Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.
Last Updated: March 3, 2017
From Bella Terra we headed back into Florida and into one of its lesser-known gems. Blackwater River State Park opened in 1968 and covers about 600 acres in the Florida Panhandle — a destination built around one of the purest sand-bottom rivers in the United States. We came looking forward to canoeing, got rained out of the trails, and still left thoroughly impressed.
Last Updated: February 21, 2017
Gulf Islands National Seashore stretches from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi, protecting the natural and historic resources of a chain of Gulf Coast barrier islands that have seen an extraordinary amount of American history. The protected area spans mainland sections and parts of seven islands — and the ground here has been fought over, abandoned, reclaimed, and fought over again for more than 500 years.
Last Updated: February 18, 2017
Trailer Life and Woodall’s rank Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in the top 1% of campgrounds in the nation. That’s a bold claim for a Florida state park, but after a few days here it’s hard to argue. The park has over three miles of pristine white sandy beach fronting emerald Gulf water, coastal cypress domes, freshwater lakes, and wet prairies — and the camping infrastructure to match.
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.
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.
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.
