Hey Guys! This is the last post for our time in the Torrey, UT area. We crammed so much into the two weeks we were in the area.
Goblin Valley State Park is the home of hoodoos and goblins. One of the coolest things about Goblin Valley is that there isn’t a set trail. You get to wander around three square miles filled with thousands of varying sizes and shapes of hoodoos that the park affectionately calls…goblins.
Before the park was known as Goblin Valley, it was called Mushroom Valley. We spent a couple of hours roaming around the goblin city and exploring the valley. It’s weird to think that millions of years ago this dry desert was once a tidal flat area next to a huge ancient inland sea.
While we were at Goblin Valley State Park we went to Little Wild Horse Canyon where we got our very first taste of a slot canyon. We got there late in the day so we couldn’t do the whole hike. We went in a mile or so then turned around. We did go far enough in that we did some rock scrambling and get a feel for what a slot canyon is. The sun was setting so the lighting wasn’t there for the glowing slot canyon pics you normally see.
Our first slot canyon was a success…it gave us the bug for more and now I’m trying to find family friendly (non-technical) slot canyons near our next stops.
Torrey, UT is a small town, but we did find some tasty foodies there. At one of the nearby diners, we found a pie sampler that consisted of oatmeal pie, pinto bean pie, pickle pie, and buttermilk pie. Each piece was just big enough that we could each have a bite. Well, I’m going to let you guess at the two flavors that none of us liked. At least we tried it. The last night we were in town we tried a burger place called Capitol Burger. Guys, this was the best place in town and it was just a little food truck!
With all of the rock formations around, we started seeing animals and patterns in the rock. Can you see them? We found a turtle, heart, baby dragon, and a turtle.
We had such a good time exploring this part of Utah! I didn’t realize just how much we’d seen until I started setting aside pictures for the posts for this area.
Hey Guys!! While we were staying in the Torrey, UT area we stayed right at the beginning of Highway 12…also known as The All-American Road Scenic Byway. With a name like that, we couldn’t help but explore at least some of it! The entire scenic byway is 124 miles with sooo many stops, hikes, and scenic backway roads that lead off to even more adventures.
All along highway 12 are scenic pulloffs to some absolutely stunning panoramic vistas.
You’ll also find three State Parks spaced out along highway 12. We stopped at one of them during our day of exploring. Anasazi State Park Museum sits at the site of an Ancestral Puebloan community that was used between 1050 to 1200 AD. Most of the site has been left unexcavated, but they have uncovered ninety-seven rooms along with several pit structures. There is a small replica (that you can explore) of what some of the structures would have looked like when the Ancestral Puebloan people were there. We spent a couple of hours checking this small State Park out.
One of the best…maybe the best… section of The All-American Road Scenic Byway is what they refer to as The Hogsback. This is the part of the highway that follows the thin razorback ridge of a mesa with steep drop offs on each side of the highway. Luckily, they put in a nice wide pulloff right at the top where you can get out of your vehicle and ogle the breathtaking views. I think I must have taken twenty pictures of just this pulloff alone.
When I did my research on places to stop and things to see on highway 12, one place kept coming up. Kiva Koffeehouse. Everyone said to stop for a snack and soak in the view…Guys, they weren’t lying. The view here was spectacular and the food was super fresh and tasty! We sat outside while we ate and the picture on the left was our lunch view. Then we drove around the corner and ran into the view in the right picture. And for probably the 100th time that day we all stood there saying wow!
Ancestral Puebloans used this area long before highway 12 was built. If you look closely, you can see the upper valley granaries still stored. A granary is where food was stored to keep it safe. They would wall up the area to keep animals and other people from getting to their storage. If you don’t know where to look, I’ve zoomed in and put an arrow pointing to the granary. It really blends in with the cliff side.
We made it all the way to Powell Point before we turned around. At Powell Point you can see the very topmost layer of the Colorado Plateau’s Grand Staircase. You can also see this same layer at Bryce Canyon NP.
