Saturday, June 16, 2012

Sugar Sand Beaches, Turtle Nests, Mullet and a Wheaten: St Joseph Peninsula on the Florida Panhandle

On our way north to Nashville we stopped for delightful nights at the Cape San Blas Inn on the St Jospeh Peninsula just outside Port St Joe on the Florida Panhandle.  A quiet, friendly backwater of a place there are no big highrise condos or hotels...just beach homes, a few inns, and a few low rise condo complexes.  There are miles of white WHITE sand beaches with few people on them.  There is a quiet bay between the peninsual and Port St Joe that provides for sheltered boating and kayaking.

The Cape San Blas Inn was a wonderful quiet spot with a long dock into the bay where we sat in a hot tub at moonrise.  We walked across the street and down a sandy lane to the beach within 5 minutes. There were turtle nests marked off as out of bounds, mullets surfing in the swells hitting the beach, families fishing (those mullet weren't biting), and firm sand perfect for walking. Afterwards we had a lovely room to rest in with a small fenced patio and comfy bed.  Breakfasts were delicious and we enjoyed meeting some of our fellow travelers over the meal.

We hope to return to this lovely quiet spot on the panhandle one day to linger a little longer.

Jerry walking on the St Joseph Peninsula Beach. The water was warm that day and there were few people about even though it was a Saturday.

Caution: Turtle Nest.  It is turtle nesting season in the area and we saw at least 5 of these marked nest in just a short 1 mile stretch of beach.  A happy sight.

Jerry talking to the family of fishermen...not catching much, but they were having a great time.

Look careful...those are mullet bodysurfing in the surf...just about 10 feet of shore

The Cape San Blas Light.  No I didn't walk up to the top. If the prospect of walking up the steps wasn't daunting enough...I'd would have had to walk up a spiral set INSIDE that white tube.  No thanks!

Right across from Cape San Blas Inn is a small groups of businesses where you can buy real estate, beer, eggs, hamburgers, souvenirs and of course coffee & ice cream.

Moon rise over the bay off the Cape San Blas Inn dock

Sunset looking towards the tip of the St Joseph Peninsula

Rocky, the adorable sometime-resident Wheaten Terrier.

1 comment:

Jennie @ Porch Swing Quilts said...

Oooh, I want to go. And Laurel is just about giddy over those turtle nests!