Grayton Beach State Park Florida

We headed out of Pigeon Forge for the Florida  panhandle driving through TN, GA and AL before stopping and spending our 1st night at a WalMart Superstore parking lot just south of Montgomery Alabama.  Several other RVs and trucks camped out there - wasn't too bad (for free)!  The next morning we headed out early and made Grayton Beach State Park in Florida by noon.  The beach here is beautiful:

and empty this time of year. . .

The flags are warning of hazardous waters and dangerous marine life:

But all we found were a few washed up jelly fish:

and herons on the hunt:

We got a great site with the lake in our back yard and the beach a short walk away:

and a tree gecko guarding our lot:

Weather was a little cool at first (low 60s) but found it's way to the upper 70s this week.  One afternoon we caught a great sunset over the dunes near our campsite:

Another day we drove to Panama City to check out an area that was being developed a couple years ago when we were last here - Pier Park.  Many restaurants and shops - it really turned out nice:

A lot of the city has been rebuilt along the waterfront since we were last here after a hurricane - looking good.  We had to stop at our favorite baked oyster hole, Dusty's to have a dozen Dusty Baked & Rockefeller oysters - Awesome!  This place has come a long ways on the outside since we 1st visited 8-10 years ago but inside, same decor and same good food & drinks!

One night we went back to Pier Park to catch a free Clint Black concert outdoors - not bad for "free" country . . .

Some beautiful sunsets even when there's not a cloud in the sky:



even the sandpiper was checking it out . . .

Even though it's beach weather during the day, when the sun goes down it's campfire weather!  Still burning NH wood - thanks Paul!

We've been doing a lot of walking the beach and biking trails every day (great biking trails on and off road here).  You really can get to everything you need on bike here.  But most importantly, when in Rome . . .

more to come for Grayton Beach before we depart next Thursday . . .