On a different day we went back to highway 12 to tackle the scenic backway known as Hells Backbone. This is a thirty-eight mile dirt road built by the CCC to connect two mountain towns. So many of the reviews I read about this road kept saying how dangerous it is and under the wrong circumstances, I can see how it would be dangerous. You’d definitely want dry weather and no snow or ice on the road, but Hells Backbone is a great short scenic drive. Just watch out for the cows along the road (upper right picture).
We still had some light left, so we headed over to the Burr Trail Scenic Backway. Yup…another scenic trail! Ha! Burr Trail started out as a cattle trail to get cattle from their summer grazing pastures to their winter ones. We drove to the end of the paved part and found the view above. Not a bad view of the Circle Cliffs with the Henry Mountains in the background.
On the way back out of the Burr Trail, we stopped at a pulloff that led to a deep cleft in the side of the canyon wall. When we walked up to the cleft, there was a family there with two girls who were singing songs from The Sound of Music and Guys…the acoustics in this cleft were amazing! The girls sounded wonderful. While we were chatting with the family, a small owl flew out of a nearby tree, floated right over our heads, and landed in a little alcove in the canyon wall. It took us all by surprise! It was a really cool experience.
Hells Backbone Road and Anasazi State Park Museum are actually part of a bigger National Monument. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is divided into three different units and spans across close to one million acres. Besides the fact that this is one huge National Monument, the area within it is the last place in the US to have been mapped. We explored some of this park from Torrey and some from our next stop, Panguitch…so stay tuned for more on this amazing National Monument!
I have one more post for our time in Torrey! We’re going to need a vacation once we finish with Utah so we can get some rest… There’s so much to see and do here.
Hey Guys! Welcome to part two of our time in the Montrose, CO area! We did sooo much in the two weeks we had in the area that I felt like it made the post too long. So, I split the post up. And…I’m not going to lie…I’ve left the best for last.
The last National Park Unit we did in the area was Curecanti National Recreation Area. Curecanti NRA is made up of three reservoirs along the Gunnison River. Blue Mesa, Morrow Point, and Crystal Reservoir are all popular for boating and fishing, but there are some hiking opportunities as well. We did a short hike along Crystal Reservoir where the trail literally sparkled! I’m not sure what kind of rock it was, but there were tons of this flakey, sparkly rock all over the trail. Engine 278 had a new display after seven years of restoration. This engine used to pull trains up and down the Black Canyon for the Denver and the Rio Grande railroads.
Y’all know we love our National Parks. I mean, we’re on a National Park Tour! But, my favorite memories from our time in the Montrose area were the old mining roads we drove up to see the wild areas and the mountains. The Million Dollar Highway was built in the late 1880s. Technically, it’s only twenty five miles long, but this road is packed with some seriously winding mountain roads that are littered with the skeletons of Colorado’s mining days. We found this little alpine lake down one of the old mining roads that snaked off the highway and Guys…I think we found the best place in Colorado. This little alpine lake was amazingly gorgeous. We had the whole place to ourselves…
except for the chipmunks, marmots, and picas that call the area home. They were all too busy preparing for winter to bother with us though.
The main reason (besides the views) we headed down the Million Dollar Highway was to get to the Alpine Loop, a seventy five mile loop that follows routes first traveled by Native Americans. Later, these routes became roads as Colorado moved into it’s mining boom.
Last winter Colorado had a record number of avalanches. We saw the destruction they left behind and even drove through the remnants of one.
Y’all know we love driving down those dirt roads…but we’re not into technical 4×4 trails. The section of the Alpine Loop we drove is about as technical as we like it…in fact, it was pushing the limit of what we’re comfortable with. We started in Silverton and made our way up to Engineer Pass. On the last curve to the pass, Jerl got out of the car just to make sure we could actually make the turn. The road was…tight…and the drop off on one side was…steep. We were so relieved to reach the pass! And y’all, when we got to the pass, there was a mini-van!!! We were like…what-the-what?!?! Who in their right mind would drive a mini-van on those roads? Turns out it was a rental. They headed down the pass before us and we never saw them on the way back down. We still wonder how they did. Can we take a minute to admire that view though?
