We made our way further east along the Florida panhandle to it’s southernmost point, the little port town of Apalachicola. Along the way we stopped to have lunch in Panama City Beach at “Pineapple Willly’s”, as it has a very good rating on Google Maps. Let me make it clear, this place is a tourist trap, so skip it. At least the beach looks nice! You can see the effects of distant Hurricane Melissa, with the very threatening clouds. It didn’t stop people from hanging out on the beach.
As we were driving through downtown Panama City we saw these two buildings on either side of the street. First this ridiculous “ship”, which appears to be a Ripley’s Believe it or Not.
Then this upside down building (note the upside down palm trees and light poles) which is an arcade arena called Wonderworks. Panama City is basically Vegas, so unless you like that sort of thing I would avoid this place. I think we counted at least 5 miniature golf courses in about a mile. I don’t mind miniature golf, but do you need to have more courses than Starbucks? So glad we chose not to stay here!
We made a slight diversion to visit “St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve Center”. This 19,000 mosaic of marshes and wetlands buffer the fragile waters of St. Joseph Bay, one of the gulf coasts healthiest estuaries.
It’s a stunning spot with views for miles from their viewing platform.
In both directions!
There is plenty of signage at the site explaining the local flora and fauna. The visitor center was closed but there was plenty to see regardless.
This Broad-Winged Hawk showed up while we were on top of the viewing platform. Nice pose!
There were Monarch butterflies all over these flowers next to the visitors center. We saw at least 100 of these while walking around the grounds.
Upon arriving in Apalachicola their sign lets you know they are the “Oyster Capital of the World”!! Not sure who gave them that designation, but we can attest there are oyster shells pretty much everywhere!
We stayed at the historic Gibson Inn which dates back to 1907, which bills itself as a part of “Old Florida”. The hotel has beautiful wrap-around porches right outside of your room.
The hotel is reportedly haunted, but we didn’t see anything during our 3 night stay. While the room was cozy and we really liked watching a thunderstorm from the 2nd floor balcony, the restaurant is not good and should be avoided.
Coming up, we tour the little town of Apalachicola, visit St. George Island, and take a boat ride up the Apalachicola River. I really like saying Apalachicola!!
Beautiful photos of the hawk and butterfly at the preserve. Glad the hurricane didn’t get too close. Have fun ❤️