Laurie
and I love to explore when we’re on road trips and even when we’re home in East
Tennessee. So when we were in the Apalachicola
area in Florida’s panhandle, it was just a matter of course before we left the
town itself to see what we could see…
As you
come off the bridge from the mainland, this lighthouse and keeper’s home and cottage
are just about the first things that you see.
The lighthouse dominates the skyline.
The lighthouse keeper’s home serves as a museum and visitor’s center for
the island.
St.
George Island is a barrier island that protects and helps form St. George Sound
as well as the eastern end of Apalachicola Bay.
The island is 28 miles long and 1 mile wide at its widest point. St. George Island is part of a string of
barrier islands that include Cape St. George Island and Dog Island. St. George Island is connected to the
mainland via FL Hwy. 300 and a bridge over Apalachicola Bay.
The St.
George’s Island lighthouse looks old but it’s really a quality reconstruction
of the original. It was completed in
2008 and the keeper’s cottage was finished and opened to the public in 2011. Tickets can be purchased at the cottage to
climb the lighthouse stairs.
To learn
more about the cottage and lighthouse, you can go to http://www.stgeorgelight.org/.
The
original lighthouse actually stood on “Little” or Cape St. George Island. As shown in this sad photo, it collapsed in
the fall of 2005 after a series of hurricanes and related attempts to save it. (Photo
by Debbie Hooper, JoeBay.com)
The
first lighthouse on the island was built in 1833. It was damaged and replaced in 1848. The second lighthouse lasted only 3 years and
was replaced in 1852. This one was built
to last! The lighthouse keeper was
replaced by an automatic light in 1949.
The Coast Guard deactivated the light after severe storm damage in
1994. Given its exposure to hurricanes
and other storms, the fact that the original lasted 153 years is remarkable.
The
beach on St. George Island goes on and on and on… With 28 miles of seashore on
the Gulf of Mexico there is enough sand for everyone!
St.
George Island is informally divided into three regions:
· The Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island
State Park. The park occupies the
eastern 9 miles of the island. We didn’t
visit it because I just wanted to drive through and take a couple of photos but
there is an admission fee…not worth it for just 30 minutes of sightseeing. For information about this park, go to https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/St-George-Island.
· A fairly long strip of restaurants,
bars, small businesses, homes and a public beach.
We drove the length of this area in both directions and as you’ll see in
an upcoming post, we had lunch here. We
did notice that there are a plethora of nice rental cottages in this area.
· At the western end of the island there is the
St. George Plantation, a private, gated, highly exclusive housing community
with its own airstrip that includes some of the most expensive
multimillion-dollar beach homes along the Gulf of Mexico. Homes can be rented in this community
too. Check it out at http://www.stgeorgeplantation.com/.
This is
a photo of the FL Hwy. 300 Bridge that I took from St. George’s Island as we
headed back to the mainland. The St.
George’s Island Bridge was completed in 2004, replacing an older bridge that
had been deemed as unsafe.
At 4.1 miles
long, the St. George's Island bridge is the third longest bridge in Florida.
Note:
· Tampa’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa
Bay is exactly 25 feet longer than the St. George’s Island Bridge. Florida’s longest bridge is the Seven Mile
Bridge that connects Knight’s Key with Little Duck Key in the Florida Keys at
the tip of the state.
Sections
of the old bridge to St. George’s Island remain. One reaches out from the mainland and the
section shown above reaches into the bay from the island. As a guy that likes to fish, I was happy to
note that both old bridge segments are designated as fishing piers…
On the
way back to the mainland from St. George’s Island Laurie was able to capture this
picture of Apalachicola Bay oystermen plying their trade.
Apalachicola
Bay, which is relatively shallow and about 30 long, produces 90 percent of
Florida’s oysters. I was both pleased and surprised to learn that Apalachicola
Bay is the last place in the United States where, by law, wild oysters are
still harvested by tongs from small boats.
The commercial fisheries “bag” limit for the current season is 3 bags or
6 5 gallon buckets of oysters in the shell…3 inch minimum. It is a challenging way to make a living!
That’s
about it for now… Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.
Thanks
for stopping by for a little sightseeing!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
As usual. before reading your post, I open Google maps and Google earth so I can follow along. We must make it down there soon.
ReplyDeleteInteresting read, Dave! And great photos! It must've been a sad day for any lighthouse when the keeper was replaced with an automated light. But the lighthouse looks like its made to last now. I've been on that Tampa bridge many times as well as the one to Key West and I cringed the whole way! That's why we've got airplanes! :-) St. George's Island sounds wonderful. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful, Dave! And how fascinating as well! I don't get to travel but I feel like I do, thanks to posts like yours. Thank you so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteDear Dave, Such beautiful scenery!! It looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI would not like however driving over that long!bridge.
Catherine
p.s. though they are perfect for fishing!
ReplyDeleteFlorida is on our list of places to visit. After reading your post, I am thinking St. George Island goes on the list!
ReplyDelete