We didn’t do the whole loop. We made it to Engineer Pass (12,800 feet) then headed toward our home-on-wheels by taking a different route. We stayed on the dirt roads and ended up going over two more passes. California Pass (12,960 feet) and Hurricane Pass (12,730 feet). The views were stunning but we were all ready for that paved road by the time we found it again.
Horsefly Brewing Company in Montrose, CO was one of our go to spots while we were in the area. They had the best nachos I’ve ever found at a restaurant. Seriously. They also had awesome burgers! If y’all ever find yourself in Montrose, head over to Horsefly Brewing for a meal. You won’t be disappointed.
That winds up our time in Montrose. We had an excellent adventure and will most definitely be back.
Our first visit to Colorado Springs left us wanting more time in the area so when I set out to plan this loop I made sure to schedule two weeks at the Cheyenne Mountain State Park.
We like state parks for several reasons. The views are better, there’s almost always a fire ring so we can have evening campfires, we see more wildlife, and the price per night is usually cheaper. Usually. We actually ended up paying more per night at this Colorado State Park than if we’d stayed at the KOA down the road. I can’t deny the views and the wildlife sightings were way better at the state park. The deer in the pics above were right outside our home-on-wheels. Our cats were loving all of the stalking opportunities.
Speaking of wildlife and stalking…we were stalked and bullied the entire two weeks by the resident yellow jackets. It was so bad that the park rangers let us put up some traps. Did you know that yellow jackets are carnivores? Yup. They’re attracted to meat and sugar…and purple shirts. They also sting just because you looked at them. They’re total jerks. The rangers tried to figure out where the nest was. Several of them worked on it and looked in on us to see how it was going. At one point they offered to move us to a different spot…but our spot had such an amazing view so we just put up with the little flying jerks. It was kind of amazing watching the traps fill up. We ended up with three traps at our site.
We took a day trip and explored up in the surrounding mountains. I had several goals planned for that day. The first one was the ghost town of St. Elmo. While it is considered a ghost town, there are still a few residents. The town was originally settled in 1878 as a gold mining camp and grew to a town with a population of around 2,000 before it died out as the surrounding mines were depleted. It might have started as a gold mining camp, but the area was also rich in copper, silver and ore. In 1881 a railroad through St. Elmo was established and a station was built in town making the town of St. Elmo a main source of supplies for the entire area. The train would bring in supplies and people on it’s way to the mines and then it would bring iron ore back through town on it’s way out. In 1890, at it’s peak, there was a fire that destroyed most of the business section of St. Elmo. Most of the businesses were never rebuilt and the town started its slow decline. By 1922, when the last train went through St. Elmo, it’s said that all of the residents who were left in the dying town rode out on the train never to return. A few families stayed. They tried to bring the town back, but it never recovered. Today you can drive up one of the old mining roads and check out what’s left of the gold mining camp. We enjoyed walking around the buildings and reading the stories. The general store is still open during the summer. We bought some souvenirs and chatted with the owners. The best way to get to know a place is to talk to the residents.
After we left St. Elmo we headed to Cottonwood Pass. We’d heard that the views were spectacular and Guys, they did not disappoint! At a height of 12,127 feet Cottonwood Pass is the second highest mountain pass in the state of Colorado. Surrounded by San Isabel National Forest and Gunnison National Forest the views are of wild and open spaces mostly untouched by human hands. Cottonwood Pass is the highest paved crossing of the Continental Divide in the United States. The day we went it was around 40° and super windy! It was also the first day the pass was reopened after some major road work. We didn’t know that until we got there and talked to some locals who were camping not far from there.
