Sopchoppy (near Tallahassee), FL

Sopchoppy, Florida and the Ochlockonee River State Park

On arriving at Ochlockonee River State Park and listening to the ranger’s usual check-in spiel - “Check out at 1pm, don’t collect downed wood for your campfire, keep your dog on-leash, watch out for the white squirrels, quiet time is…” Dorian and I snapped to. Whoa, we asked, would you back up? White Squirrels?

The white squirrels were friendly and would steal your food, the ranger explained. And just a short time after we’d set up the trailer and I was relaxing with some pistachios, here comes a white squirrel, shuffling around in a tree a foot from the window, peering in and pretty obviously interested in my pistachios. Pippi couldn’t believe the audacity! (Notice the crafty white devil in the upper right corner)

White squirrels weren’t the only amusing wildlife at Ochlockonee. Pictured is a cardinal peering in and pecking at our window, intent on...something. Harassing the fellow pecking back at him, I guess (he could only see his reflection). This went on for quite some time, over several days.

Food for 12" alligators, no doubt

The Ochlockonee River offered great kayaking and wildlife viewing opportunities, from deer to shore birds to this alligator by the boat dock (fortunately he was just a little fella, just about 12”).

We spent a wonderful, windy day driving along the Gulf shore, from Carabelle Beach, where we saw a fisherman catch and release a small shark ... to St. George Island, where we had lunch beside the beach ... to Apalachicola, a weirdly appealing little town where we saw this bicycle tree and “Rat Works” (whatever that is) ... to beautiful St. Joseph Bay, where we could snorkle except for lack of a dive ball to warn boaters of our whereabouts (plus it was seriously windy). The interesting thing about driving along the Gulf is, you are really RIGHT along the Gulf. There is no wide sandy beach separating you from the water, at least on the stretches we traversed. The water was a beautiful turquoise, except where the wind had churned it to a muddy brown. This, like Beaufort SC, was a place that looked like Paradise … except, again, when those hurricane winds started howling.

Would We Come Back Here?

We stayed at Ochlockonee State Park, which met our distance requirements for the next leg of the trip (up to Birmingham, Alabama on the way to Jackson, Tennesee). We enjoyed the park a lot and I have no complaints, except maybe for the light pollution caused by each site's power distribution panel. However, it was a bit far from the part of the coast that we enjoyed, so we probably wouldn't stay there again.

Would We Live Here?

While driving, we idly contemplated buying some land near the beach to park our trailer in the seasonable part of the year and then fleeing northward every time a hurricane or other wind event threatened to inundate that low, low coastline. But, honestly, we'll probably never live so close to sea level, what with the sea level changing, and all. As we crossed the spine of Florida, we noticed that there are hills there, so at least not all of Florida will disappear...

We really liked Appalachicola and enjoyed saying the word. Coincidentally, we came across a song about Appalachicola by Bing Crosby: http://www.apalachicolarealtyinc.com/bing_crosby.aspx. Personally, I would like to live in any town with a "ratworks." But alas, Appalachicola is pretty much at sea level, along with the rest of the coast. Seriously, though, we'd like to revisit the area, but like much of Florida, it really isn't under consideration except as a nice place to visit.

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