Hippie Van Travels: Camping on St. George Island

Remembering a wonderful stop along our Hippie Van Road Trip — St. George Island in the Florida panhandle!

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Key West Road Trip — The Journey Home

{Journal Entry}

DAY 4:

‘Pulled out of St. Joseph’s Peninsula at around 1:30 or so, headed West on Scenic 98 to 71 North.  We’re planning to visit the Southern Tip of Georgia before we head home on El Camino 84 to Texas 287.  That’s the plan anyway.

*Update*

We ended up at a rest stop off of Interstate Highway 65 at 1 AM in the morning.  Ugh!  ‘Drove all night, but we didn’t want to pay the $$$ on a room for just a few hours of sleep.  So…after stopping numerous times at various motels–and trekking out to the ONLY (what seemed like it) National Forest in Alabama, we settle for a nice…much safer, rest stop.  It was the best choice, and one we should’ve made much earlier in the evening. 

*What I Learned*  Sleeping at rest stops isn’t half as bad as I suspected.  Guess it pays to listen to Nico sometimes; as much as I hate to admit it.  lol

The Beaches of St. Joe Peninsula

~ VIDEO ~

 

 

St. Joe Peninsula — Day 3 of Journey Home

{Journal Entry}

‘Pulled out around 11 am and headed North on 301/27/441, we will take 441 N/W when we see it and hopefully hit 98.  *Camped at St. Joe Peninsula last night.  I met a nice Mother-Daughter (Rebecca & Nicole) camping team, set up right beside us in a Classic Serro Scotty Vintage Travel Trailer.  I loved their rig as much as they loved ours!

We sat up ’til way into the early morning….laughing and talking, tossing back a few cold ones, just having girl time.  Lucky for me, Nico is great with Baby….so I kinda had the night off.  Come to find out, they are Florida ladies.  I exchanged emails with Rebecca so we can keep in touch.

*About St. Joe*

Beautiful beach.  Had Fun fun fun!  Watched a show-stopping sunset!  We hope to return someday soon.  Loved the beach and company, though the sites are really close together and very hard to get.  I’d definitely make reservations for out next visit.

Key West Road Trip — Day 2 Trip Home

Florida Gulf Bridge

Road Trip in a Hippie Van to the Florida Keys

Day 21: Leaving Sebastian Inlet, Headin’ to the Florida Keys–

Up by 8:30 or 9ish, ‘did laundry and packed up the van for the final stretch of our Peniki adventure road trip.  ‘Got on the road late b/c we had hot dogs and good conversation with our neighbors Eddy and Suzanne.  Nice People!  We’ll have to keep in touch.

‘Thinking we’d head straight for Key Largo today; per a tip from Eddy, we decided to  take the Toll Road straight on down and by-pass Miami this time around.  I had really had my heart set on seeing Hollywood Florida, but our new friend Eddy said it’s just a lot of hype, souvenir shops and the like.  Still, I want to see it…someday.

Visited the ATM, bought diapers and wipes, fueled up the van and we went in search of Florida’s Toll Road.  In the end, the toll road proved to be way too fast-paced for our old classic VW.  I was a mess when it came to nerves, but Captain Nic kept it steady and calm; even when we thought we might get mowed down by the crazy drivers who aren’t still stuck in the 70’s…goin’ 55 mph.  :  )  The left side service station exits, right off the ‘fast lane’ really didn’t help our case any at all. At one point, some flaming idiot came past in a fury, yelling some stupid shit!  I wanted to catch up to him and put the Whoopass on him….but the van never could catch the maniac.  LMAO

Finally, after hours and many miles of chaos on the toll road, we rolled in to Key Largo at about 9 pm or so, quickly found a campsite (as fast as we possibly could anyway), and ended up at The Key Largo Campground and Marina…just off Overseas Highway and within walking distance to Publix.  We paid WAY too much for the lot w/ a water view, but at last….we had arrived.  A BIG sigh of relief fell over our camp and ourselves as we went about constructing a partial set-up for the night.

Camp was finally put together and we were more than ready for bed by about midnight.  Luckily, the baby slept through it all.  ‘Will see tomorrow what this place looks like; if it is worth the $$$ we spent, though I doubt it is.

All in all, it had been a pretty good day’s travels.  Peniki had taken us all the way to the Florida Keys and God had blessed us in so many ways.

