Tate's Hell State Park is a 202,000 acre forest/swamp near Carrabelle,FL. Legend has it that it's named after a man that got lost in the wilderness. When he emerged, he told a passerby "My name is Cebe Tate, and I just came from Hell" before collapsing. – WTF Fun Facts
Lighthouse Road Trip from Biloxi, Mississippi, to Jacksonville, Florida
Day 1. It started bad. I woke up late in Gulfport and then my traveling companion took an inordinate amount of time in Walmart. I skipped climbing Biloxi and Round Hill Lighthouses to hopefully make up the time. My goal was to get to Pensacola Lighthouse by 4:00 giving myself plenty of time to climb and explore the museum.
Google had given me directions to Fort Morgan (where you can see Sand Island Lighthouse) in Alabama, that included a ferry. I don't know if the ferry has a different weekday schedule but it was only running every three hours on Saturday. So we had to drive the long way which added at least an hour to the drive time plus traffic.
We saw World War II planes taking off and a cannon demonstration at Fort Morgan.
Next from Fort Morgan was Pensacola. We arrived at Pensacola an hour late - so 5:00 when they were closed. 😒
I wanted to stay in Pensacola so I could visit the lighthouse the next morning but didn't want to pay for a hotel I wouldn't be using if I tried to cancel the reservation at the last minute. I had made a reservation in Panama City to position me for seeing the lighthouses for Day 2.
We arrived in Panama City followed the directions to the hotel and found what looked like a parking area for RVs and a completely dark hotel building. We drove around and around not knowing for sure if that was the place. I called the hotel and the phone rang at least 20 times. I called again and the phone rang a few times before a recording said they weren’t accepting calls. The third time the recording answered the phone immediately. We then spent an hour on the phone with customer service trying to get help and other accommodations to no avail. The customer service agent I spoke with said the hotel was CLOSED DUE TO HURRICANE MICHAEL. But how was I able to make a reservation in March?
None of my apps could find a room either because Memorial Day. We eventually were told that the nearest hotel with any availability was in Tallahassee, 2 hours away. I booked my own hotel through one of my tried and true hotel families and we drove to Tallahassee.
We could have just stayed in Pensacola.
Day 2. I woke up ill. It may have been something I ate. It took me a while to eventually get up and get dressed. I had all that time because visiting the first two lighthouses I had planned would require backtracking two hours and I was not going to do that.
Anyway, we finally leave the hotel and I was unsure how this day would go. We were going to go to the last two lighthouses anyway and I would play it by ear if I was going to climb the first one. When we got to Crooked River Lighthouse, my camera lens was stuck in the cup holder. At the time it seemed like a big deal but it really wasn't. While trying to remove my camera I noticed they were having an event there. I was unsure what it was until they started talking ... and praying. It was Coastal Blessing 2019. I had all kinds of thoughts running through my head at this point. The people were nice though. They gather annually to bless the coast for a safe hurricane season.
After all the prayers, I went inside the museum and gift shop and then decided to climb. I don't know when it happened during the climb but my mind was completely off of how my stomach felt.
And the breeze was nice at the top. So was the view.
So, on to St. Mark's Lighthouse. At St. Mark's I got to see everything with the sun out. When I visited before there were some serious storm clouds. This time I saw little sand crabs in their burrows on the beach and hoards of them running across the street. I didn't see any of that when I went before. I actually chased after one to take a picture.
From St. Marks. We drove to Jacksonville.
Day 3. Jacksonville. We just enjoyed a day at leisure before our flight. I had originally planned to visit the lighthouses there but I saw them in March.
We happened upon the preparations for the Jacksonville’s Memorial Day concert.
Nothing went as planned but I still enjoyed myself and experienced some things I had no idea were going on.
