Florida Panhandle

Rocky Bayou – See Previous Florida Blog – for last March!  The home of the dainty pale green “deer moss” that dots the forest floor alongside the hiking paths!  Rocky Bayou - located north of the emerald green waters of the gulf and across the Choctawatchee Bay from the other two, way more popular state parks – Topsail and Henderson Beach.  Rocky Bayou Park sits along side the Boggy Bayou.  The town of Niceville also used to be called Boggy but the folks thought the name was not appropriate since it was such a

Rocky Bayou shoreline

NICE town and changed the name in 1910. The park is also the former home of the WWII gunnery and bombing practice range for Col James Doolittle’s B25 squadron!  It seemed like every night you could still hear bombs being dropped in the lake.  We knew better tho since the bombing practice was stopped before 1950 when neighboring Elgin Air Force Base turned the land over to the state.  But each day the roar of jets and the drone of helicopters were seen and felt as they flew low overhead after they took off or before they landed at the nearby bustling military base.

Something to learn – a “bayou” means a flat, low lying area, a slow moving stream, a marshy lake or a wetland where the current changes with the local tide.  It contains “brackish” water, which means part salt and part fresh water – the amounts depended on the direction of the tide. 

Fat Tuesday came and went.  Mardi Gras was being celebrated in a newly developed area of Destin and H felt we should make the

effort to locate and partake in the festivities.  This new area, built on the edge of another bayou was a village unto itself with homes, condos, shops, restaurants, a man made river with boardwalks and bridges and even a golf course.  Hours before the parade was to begin, the patios and walkways were being filled with party going revelers, bedecked with silly hats and mega strains of shiny beads, mimicking the gold, purple and green bejeweled strands that were strung across the narrow pedestrian streets.  Music blasted the area and the announcement was finally made that the parade had begun!  Soon, heavily decorated golf carts in various themes began dividing the already thick crowd.  They

were led by a ragtag group of musicians playing New Orleans style music. There were costumed dogs and their matching owners!  Each golf cart entourage included costumed characters flinging more strands of beads or tossing candy into the outstretched hands of all the excited children.  One KREWE group was decorated to the hilt in gaudy hot pink flamingo attire.  A “KREWE” is a social origination that puts on a ball or parade for the carnival season –aka Mardi Gras!  Another KREWE was drenched in green, purple and black metallic everything with skulls tucked in everywhere and a large stuffed gator, presided on top.  It pulled a 3wheeled trike being ridden by a tuxedo-wearing skeleton groom and his be-gowned skeleton bride!

From the coastal highway, there are 3 ways to reach Niceville and the/Rocky Bayou State Park – Rt 20 from the east, Rt 85 from the west or the two-lane Mid Bay Bridge that divides the lake in the

middle.  The 3.6 mile long bridge is a toll bridge but is the quickest and easiest way to reach the town of Destin or the stunning beaches along the coast.    At the southern end of the bridge is the Legendary Marina building - a huge blue structure that is painted all around with a Wyland Mural of whales.  The entire roof of this mammoth structure is the biggest painted American flag mural in the USA and was dedicated in 2016. 

Walton Beach is the tourist area to the west of Destin and the beaches there are also stunning - snow white sand and amazingly clear water on a sunny day.  It’s Spring Break in Florida and there were bikini-clad teens huddled up near the shelter house and restaurant areas, inspite of this cold and breezy day.  The boys were brave enough to attempt a fast moving (to keep warm?) game of volleyball!  The shoreline was peaceful and almost quiet - other than the howl of the wind and the squawk of

seagulls.   The volleyball courts near the water were void of any of those goose-bumpy skinned teen bodies!

Wow – it’s time to bid adieu to our new Michigan friends and their bouncy granddaughter M and energetic puppy Emma and hit the highway once more.  Like me – they also make an annual trip to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan Hospital!   We are still heading west but we will be stopping before we reach Alabama.  We’d better stop - - this next campground is on an island.  The road dead-ends at Ft Pickens in the Gulf Islands National Seashore and on the other side of the watery passage IS Alabama!!  This “train” don’t float!