*Remembering* Nico met a nice man from Haiti who was working at the Key Largo Burger King.  I remember thinking of how much farther he had traveled to a new land, by comparison to our own travels.  I thought to myself: If this brave man can come all this way and make it work, we should be able to as well.  I dared to dream.

VW Westfalia Family Road Trip — Hippies at Heart

Day 20–Mother’s Day:  Flagler Beach to Sebastian Inlet SP

Mother’s Day today!  Woke up around 9:00 or so to a beautiful sunny day on Florida’s East Coast.  Lovely ocean waves in the distance; I can barely hear them from our campsite at Flagler Beach’ Gamble Rogers State Rec Area.  We really do like it here.  The facilities are nice, with clean restrooms right across from us, and a laundry facility as well.  I can see the Atlantic Ocean from our temporary front yard.  ;  )

Nico cooked breakfast, made some coffee and fed Baby too.  Flagler is a very inviting place, but I think we’ve decided to press onward.  We were up and gone by noon, but in our travels, we’ve discovered that A1A Highway along the Atlantic Coastline, is NOT a friendly road!  We were going the speed limit of 55 mph, but cars were still idiotically passing on the wrong side of a skinny two lane road…with no shoulder to pull over if needed.  Crazy Drivers!  We escaped A1A as quickly as possible, and opted to take Highway 1 on down from Ormond Beach.  The SP there was nice, but still not the best we’ve seen.

Stopped near Daytona for drinks/ice/gas, and decided to head for Sabastian Inlet SRA.  [Note to Self: Daytona…YUK!  No Go There Again!]  A little while later, there we were at a nice campsite across from the Gulf side of Florida, watching the sun set over the water.  ‘Met a nice couple from Jacksonville–Eddy and Suzanne Shores–camped out next to us at Sebastian Inlet.  But we quickly realized that the Park Hosts really ‘STINK’ there!

Travelling with Baby in a VW Hippie Van

We travel for up to 6 months out of the year, and more often if we’re lucky.  Part-time living/traveling with our little one in Peniki, our Vintage VW Westfalia, is what life is all about for our family.  For us…it’s the way to go!

Here’s a little story that was recently published on Green RV Living, about how we roll…and live PT Off the Grid.  God Bless and Happy Travels!

*Peace!*

http://cheapgreenrvliving.com/Family_IN_VW_Bus

Travels: A VW Westy & Hippies at Heart

Day 18: Econfina River State Park from St. George Island

 

Pulled out of St. George at around 12:30 PM on Friday.  We said goodbye to Rob West; our nice camphost from Pennsylvania.  ‘Found an island grocery market and a ATM, then stopped-off at a little roadside seafood stand and bought the day’s catch directly from the fisherman who’d caught it that morning. What we bought:

1 lb shrimp, 2 lbs red snapper filets, 2 crab cakes.  Yum!  I’d be cooking the cakes later on down the road, along with the shrimp, and the fish I planned to save and cook the next day since it was frozen.

While at the seafood stand, we met a nice man, a retired college professor.  He loved the van!  : ))  We love St. George Island!  …hate to leave.  We both agree we could live quite happily on Saint George Island.  Never know…maybe some day!

*Beautiful drive along coastal 98 headed East, as we were leaving the long bridge to/from St. George.*

We stopped at an IGA in Carrabelle, FL for groceries and stuff.  The ladies at the store were really nice and helpful.  You don’t see that everyday!  *Cute little town, that Carrabelle!  I took pics of a kewl wooden boat-bar.  Love it!!  We wanted to stop, but we had to forge ahead.

Refueled in Pancea while down the road, and had every intention of going on to our desired destination, but considering the time-of-day and how tired we were, we decided to camp for the night at Econfina River State Park.  Come to find out, there were no campsites at the park, so we found a rural spot at a private compground up the road and secured a spot for $17.  Not too bad!  And the primitive site was very secluded and lush with Palmettos and Palms…and that scary Spagnum Moss hanging from the trees.  It reminds me of the Scooby-Doo mysteries every time I see it. Lol  This trip, we’ve seen it a lot too.

