ST GEORGE ISLAND/APALACHICOLA

Driving through the innards of Georgia and Florida at 65-70 miles per hour is arduous at best. Zipping past live oaks and palmetto does,however, hold some charms. The views and vistas got a quick ooh and ahh as we hurled past.,,we have logged many miles and hours in a short amount of time on this roadtrip. This is not my preferred mode of travel, as you well know. We are not ambling this trip, we are barreling! We ate our pre-made sandwiches(very good) in the car as the miles ticked away. We stopped in Tallahassee to reprovision with the essentials, ice and wood .....and, those forgotten items, olive oil, rice, yogurt and a nice bottle of red wine. We skirted along the Apalachicola National Forest to our final destination, St.George Island. The 3 mile causeway leading to the island was a welcome sight. The road ends at one of the finest campgrounds in this neck of the woods. St George Island is spotless clean, has great bike trails, migrating birds and views to die for. We quickly set up camp, built a fire as the sky filled with stars. We relished our dinner under a panoply of stars. WFS was anxious to walk the beach and stargaze. The sky was completely illuminated with stars. The Milky Way was like a gauzy veil draped across far flung diamonds. We bundled Momo in our arms, stood in the surf and let the moment carry us away. After our beach walk,we fell into a deep sleep, awakening to a lovely warm and sunny morning. We were lounging about, drinking our coffee when Bob stopped by. We have lots of folk stop to "talk" airstream. Not unusual, you might say, but Bob was young and had his whole family in tow. Their 1975 airstream was taking them across country, each day bringing a new adventure. Bob and Susan are home schooling their daughters for a year and reveling in life. We invited them down the evening. We drove to APALACHICOLA for lunch at the Grille. The oysters(some of the best in the world) were so fresh it made me swoon. Our server insisted we try the key lime pie. I am sure I have eaten as much key lime pie as anyone. I love key lime pie and it is the only time I will ingest fake whipped cream. I cannot help it....I loved every morsel of this gooey sweet treat. We took Momo on a long walk around APALACHICOLA, ending up on the boardwalk down to bay. We met Rufus, a great guy, casting his nets for mullet. Rufus threw the large net high over his head. As the net hit the water, a perfect circle formed... I love to watch an artist work. He slowly swirled his nets pulling in several medium sized fish.Rufus offered us his catch but we declined and moved on... I did stop at the boats and purchased a fresh grouper. WFS and I decided to ride our bikes to the far edge of the island, skirting between the sea and the bay. It was an exhilarating five miles to the end and a grueling five miles back as the sun dipped down over the bay. Truly a glorious sight. We pedaled back to our campsite, built a campfire and plopped down in our chairs to rest our weary bones. Our new friends, Bob, Susan, Maggie(11) and Carly (10) arrived. We exchanged tales from the road. Bob and Susan are taking a year(maybe more) to explore the country, soak up family time and cherish their time together. Awesome. Maggie and Carly are amazing young ladies. They are beautiful, talented, poised and engaging. The coals in our fire were perfect for grilling and we decided to cook. The girls were excited about an over-the-fire cooking lesson. We grilled the grouper, a very simple production... I threw together a salad. We loaded two plates, passed around six forks and had a wonderful shared dinner. The girls were inquisitive, soaking up food stories like a sponge. We have camped for 25 years and last evening ranks very near the top of camping experiences. Such a fantastic family, living their dream and building a very, very good foundation for their daughters. It was hard to leave these amazing folks.... As we well know, on the highway of life there are many, many intersections. We might cross paths again on a star filled night....free as the breezes wafting through the trees.