I don’t remember where I first came across the cool Thomas Dambo Trolls, but when I heard there was one in the Breckenridge area…it immediately went on my list of things to see. Meet Isak Heartstone a mountain troll that sits at fifteen feet tall and greets visitors with a shy smile. After doing some digging I found out that the Denmark artist, Thomas Dambo, has made not one but sixteen different trolls in the US! I think I might have a new list of things to see and places to go. If you’re interested in learning more about Thomas Dambo and his many art installments check out his webpage.
Lets talk foodies! Colorado Springs is a huge foodie town and has some of the coolest joints we’ve found. Some of our favorites from this visit are The Omelet Parlor (where I had the best green chili omelet ever), Edelweiss (some amazing German food), and Fat Sully’s for some super tasty amazingly big pizza! Our friends, the Lowe Family, introduced us to Fat Sully’s and Guys…it was awesome! One of the best things about the Colorado Springs area is visiting with the Lowe Family.
Y’all know I love the pretties so I thought I’d end the post telling you about the Ranger Walk we did where we learned about the wildflowers in the area. It was kind of a gross morning with cool weather and on and off drizzle, but we had a great time! We learned a lot and we got to hike around a very cool archery range.
And just like that our two weeks in the Colorado Springs area is over. I didn’t get much video of our time…I’m out of practice…but here is a short little video of some Colorado Springs moments mainly of our spot in Cheyenne Mountain State Park.
Hey Guys! We made it back to Texas! The Texas border sign is always a welcome site. Especially when we’re coming from Louisiana…the roads in Louisiana are so rough!
Our first stop in Texas was the Houston area…our home base. We’re only in Texas once a year, so when we’re home…we like to stop at some of our favorite foodie spots. Torchy’s Tacos and Papas Burger are both favorites of ours!
We didn’t really do much. We took care of some doctoring, saw a movie, and I planned the next school year. The best thing about stopping in the Houston area is visiting with friends. But, Guys, can we talk about those theater seats?! They reclined! It was the most comfortable theater seating we’ve found so far!
We got to spend some time with several of our friends and we got to try out some new foodie spots! The best one we tried was Bernie’s Burger Bus. My bestie (waves to Andrea) clued us into this spot and man-oh-man…was it good! The two of us met there for lunch the last week we were in town and it was so good I took Jerl there a couple of days later. Ha! Great find Andrea!
Most of the time we were in Houston was spent working on projects, chores, and planning with some visiting squished in as often as possible so there’s not really much to tell y’all. I mean, we did stuff…but it was mainly just regular life stuff. I don’t like to post pics of other people on here…they didn’t sign up for it…so that makes it hard to post about all of the visiting we did. So…this post is on the short side.
The next four months will be slower for us. Two months in Texas followed by two months in Missouri. I’m not sure there will be post-worthy events every single week, but I’ll post as often as I can. I’m not one to post just to get a post up. I like a post to actually be entertaining.
Hey Guys! We spent a week in Louisiana…eating. I’m not even kidding. When I scheduled us to stop in Louisiana for an entire week it was purely to chow down on some Cajun food. We’re foodies…it’s part of the journey for us.
Lets start with the one thing we did that wasn’t food related. We took a field trip to LIGO in Livingston, LA. What the heck is LIGO? LIGO stands for Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory. Man, that’s a mouth full! Try saying that five times real fast! ;-P So, what the heck do they do at LIGO? To put it in simple terms…they detect gravitational waves…with lasers. The facility works in conjunction with the facility in Hanford, WA to measure and detect gravitational waves. I’ll be honest…most of it was way over my head. We absolutely loved the hands on science exhibits!! Our little nomadic nerd hearts were in heaven!
We were lucky to even get into LIGO for a tour. They only do schools through the week and then they’re open the third Saturday of the month to the public. And, if we’d been a week later, we’d have been out of luck because they were all booked. It’s a great tour and an awesome field trip…if any of you are ever in Louisiana, it’s worth it to stick around the Livingston area so you can do a tour at LIGO.
