Crossing the border from Alabama into Florida was a bit surreal for us. We had started this leg of our journey in San Diego, CA back in January and were now crossing into a state that touches the Atlantic Ocean. We were also seeing the final corner of the country as we had crossed through Maine in the northeast, Washington in the Northwest and California in the Southwest. Needless to say we were pretty pumped as Bubbles rolled past the Welcome to Florida sign. As we had spent most of the day in Mobile we didn’t make it too far into the state before stopping and camping in a KOA right outside of Pensacola for the night.
The next morning we woke up excited to be in a new state and we were ready to explore Pensacola. Technically on this trip we had already been in this part of Florida. If you remember from a blog post back in October we had flown to Panama City from Seattle for a wedding while Bubbles was being repaired. While we did love seeing our friends and had a blast at the wedding we were not too thrilled with Panama City or what we saw from the area. As Pensacola is about 2.5 hours west of Panama City we were hoping this city was different from what we had seen there.
Driving into the city we were pleasantly surprised about how nice it was. Going into the town we knew it was famous for being home to the Blue Angles Navy Flight Demonstration Squad and for its beaches having sand as white as sugar. As it turned out the city had a very nice little downtown as well. While walking around we learned that one of the cities nicknames is the “City of 5 Flags”. Like neighboring Mobile, Pensacola was also ruled by the Spanish, French, British, Americans and Confederates. In one of the cities parks a large historical display was set up where Spanish, French and British structures had once stood. These displays went over the entire timeline of the city explaining the how, why and when of the city. We thought this was really neat and gave us a great understanding of everything that has happened here. From the park we walked around the rest of the city poking our head in a few shops and enjoying ourselves before hopping into Bubbles and heading east.
After a quick lunch we started up the van and headed out. As we continued our tradition of not taking the highway we drove down route 98 which follows the gulf. While most of this stretch of the road was not directly on the ocean we still were able to see some fun things. The town of Destin looked particularly fun as crossing a bridge we noticed motorized boat tiki bars traversing the bay looking for thirsty boat customers. A few hours later we were heading into Panama City. It was a little surreal being here in Bubbles as 7 month ago it had taken a full day in a plane to get here and yet here we were driving our own vehicle. While we didn’t do any additional exploring while in Panama City as we had spent 5 days here prior we did stay at an amazing campground while in town. We had found the Emerald Coast RV Beach Resort online and booked it after looking at its favorable Yelp reviews. As Yelp had led us to believe it was a great place to stay. Concrete parking pads, tropic and lush as well as being well maintained; the place was great. We would definitely stay here again if we were in town.
The next morning we woke up ready for another day of exploring route 98. While today’s destination was Tallahassee we would be taking the long way. Driving east from Panama City we entered a part of Florida nicknamed the “Forgotten Coast”. I thought it was fitting, especially for me as I had spent roughly 7 years living in Florida and really had no idea that this part of the state even existed.
As it usually happens in places with little to no people the scenery is usually the most breathtaking. This part of Florida was no exception. As we made our way east from Panama City the strip malls slowly ended, traffic lights ended and soon enough we were entering into large seemingly untouched forests. There were very few towns on the route with the exception of the little town of Mexico Beach, St. Joe and a large Air Force base. Finally though we made it to our lunchtime destination of Apalachicola. Apalachicola was something special. There were no strip malls, no chain restaurants or stores and no other towns around it for quite a ways. It also looked like new buildings had stopped being built there in the 1930’s (although they had been nicely maintained). I had always heard the phrase “Old Florida” but had never actually seen it before. This was definitely Old Florida. Use your imagination and this is what the small town looked like. Old red brick structures, some still houses but most were shops and restaurants. Palm trees and other under growth surrounding them. The town also had a small waterfront with a few fishing boats parked waiting to go out the next morning. It was beautiful and we both loved it.
After spending time eating lunch and exploring the town it was time to move on. We continued our way east on route 98 past what seemed like old growth forests with the occasional cabin or house looking out over the ocean. This part of the drive was one of our favorites in the past few months and one that we told ourselves that we had to come back to see it again. Shortly after our time on route 98 ended as we made our way slightly north to Tallahassee where we would be spending the next two nights.
