By Katie McCormick
August 1, 2019– For vacation this summer, my boyfriend, Christopher, and I opted to enjoy exploring adventures in our “backyard.” Often, we chose use vacation hours to travel afar to find beauty, adventure, and new experiences, but we realized that there was so much within an hour or two of Tallahassee that we had never seen or hadn’t enjoyed in a long time. This was my first “staycation” and I couldn’t have been happier with our decision to keep it local.
We spent our first couple of days camping in the Dr. Julian G. Bruce State Park on St. George Island. We had a lovely tent camping spot with access to beautifully maintained bathrooms and facilities. We may have lucked into some perfect weather, but with a small fan and a citronella candle we were easily able to enjoy watching the sunset in the pines behind our site – neither the heat nor the mosquitos we unbearable. While not in camp we enjoyed reading on the beach and playing in the Gulf. In the quiet of the evening, we even witnessed a pod of dolphins feeding – one even surfing right up to shore and then retreating what she’d gotten her snack. Just amazing. When we weren’t at the state park beach, we were exploring the St. George Lighthouse Museum and paddling inlets on the Bay.
On July 1st, the Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna re-opened for the first time since Hurricane Michael devastated the area. Parts of the park are remain closed and the landscape is changed for years to come, but we were able to enjoy a tour of the caverns by flashlight. A remarkable experience – as our guide lead us through the cavern and we trained our faint flashlights on the rock formations, we understood the experience of early explorers in a different way.
After our tour, we stopped for lunch at the nearby Mashawy Grill. We hadn’t planned out where we were going to eat, so we opted for the closest restaurant between the Caverns and Blue Springs Recreation area. Wow! What a wonderful surprise – the grill specializes in Mediterranean and Greek cuisine.
We were also fortunate that the Blue Springs Recreation Area, run by Jackson County, had reopened to the general public for swimming and recreation. The fresh spring water was chilly but absolutely refreshing on a hot summer afternoon. The park had only reopened that week, so it seemed like we were some of the first people to visit. There were only a handful of others there, it felt like our own little oasis. We had hoped to kayak Merrits Mill Pond, but rolling, spotty thunderstorms prevented us.
Instead, we drove to the other end of the Mill Pond to take a look at the boat ramp in Arrow Campground and to see Spring Creek Park. There’s clearly been a lot of work done to clear downed trees in the campground, but most of Spring Creek Park’s boardwalk remains closed due to damage. Spring Creek, a tributary to the Chipola River, and a popular summer tubing route appeared inaccessible at that point. A further reminder of the extent of Hurricane Michael’s damage and the time, effort, and resources it takes to bring communities back.
Spending time exploring parts of the Apalachicola River basin – exploring springs, caverns, and barrier islands – was a rejuvenating and rewarding way to spend vacation. Spending time and spending money in communities in the Basin, many that were hit especially hard by Hurricane Michael, is important. Our vacation travels inspire us to continue to explore our region and the Apalachicola River Basin on weekends and throughout the year. There are treasures in our backyard, they are ours to discover, to preserve, and to share.
Katie McCormick is president of the Apalachicola Riverkeeper Board of Directors. An outdoor enthusiast, she has kayaked the entirety of the Apalachicola River numerous times. She’s paddling with this year’s RiverTrek team. Katie is Associate Dean of Libraries for Special Collections at Florida State University.