Now to the foodies. I’m not going to break down every place we ate…but every single place we tried was amazing. Guys, that doesn’t happen often You know…you go try a place and it’s just meh and turn around and try a place right down the street and it’s ah-maze-ing. There are some states that we struggle just to find a decent burger and then there are states (like Louisiana) where we struggle not to eat out every single day because it’s all just so dang good!
One of our top picks for this visit is a place called Cate Street Seafood Station. We ate there twice…in a week. Cate Street has it all…seafood, boudin balls, pasta, po’boys, and sushi! All with a Cajun flare to it. And Guys…the desserts…I have three words for you… Fried. Bread. Pudding. It’s a good thing we don’t spend more time in Louisiana. I’d weigh two-hundred pounds easily.
Hey Guys! After almost four months of hiding from winter in Florida, we’re down to our last two weeks in the Sunshine State. We spent two weeks in Jacksonville, FL. I’m not going to lie…we weren’t super impressed with the area we stayed in. The RV park had recently been purchased and was converting from a mobile home community to an RV park…so…it was kind of a dump. There were still mobile homes that looked like they should have been demolished twenty years ago, the roads around the park were filled with some of the biggest potholes we’ve seen, and the neighborhood was sketchy at best. But, we stayed anyway. We could tell the new owners were making strides to clean the park up and make it something less…scary. We saw them working hard every day we were there. And, we will probably give them another chance the next time we’re in the area.
We have quite a few adventures on our list for the Jacksonville area. We made it to several places, but couldn’t get to all of them.
Y’all know we love old Forts. We stopped by Fort Caroline National Memorial. Fort Caroline preserves the story of a sixteenth century French colonial settlement. The actual location of Fort Caroline has never been determined. The NPS has made a near full scale replica near the location they believe the original fort was. Honestly, there’s not much there. We did enjoy learning about the old French fort, but kind of expected more from a NPS unit.
Kingsley Plantation is part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Perserve. When Zephaniah Kingsley first settled on Fort George Island, the plantation was only accessible by boat. The once one-thousand acre plantation had a cash crop of Sea Island cotton. This NPS unit shares the story of Zephaniah Kingsley, his wife Anna, and their children. Anna was once a slave of his. She and Zephaniah ended up having three children together and in 1811 he freed Anna and their three children. They all moved to the Kingsley Plantation together and Anna managed not only that plantation but several others they owned in the area. When Anna was freed in 1811 she acquired more land and slaves.
Today at the Kingsley Plantation you can walk around the now sixty acre NPS unit and learn about the stories of the people who used to live and work at the plantation. There are several buildings still standing and you can explore most of them.
Our favorite Jacksonville adventure was Fort Clinch State Park. The very first fortifications to sit on this site were started in 1736 and like most forts of that time, there were several different stages of fortifications before the construction of Fort Clinch was started in 1847. At the start of the Civil War the fort was only about 2/3 complete and didn’t have a single canon mounted yet. There was minimal work on the fort during the Civil War so it still wasn’t finished by the end of the war. Because of this, in 1869 the fort was abandoned and left empty. The US Army maintained the fort until the Spanish-American War when Fort Clinch was used as not only barracks for the soldiers, but also as an ammunition depot as well. Less than a year later the hostilities were over and the fort was abandoned once again. By 1926 the location was no longer thought to be of strategic value and the US Army sold the fort and its land to private buyers. In 1935 Fort Clinch became one of Florida’s first State Parks. At this point the CCC stepped in and started renovations. CCC Company 1420 built the campground, roads, and museum as well as the restoration of the fort itself. We’re fans of the CCC. We’ve come across their work all across our country and the stories they tell are always some of the most fascinating. It’s amazing that the work they did back then is still being utilized even today. Personally, I think our country could benefit from another program like the CCC.
