napkin was completely soaked through with oil and butter from the biscuit. I wasn’t a fan. Can you tell? Moving on.
Our next destination was Sanibel Island. There is only one RV park on Sanibel, which was completely full so we booked a site at San Carlos RV Park about a 20 minute drive from Sanibel. They only had one site left and it was near the entrance, but when we got there, they had changed our site to the other side of the waterway. Further to the bathroom, but better location. We shrugged and said, “Cool”. As soon as we unhooked the trailer we drove over to Sanibel for a very late lunch at The Clam Shack. That meal was pretty good, and included a hard sell on fried clams and the local beer. As we finished our lobster rolls and beer and clams, we overheard the staff talking about getting the mail before the big storm rolled in. Honestly, I chuckled and rolled my eyes a bit. The owner of the restaurant had told us it never rains there. We got in the car and drove in nearly dry weather to check out the island. I smugly looked at G and rolled my eyes again. All of a sudden, the sky opened up and sent down buckets of rain. It was absolutely a torrential downpour. That’s when G looked at me and smiled smugly. Ugh. We skipped the beach we were headed to and instead drove the length of the island over to Lighthouse Beach where the rain hadn’t hit yet. Most everyone had abandoned the parking lot by then so there were very few people on the beach. Once the light drops started hitting, though, we hopped in the car and headed back.
With our Sanibel exploring cut short by the weather, we decided to check out San Carlos. I picked out a spot using Yelp as my guide and walked in that direction. We arrived at what I thought was the place I chose, but it was not. I was confused by how run down it was and thought the pictures from Yelp were pretty misleading. There was a sad sad guitar player singing songs and a bunch of older folks with leather looking skin dancing, all of them smoking and drinking HEAVILY. Needless to say, we pulled the cord quickly on that place and walked a little further down the road to The Salty Crab. It was filled with spring breakers and their families, most from Indiana where I went to college for 3 years before transferring to UofA. We had a great time surrounded by Purdue fans (Go Boilers!), there was good entertainment, and dynamite people watching, but had to leave before we got sucked in the vortex and weren’t able or allowed to drive home. Back at the trailer we made the gnocchi my awesome sister-in-law sent us with in Austin that we lovingly kept in the freezer waiting for the perfect time to make it. I made the same gorgonzola sauce that we had in Austin, and we gorged ourselves!
Not a good photo, but yummy delicious dinner!
The following day, we used the Central Market tortillas to make breakfast tacos and put the leftover gnocchi in them. Bad move. This was not appetizing, at all. Waste not want not, though. We very rarely throw away food and aim to use leftovers in creative ways at all times. Some things work and some don’t. Gorgonzola Gnocchi Breakfast Tacos, definitely not winning any episodes of Chopped. We did a little more planning while trying to digest our tacos then headed over to Lighthouse Beach on Sanibel again. It was so crazy packed, and we could hardly find a place to put our beach chairs. I definitely preferred the pre-rain crowd from the previous day. Oh well.
That night we rode our bikes over the San Carlos bridge to SOB Brewery. Get your head out of the gutter. SOB stands for Smokin’ Oyster Brewery. I mean, come on!!! I thought you were better than that. We had an absolutely amazing meal there but almost passed out on the way home from having full bellies trying to ride over a bridge. Definitely not advisable, but the grouper bites, the garlic crab, and the grouper sandwich were well worth the stomach ache.
All said and done, our time on the Gulf Coast was enjoyable, and I’m glad we took the time to go there. Do I need to go back? Not really. But that’s mostly because it’s so far away. But also, in part, because I don’t want to turn into one of the leathery creatures dancing, smoking, and drinking the night away at the little restaurant on the beach in San Carlos.