*Nice old bald man (The ‘old bald man’ part…his words, not mine.  lol) named Ron, who we met back at Econfina while asking for directions, loaned me some sunblock/bug repellent called ‘Cactus Juice’.  It comes from Texas!  hahaha  Good stuff!  We used a little then returned it to the store nearby, per his request, the next day before we pulled out.  He said he knew the folks there at the store and they’d hold it til he came in the next fishin trip…that next weekend more than likely. : )

We cooked the shrimp from St. George on the open fire-pit that night.  It was delicious!  Once we turned in, we had a bit of a scare when we heard some goings-on outside our camp.  Blanca had been fixated by something out in the woods all day since we’d arrived.  Nico went out (I begged him not to, but…you know men) to see what it was, but seemed rather spooked when he came back in.  He said what ever it was, it was circling our campsite, was very heavy…and very fast.  Needless to say, he stayed in after that.  ; )

Obviously we made it through the night, or I guess you wouldn’t be reading this.  Haha  It had been a good day…all in all.  Many…many Blessings!

A Volkswagen Westy & Hippies at Heart: Saint George Island, Florida

Day 17:

Had breakfast and got ready for a nice day at St. George Island Beach.  ‘Loaded up the bike trailer to the limit, and we were off!  Fun…fun day!  ‘Found a Pirate’s Booty of seashells!  Yayahhhh!!!

Headed back to camp and started a campfire to grill Bratwurst sausages.  While the fire was stoking, I headed out to buy ice from the camp-hosts and ended up meeting Rob’s wife Anne.  Nice lady!  We ended up chatting for over an hour and meeting other passersby out walking their dogs.

Later that night, Nico played guitar for Nixi and we settled in…after showers.  It had been a good…good day.  Lovin’ every minute of St. George Isle!  No words to describe…

A VW Westfalia & Hippies at Heart: Grayton Beach to St. George Island, Florida

Day 16:

Met a nice couple from Gainesville, FL this morning who bought a copy of our CD (First one sold!!  Yay!!!).  Huck told us that he’s a native of New York State and his wife Leah is from Colorado.  They had two sons, and they were there at Grayton Beach SP on a family camping trip.  Nice people!  I hope they keep in touch.

We finally hit the road at around 2 PM (Ugh!!), leaving Grayton Beach headed East on 98.  It was a nice drive with no complications.  Yay!!  ‘Arrived at St. George Island State Park after passing over a three-mile-long bridge and snapping a few pics of the lighthouse there on St. George.  While we were stopped at the Ice Machine, an older couple pulled up in a golf cart wanting to snap a pic of us; the Hippies in the VW Van.  Too Kewl!

Arriving at SGI SP, we paid for a couple nights and set to work on camp.  ‘Met camp-host Rob West from Pennsylvania while buying firewood for our campfire-to-be.  Settled in for the night after setting up rig and cooked a bit on the fire.  Turned in at a reasonable time…for a change, but didn’t get much sleep (for a good reason, this time).  Nico and I made up for lost time.  Yayah!

Not bad for a day’s work!  We were lovin’ St. George Island so far.

A VW Westfalia & Hippies at Heart: Grayton Beach State Park

Day 15: 

Finally…time to sit still and enjoy the beach.  We paid for 2 nights, and boy…was I ever glad we did.  Nico loved it at Grayton as well.  The beach was a wonder of white sand and perfect waves.  We surfed as much as we possibly could on a surfboard with ‘no wax’!  Whoooaaa!  Slippery when wet!  Lemme tell ya!  But…even still, we had a blast being kids again!  It seems having a little one in our forties has brought a bit more of the kid out in the both of us.  Gotta love that!

Even though this particular day was rather a blur of fun, surfing, exploring, biking to the beach and around the park and such; even a bit of foraging for wild blackberries…growing beside the park road, it was just what the doc ordered.  By day’s end, I actually felt fulfilled and rested…all in one.  And while Nico had gone to take a shower, and baby slept soundly beside me, I found my Zen and wrote a song; singing the tune into my Zoom recorder…just so I wouldn’t forget what had come to me.  It’s an upbeat…beachy…reggae-ish kind of islandy sound.  I can hardly wait to get the music right on it so we can record.  The day was  a success…if only for that reason, though there were so many more reasons for a girl/Mom/Wife to feel blessed.

Happy…Happy Day at Grayton Beach State Park.  A wonderful place to see on Florida’s Gulf Coast.  I know we will visit again.