Guys, this fort was so awesome. There were sooo many tunnels, and buildings, and walkways to explore! We had the best time learning the story of Fort Clinch!
We found another beach…well, there were tons of beaches, but we were specifically looking for a shelling beach. I can’t remember the name of the beach we ended up at, but there were quite a few shells. We didn’t find a huge variety…we might have been there too late for that…but we found enough to fill up a big ziplock! We now have quite the collection of Florida shells. If I have time, I’ll put together a post on how we clean and preserve our shells.
I know this is going to come as a shock, but we found some foodies. Just a few. Ha! The best/worst one was Toby’s BBQ. It was the best because the food was stellar…it was the worst because it was literally right across the street from where we were staying. So…we ate there a few times. Oh! And Toby’s gives you a free dessert with every meal. I mean…it was free…we had to eat it, right?
Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park isn’t in Jacksonville…it’s in Tallahassee. We stopped for a visit while we were on the way to Alabama, but I thought I’d stick it in with this post. Guys, this place… So. Many. Pretties! And, the best part about this SP…there are pretties that bloom all year! This SP was once the winter home of Alfred Maclay and his wife who were, like us, hiding from the winter in Florida. The Maclay’s bought the property in 1923 and set out to create the beautiful gardens you can walk through today. The SP is used as a setting for weddings and events throughout the year, but the most popular season is around February/March when the camellias are in full bloom. In fact, the day we went, there were two weddings taking place later that day.
And that, Guys, is the end of our Florida winter! It’ll be two years before we head toward the east coast again. I’m not sure when we’ll winter in Florida again…it’s difficult to find places…but, really, it’s hard to find places that will take us in Arizona (which is another great place to hide from the cold) for the winter too…so, we’ll see!
See y’all down the road!
#hidingfromthecold
Pizza Roundup: Tony & Nello’s Southern Italian Cuisine
To my fellow pizza lovers! I bring to you a post from Tierra Verde, Florida.
Tony & Nello’s is more of a Italian place (with really, REALLY good pizza) rather than just a pizza place.
The décor makes the place feel a bit fancy. We only went for lunch and jeans were fine. There was cloth table cloths, but they had paper on top…at least for lunch. I liked that the walls were painted to look like marble.
We had to get the garlic knots, and boy were we surprised when they came out with a pile of fresh garlic instead of garlic powder! These garlic rolls were smothered in olive oil, garlic and herb goodness! They were swimming in it! So good!!
The pizza was no joke either. It said large, but what we got was more like an extra large! Can anyone say leftovers?! I was surprised by how good the pizza was. The crust didn’t droop when you picked it up, it had a nice chewy crunch. And there was enough garlic olive oil left over from the garlic knots that we were able to dip our crust in it as we ate… it was awesome.
Everyone we met that worked there was nice and the restaurant was clean. Man between the garlic knots and pizza this place gets a 5 star review in my book!
Hey Guys!! Remember when I told you I’d gotten us into four Florida state parks? Well, one of them had to cancel on us do to storm damage…which messed up the timing for the next one…so, it looks like we’ll be missing out on two of the state parks I worked so hard to get us into. Total bummer. We’ll be missing out on a cave and a beach…but, whattaya gonna do? Being nomads has definitely helped teach us flexibility.
We stayed at the Fort De Soto County Park for two weeks…our limit when the park doesn’t offer full-hookups. We had a great pull-through spot that was so big we could have easily fit two RVs in it. You can see in the top picture Fort De Soto is out on a little Key. The only thing we didn’t like about this park was the fact that we had to go through two tolls to get back and forth between the park and the grocery store.
