February 11 was a travel day. We drove to our next stop: Port St. Joe, which is about half-way across the Florida panhandle.
Port St. Joe’s population is estimated to be about 4,100, similar to Colonial Beach. But it’s downtown area must serve a broader area, because there are many more restaurants and shops than CB. On Thursday we drove to the beach on T. H. Stone St. Joseph Peninsula. Look at a map: the peninsula is a narrow strip of land connected to the mainland, which soon takes a 90-degree bend northwestward. We went to a state park on the peninsula.
This beach is one of nicest I’ve ever been to. And it helped that hardly anyone else was there. The only thing less than great was the 58-degree water temperature. The sand was nice and soft, and not rocky even as you enter the water. We’ll be back.
The next day, Friday the 13th, we had no bad luck at all. We drove to Panama Beach City, a little west of Panama City, to see the Man in the Sea Museum. The museum is mostly about Sealabs 1, 2 and 3, but also has displays about the history of deep sea diving. It was interesting enough, but left us wanting because their documentary and exhibits essentially ended in the early ‘70s, after the investigation following Sealab 3’s mission failure and the death of an aquanaut.
After the museum we went to St. Andrews State Park, which is at the end of a peninsula coming out of Panama Beach City. We took the beach road to get there. I figured there might be a “strip” but was surprised by the miles of high rises - hotels and condos - and restaurants, amusement businesses like arcades, etc. There was traffic in mid-February; it must be crazy in the high season. The park was very nice, although sand had more broken shells in it. Yesterday’s beach on St. Joseph Peninsula is still our #1.
Glad you finally found sand to wiggle your toes in!
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