Michael Huntley, Author at Traveling Huntleys

St. George Island State Park, Florida: Five Bald Eagles, Gulf Oysters & the Pine Trees That Built the Navy

February 12, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: February 12, 2017

St. George Island State Park — formally the Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park — sits at the eastern tip of a 22-mile barrier island off Florida’s Panhandle coast. Barrier islands run parallel to the mainland, absorbing storm surge before it reaches the shore. At St. George, that translates to nine miles of undeveloped shoreline, rolling sand dunes, a longleaf pine forest, and salt marshes on the bayside where oyster bars and inlets stretch toward Apalachicola Bay. Forbes ranked it the third-best beach in America in 2013. After walking its empty Gulf-side shore, we weren’t surprised.

Empty white sand beach stretching along the Gulf at St. George Island State Park, Florida

Ho Hum RV Park & Carrabelle, Florida: Gulf Sunsets, the World’s Smallest Police Station & the Legend of Tate’s Hell

February 8, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: May 2026

From Grayton Beach — bruised, wrist-sprained, rib-fractured, and ready for a site that didn’t require chainsaw work to access — we drove east along the Panhandle to Carrabelle and checked into Ho Hum RV Park. The name undersells it considerably. Our site sat directly on the water with a 180-degree view across the Gulf of Mexico, and the park’s 250-foot pier stretched out into the bay. Jake immediately applied himself to the comprehensive olfactory survey of the shoreline that any self-respecting dog would consider mandatory.

Ho Hum RV Park waterfront, Carrabelle, Florida

Grayton Beach, Watercolor & Seaside, Florida: A Rocky Arrival and a Panhandle Worth Loving

February 7, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: May 2026

Grayton Beach State Park has been consistently ranked among the best beaches in Florida — white quartz sand, clear emerald water, and a relatively undeveloped stretch of Panhandle coastline that has somehow survived the development pressure that consumed most of the Gulf Coast. The park opened in 1968 and the beach retains the character that earned it those rankings. We arrived with high expectations. It did not go as planned.

Grayton Beach State Park, Florida Panhandle

Florida Caverns State Park: The Sunshine State’s Underground Secret

February 7, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: May 2026

Florida is not a state you associate with caves. The geology of most of the peninsula — flat, sandy, barely above sea level — doesn’t suggest anything underground worth exploring. But the Florida Panhandle sits on a different kind of rock. The limestone karst terrain around Marianna, where slightly acidic groundwater has been dissolving passages through calcium carbonate bedrock for tens of thousands of years, produced something unique in the Florida state park system: Florida Caverns State Park, the only park in the state with cave passages large enough to walk through and open to public tours.

Florida Caverns State Park, Marianna, Florida

Three Rivers State Park, Florida: Controlled Burns, Bald Eagles & Jake’s First Canoe Ride

February 5, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: May 2026

Three Rivers State Park sits in the Florida Panhandle just south of the Georgia border, taking its name from the convergence that defines the landscape: the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers meet above the Jim Woodruff Dam to form Lake Seminole, and below the dam their combined waters become the Apalachicola River, flowing south through the Panhandle to Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The park was established in 1955 and remains one of the quieter, less-visited stops on the Florida state park circuit — which is exactly what we needed between the crowds of the Gulf Coast and the long drive north.

Three Rivers State Park, Lake Seminole, Florida

Silver Springs State Park, Florida: Glass Bottom Boats, Feral Monkeys & Hollywood History

February 4, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: May 2026

Florida’s springs are among the most striking natural features in the eastern United States — year-round 68°F water, extraordinary clarity, and ecosystems unlike anything on the coasts. Silver Springs is the largest artesian spring formation in Florida, and for much of the 19th and 20th centuries it was one of the most visited tourist attractions in the entire country. The state took over management in 2013, converting it to Silver Springs State Park. What remains is a rare convergence of natural wonder and layered American cultural history unlike anything else we encountered in Florida.