The weather was still on the cool side the entire two weeks we were in the Saint Petersburg/Fort De Soto area. We had one day where it was around 72° and the sun was shining so we headed to the beach for a play day. I’ll be honest, I thought it was still a little chilly and kept my sweatshirt on the whole time. Fort De Soto has seven miles of beaches. What’s interesting is that the sand at East Beach is sooo different from the sand at North Beach. North Beach has that powdery fine white sand while East Beach has a darker, more coarse sand. We walked around both beaches and decided North Beach was better for playing in the sand. The day we went was super windy! There were probably twenty or so guys there kite surfing. What a show!!
We found a few shells here…not many…and no big ones. In the top right picture, you can see that there’s a sand bar. It was too dang cold to wade out to the sandbar to gather the good shells. If I could have gotten out there without swimming, I would have…but the water would have been up to my neck…and it was cold. So…I missed it. I sat looking at it the entire time we were at the beach…thinking about toughing it out and going anyway, but I don’t handle cold very well. I think I’ll get to it next time. We’ve all decided that when we come back to Florida, we’ll for sure have to stay at Fort De Soto again.
We did some more wildlife watching! There were birds galore and we had raccoons visiting us daily. Two raccoons seemed to like this little cluster of vines above our home-on-wheels. We saw them up there chilling in the sun. The cats seemed particularly interested in the raccoons. They kept trying to rumble through the screen door…don’t let them fool you though. They’re both cowards.
Construction for the Fort De Soto Batteries and Military Post started in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. The Fort never saw any major battles and during WWII it was used for bombing practice by the pilot who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. It’s always interesting to walk around these old forts. We’ve learned so much about history by exploring these kinds of sites.
We’ve been talking about going to the Tampa RV Show for a long time, but we’ve never been in the area for it, so we were excited to get the chance to go while we were in the Saint Pete area! We’ve been to our fair share of RV shows…especially when we were looking for our home-on-wheels. Guys…this RV show is huge! Huge!! We got there right after opening, walked around all day, and left as they were closing up and we still didn’t see it all. We stood in line to look at a million dollar RV. It sure was pretty! But it’s still an RV. I can’t imagine paying a million dollars for an RV. Maybe that’s just me though.
We found some amazing foodies! The seafood in the area was super fresh and super tasty! Our favorite place to grab some seafood was Shells Seafood Restaurant. We found a great little burger place called Boulevard Burgers and an amazing pizza place that I’ll let Nicholas tell you about in the next post!
One morning we were walking along the beach looking for shells and we started talking to a local. We got a lot of great info about the area…but the best thing we learned about was Mazzaro’s Italian Market. Oh…My…Goodness!!! Guys! This place was awesome! It was like walking into some Italian grandmother’s home and having a meal. Or so I think it is…I’ve never actually been to an Italian grandmother’s house. If we lived near this market on a more regular basis, I would need to start working out every single day. We love to find out about spots locals know about!
Our two weeks in the Saint Pete area flew by. It was cool and windy with a few rainy days. It wasn’t what we’d planned. But, we loved it! All of it. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned as a nomad is to embrace the now. Love it for what it is.
Hey Guys!! After six weeks of staying in one place we were all ready to get moving again! I did some super long-term planning (which if you really know me isn’t that unusual) and snagged us a few hard to get spots at some of Florida’s beautiful State Parks!