We woke up the next morning ready to explore. As per our usual in a states capitol city the first stop would be the capitol building. Prior to getting to the building we did run into a little bit of a snafu. Many of the parking lots that we found in the city had height restraints even though they were open-air parking lots. These restraints were metal bars usually in the 7’-8’ range above the entrance. We finally found one that did not have one. We took a ticket from the machine, parked Bubbles and started to head toward the building. By the time we reached the end of the parking lot I knew we were in a little trouble. While there was no height restraint on the entrance side, I had failed to notice that there was one on the exit side. While first mad at the city for doing that, then we got a little scared thinking, how are we going to get this 9’9” van out of here? Very luckily for us at the time however there just happened to be a complex security guard in a golf cart taking a little break from the sun. He graciously opened the entrance gate for us to let us out. Thank you security guard, you saved Bubbles!!
After finding street parking we finally walked over to the capitol building. Florida’s state capitol building much like the buildings in North Dakota and Louisiana was not the typical building modeled after the federal capitol building in Washington D.C., but a rectangular skyscraper. While not the prettiest building it sure gives great views of the city. Even though it was a skyscraper it still did have the normal looking house and senate chambers that you would see in any other capitol building. The spot to be in this building was its observation floor at the top. This was pretty neat as Florida State University seemingly takes up about half of the city and we were able to see it all at once. We thought it was great.
As we were able to see so much of the University from the top of the capitol building we wanted to see it at ground level. First up though was lunch. As we had eaten lunch in the van for the past few days we wanted to eat out somewhere. As both Julie and I love Mexican food we found a great little taco joint called Taco Bout It. We were able to get a mix of different tacos and really enjoyed ourselves. After lunch we toured around the campus. As we have been touring capitol buildings we also have been touring college campuses. This started when we were in Michigan and toured around the University of Michigan. Since then we have seen countless schools across the country comparing them to our own experiences (Julie went to the U. of Cincinnati and myself the U. of Tampa). Florida State was huge and we certainly got our exercise. By saying its huge does not make it ugly in anyway. At the time there were a good number of construction projects going on but for the most part the campus was beautiful with big Spanish moss covered trees as well as palms lining the property. We walked around the football stadium and countless halls before calling it a day, heading back to Bubbles and the campground for the night.
We woke up the next morning, packed up Bubbles and hit the highway. Today we would be touring around Gainesville before heading to Ocala for the night. The drive to Gainesville was pretty uneventful as we stuck to I-10 and I-75 but it did make the 2.5-hour drive go by pretty fast. Before we knew it we were entering the town of Gainesville. Only having been in Gainesville once before, and for a very short time I knew that the city was home to one of the other major Florida universities, the University of Florida. I wasn’t sure what else the town had to offer so we were eager to explore. We found parking (much easier this time than our gate issues in Tallahassee the day before) and started to walk around. We really enjoyed downtown Gainesville, as it was extremely pedestrian friendly. None of its buildings were over three stories tall and it seemed the entire town was lined with Spanish moss covered oak trees. We walked the streets checking out an old theatre and poking our heads into a few shops and restaurants to check out the menus.
From downtown Gainesville we walked the mile over to the university. Similar to what we had seen at Florida State, the University of Florida was a huge school as well. There were differences however. As Florida States campus seemed to go out every direction with seemingly no set boundary it seemed as the University of Florida was more or less one huge square most of the time having a small wall so you know what was on campus and what was off. Florida State was also quite hilly in places where as the University of Florida was in central Florida, it was very flat. It was pretty neat to walk around 2 of the 3 main Florida schools in two days (The 3rd big school being the University of Miami). We walked around the football stadium where they still have Tim Tebow banners hanging. We walked in and out of a few of the main education halls and into the schools bookstore. All in all we thought it was a beautiful school and really enjoyed our time there. As it was starting to get late in the afternoon we hopped back into Bubbles and headed down I-75 towards Ocala where we would be spending the night.
Next up….Florida’s Bay Area. We explore the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg!
