Pensacola Beach is near Gulf Islands National Seashore. We stayed at the National Park campground a few years ago. It is less crowded and touristy compared to Destin. However, Destin had all the amenities, other than a Costco, to keep us entertained. Our posts tend to run a month behind because of editing, travel, material, and lack of internet so the coronavirus pandemic had not yet impacted daily living.
Apalachicola is known for oysters and views of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s located in the panhandle of Florida, east of Destin, where there are less white sand beaches and fewer people. Life is slower and more about enjoying fresh wild raw oysters.
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge was establish in 1931 to protect the wintering grounds for migratory birds. It’s one of the oldest wildlife refuges in the United States and encompasses over 68,000 acres. From Manatee Springs it was an easy 3 hour drive to Crawfordville, Florida.
Chiefland is north of Tarpon Springs, Florida. We wanted to see Manatee Springs State Park and revisit Cedar Key. We enjoyed the area in the past. Chiefland’s economy primarily relies on agriculture including; peanuts, watermelons, ranching and timber. Cedar Key is known for fishing and oystering.
Manatees are one of our favorite animals to observe slowly moving about in the crystal clear waters of some of Floridas springs. Even though we had seen them numerous times around Florida, its usually been in murky brackish coastal water. We had never seen them in clear spring water. From Lady Lake, it was a short drive to Blue Spring.
Land O’Lakes is near the cities of Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg. We primarily stayed here to get our annual Freightliner service in Tampa. It was a short one hour drive from Tarpon Springs to Land O’Lakes.