One of the most stressful things about planning a stay in an area we’ve never been to is whether or not there is adequate cell signal. Not just because we want to stay connected with our phones and social media, but because we have to have it in order for Jerl to work. One of the reasons we don’t stay at more state parks is because they’re not usually close to town…so unless I know for sure there’s cell signal…it’s kind of a crap-shoot. And, since good cell signal is a requirement…I don’t usually take the chance. But, in Florida, we are super limited with where we can stay for a few different reasons. We’re not 55+, we have kids with us, we refuse to pay over $60 per night and…this is the biggest one…clothing is not optional for us. When I started planning for this leg of our Florida loop, I quickly realized that if I couldn’t get us into state parks…it wasn’t going to happen. For weeks I plotted and researched and planned for this tiny section of our Florida loop and man…did it payoff. I miraculously got us into not one, not two, but four state parks and two county parks! What, What?!?! Guys…that’s kind of amazing. Florida State Parks book eleven months in advance. Eleven!! And the morning a spot opens…it’s usually snatched up by 8AM Florida time that same morning. Which means you have to be on your game to even have a chance at getting a spot in your window. County Parks differ per county. Larry and Penny in Miami books long term stays from Jan to around Oct-Nov and then whatever is left they open up to short term visits. The trick with Larry and Penny is that you need to book for next year while you’re still at the park. Once you get your foot in the door, it’s easier to go back there. Fort De Soto County Park lets county residents book their stay nine months out and non-county visitors book six months out. I’m not gonna lie…this part of our Florida loop was super stressful to reserve. It was worse than when I planned our two months in Alaska. Which…is why it will be a few years before we have another Florida winter.
Our first move after Miami was to a cute little state park called Koreshan State Park in Estero, FL. It’s about thirty miles from the coast and is in a great part of town. The only downside to Koreshan State Park…no full-hookups. We loved it so much though, we’d totally go back.
Koreshan State Park maintains the Koreshan Unity Settlement which was one of many communal societies started around the turn of the century. There were several religious groups created at this time. Cyrus Teed, Koreshan Unity founder and messiah, intended the new community in Estero, FL to be the “New Jerusalem”. One of Teed’s beliefs was that the earth is hollow and that when we’re looking up to the sky, we’re actually looking toward the center of the earth. One of the requirements for joining the community was to give all of your possessions to the community. The community provided everything you needed.
The Koreshan’s were a communal society. That meant that all of the woman lived together, all of the men lived together, and all of the kids lived together. Families didn’t stay in the same house. It was Teed’s belief that the community should raise the children together. And the community was celibate. Which, isn’t great for growth. While some of the Koreshan beliefs were a little…hard to believe…they did have some good ideas about life. They believed in equality for men and women in a time when that was rare. Education was an important part of the community, girls and boys all went to school. This was also rare since most kids were working factory jobs starting at a young age. Teed believed that everyone should be prepared through education to lead a productive and useful life.
Eventually, as the members of the community grew older and passed away, the community dwindled. All of the children who’d been brought to the community with their families moved away as soon as they were old enough. Many of them married each other. In the end, there was a group of women who made a deal with the state of Florida. The state could have all of the land as long as the women could live out their lives there and the state had to keep the Koreshan Unity Community story alive. The last surviving member, Hedwig Michel, passed away in 1982. The state of Florida has taken care of the land and the buildings on it since then.
One of the coolest things about this state park is the bamboo forest. There are some great walking trails in the park and one leads you right through a bamboo forest. Nicholas (our Mr. Panda boy) thought this was really neat.
One of the things I love about Koreshan State Park is the Estero River that runs alongside it. I would walk down to it every morning before anyone else was up and about and watch the birds. I was hoping to see a manatee since we’d heard that they can be seen in the river…but, I never saw one.
What we did see a lot of…turtles! We saw these guys every single day we were there. They were kind of shy. As soon as they’d see us they would freeze and not move again until we started to walk away. Which, was great for taking pics!
We also found a few beaches to explore. We only had a week at Koreshan State Park so we didn’t get to very many beaches…but we sure enjoyed the ones we did get to visit. We had been looking forward to this Florida…the warm weather and beaches…
and the shell collecting. Guys…so…many…shells! The beaches here were like shell heaven! We loved collecting shells at the beaches!
Let’s talk foodies! We found a great little diner called Matt’s Red Hots. And yes, you’re looking at mac-n-cheese and onion rings on top of a hotdog. And yes…it was really good!!
There were a few pretties around…I thought I’d share this one with you. Check out the thorns on this plant! Those are some major thorns!!
We loved the Estero area! When we come back to Florida, we will definitely spend more time in this area!
