Annie Lee the Argosy Update No.074

 

After the CanOpener we decided to take #AnnieLeetheArgosy 

and head over to Indian Pass Campground near Port Saint Joe

where we landed in a spot that's called 'tent city' 

[presumably a place for group tenting, maybe?}

 

AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.

I mean - who could complain 

about waking up to this view every morning?

And even though the campground was pretty much full, 

we felt isolated and alone at night.

It was pretty cool...

even with the clouds 

drifting over the moon...

 We had some pretty nice views as the sun came up each morning too.

Note: there was ferry at this dock they went over to St. Vincent Island early each morning - we never took the time to explore this... although I've since learned that it is a National Wildlife Refuge... So, maybe next time...

The campground is right on the point of the [Apalachicola] bay at St. Vincent Sound and The Gulf of Mexico... unfortunately [becasue of my knee] I wasn't able to manage the walk around to the Gulf... 

but what we saw from the campground was beautiful!

Hanging out at our campsite was so, soo relaxing, 

but y'all know we can't do that for days on end -  

We've got to GO and DO and SEE - 

[More on that in a moment...]

The Sunsets were gorgeous at our campsite too... 

and I REALLY wanted to walk around to The Gulf to see it...

[I'm typing this post-surgery - and YAY! 

I know it would be no problem for me NOW.]

 

And, OMGOODNESS - once the clouds cleared - 

the stars were magnificent!!!

We sat out and enjoyed them until the tiny gnats bumping into us became too bothersome -- But! We never got bites!

Y'all know we can't "stay put" for very long - 

So we had to hit the road and visit Apalachicola one day -

It's about 45 minutes [20 miles] from the campground

  

and really is the sweetest little 'Old Florida' town...

We enjoyed shopping the gift / antique / thrift shops -

I bought the yummiest orange-clove scented  soap on a sponge

from the Apalachicola Sponge Company!

Did you know that in 1900 Apalachicola was home to two sponge warehouses? 

There were approximately 100 men employed in the industry and the local sponge fleet was made up of small sailboats, often schooners. They embarked on harvesting trips in the northern Gulf of Mexico for about a month at a time. 

We had a delicious meal up on the deck of The Owl Cafe -

with a view [over some rooftops] of the Apalachicola River.

I enjoyed the linguini with shrimp and Craig had the platter...

Beautiful place and the food was good .

 

Afterwards we drove out to St. George Island

and looked around the State Park...

 

It's just gorgeous too!

Right on The Gulf with pristine beaches

[not cluttered with condos...lol]

The campground is off the beach and very clean and neat. The Island has a good community with shops and restaurants to enjoy... 

And the light house was pretty cool too!

 

We decided to stop at the Indian Pass Trading Post 

[locally known as The Indian Pass Raw Bar] 

on our way back to the campground [it's about 3 miles from the campground but seems like it's 10 - ha.-]

And WE WERE GLAD WE DID - 

This was the shrimp we'd been hoping for - lol - 

fresh, steamed, and DELICIOUS.

 

On another day we drove out to Cape San Bliss - 

And the weather, while windy, - ha -  was warm enough to be sleeveless!

Again - gorgeous beaches here in what they call Florida's Forgotten Coast.

It feels so isolated, but was really only about 10 miles from our campsite.

The St. Joseph Peninsula State Park remains closed for repairs from Hurricane Micheal in 2018, but one of the rangers told us they hope to open the campground  in 2023!

We stopped at The St. Joe Shrimp Company on the way back to our campsite - 

and again DEE-LISH shrimp in this no-frills shop where you could buy seafood cooked or raw... and a few souvenirs too...

We also spent a day in Port Saint Joe -

[about 15 miles / 30 minutes from our campground...]

We picked up some groceries and enjoyed thrift shopping...

[I got my cool bacon grease strainer in town!]

So - Indian Pass Campground

My take: A privately owned campground 

that is right on the bay AND The Gulf -

IT'S IN A BEAUTIFUL AREA.

Has an old Florida feel to it - 

Very sandy with sites between trees...

Clean bath house - 

Good internet and cell service.

I'm sure we'll be back here again...