Florida Panhandle | My Exquisite Florida

The weather has really been doing a number on outdoor adventures this year. In February, a long-planned adventure had to be called off due to heat, in March it was so cold tender plants had to be protected, and an April panhandle trip saw weather much cooler than we like and much rainier than we hoped. But Judy and I are tough, so we didn’t cancel our trip to Topsail Hill Preserve State Park.

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Florida’s coastline is protected in many places by barrier islands. These islands are generally long and narrow and are separated from the mainland by a narrow lowland area. This lowland can take the form of a lagoon, a marsh, an estuary, or a combination of these. Occasionally, a peninsula may be long and narrow enough to be considered a barrier island.

Our recent trip to the Florida’s panhandle put us on three barrier islands that highlight the variety and beauty of these coastal protectors. We visited St. Andrews State Park (partially situated on a peninsula), Dr. Julian G Bruce St. George Island State Park, T.H.Stone Memorial St. Joseph State Park at Cape San Blas (another peninsular barrier island). All of these parks are known for their crystalline green water, but we arrived right after Hurricane Sally and the water was not beautiful. It looked like any north Florida Atlantic beach, and the water was too rough to allow swimming.

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Big Lagoon State Park is the westernmost state Park in Florida. On the day we visited, we were dodging rain and would have liked to stay longer…so we will plan a return trip soon. Even during our brief visit, we managed to paddle across the channel to Perdido Key, commune with hermit crabs and snails, climb an observation tower, and check out the camping loop.

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Our visit to Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park would have never happened without a chat with the helpful park ranger at Big Lagoon State Park. She mentioned that we could see wild orchids and pitcher plants just a couple of miles away, and we jumped at the chance!

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