Skip to content
Live Oak Landing in Freeport, FL was one of our stops last year. We had spend a month here and really enjoyed it. This year we’re planning on spending two months here before we begin our journey back home. Before we get on with our adventures here in Freeport, we wanted to post a couple of items I neglected to mention in the last post a the stop we made in Apalach (short for Apalachicola) on our way here.
Our last Sunday at Keystone we drove to Starke to attend Mass at St. Edward Church. It’s the tiniest church we ever visited. The church can maybe hold a 100 folks fully packed and everyone was very friendly, including Fr. Jan Ligeza, a Polish priest, who has been in the U.S. for 15 years or more; best we can tell. We had attended Mass here a few times but in today’s homily he shared a story about his visit to Rome with Robert Moynihan, who writes and articles for Inside the Vatican. We enjoyed the little church and meeting Fr. Jan briefly during our time there. After mass we stopped for breakfast at Call Street Cafe and enjoyed a great breakfast. Mag left a note for other diners on a chalkboard in the restaurant. You’ll see it gallery below ;).
We stopped in Apalach on our way to Freeport for brief stay to check in on Trice & Jim. A total of five days but two were travel days so we were able to visit for several days. Trice had a list of chores and we were happy we could help. From putting away Christmas decorations, computer issues, misc. chores, we got the list completed and I know she was relieved. We can’t help but notice her amazing recovery and spirit she has during this tough time; we couldn’t be more proud of her. It tests her patience but she is managing it very well. Go Trice!!
 |
 |
| Arrival |
Running errands |
We left Eastpoint RV Resort (near Apalach) and headed onto Freeport Saturday morning January 27. Another campground we visited last year and not much has changed. They assigned us to the same site as last year, number 22. After we got set up and settled, we took a short walk to visit our Canadian friends we meet here last year. Darlene and Rick arrived early January and it was nice to see them. They have some additional family members who are also staying here; her brother and sister-in-law and an uncle and aunt. The next evening we all met at uncle’s site and sat around the campfire having lively conversation and listening to music in the background. Another evening, we met at the clubhouse and played a game of cards, a game called Give me a Dime. We thought we knew most all card games but since our travels we have heard of several games we never heard of like Eucher and Pay Me. We played a lot of Pitch growing up and folks gave me a quizzical look when I mentioned it.
We headed out for hike last week at the Pine Log State Forest. I, as probably many, think of Florida as beaches, resorts and theme parks and so on, but we’re beginning to see it differently. Although the costal areas are predominantly sandy beaches, resorts, restaurants, shops, malls and the like, the interior of Florida is covered in forest land or timberland. Wikipedia shows percentages of forest cover state by state and Florida ranks 26 with 50.68%. All our hikes and driving have revealed many wooded areas in Florida and we enjoy checking out as much as we can. Our hike on this day is on the Dutch Tiemann Trial. We hiked 6.7 miles according to our GPS which encompasses only a small portion of Pine Log State Forest. We checked out a small campground within the park which had only 9 sites. It appeared to be a very quiet place and we spotted several signs warning of black bear and noticed bear-proof trash receptacles. We didn’t spot any bear during our hike or any other wildlife beyond some birds. It was a nice hike, dry for 95% of the way with most of the path hard-packed sand. For dinner we tried a new veggie burger, which was quite good and, we made vegan brownies which contain sweet potato, maple syrup and cacao. We shared the brownies at the campfire and they were a hit!
Last year we ventured west to Destin for mostly shopping and never really did any investigating. Darlene has shared some of their adventures in Destin and we decided to spend a day there to check it out. We started at the Destin Harbor Boardwalk which features restaurants, hotels, boats large and small, charter fishing trips and dolphin cruises. Business
was down this season we leaned while chatting with some local workers. Maybe it is the unusually cold/cool weather or the economy or something else but it was a slow day on the boardwalk. There was several employees outside Margaritaville trying to muster up some business but they weren’t having much luck from what we could see. After our stroll along the pier and visiting some shops, we decided to have dinner at
McGuires. It’s an Irish pub with an interesting story. You can see and feel the pub atmosphere, casual, friendly but you also observe the attention to detail when it comes to the experience. The goal is to ensure guests enjoy their experience and we sure did. Mag ordered a Caesar Salad with Salmon and I ordered the Shephard’s Pie. Both were delicious and we topped it off with a “plan-busting” Cheesecake with Cherries Jubilee weighing in at 1lb. It was soo good!
 |
 |
The atmosphere is quite interesting. It looks like a typical Irish Pub, not like we have a ton of experience but, it’s dimly lit with tables and booths filling the establishment surrounding the bar area. A tradition stated many years ago whereby patrons staple dollar bills to the ceiling. It appears that they have nearly run out of ceiling space and now the walls are covered with dollar bills and it’s value is estimated to be in excess of $2M today! Shortly after we were seated, I had to make a run to the Men’s Room. I wasn’t sure where is was located so I walked back to the Maitre d’ station and asked for directions. The pleasant woman who greeted me said, “I’ll show you.” I thought, “that’s nice.” I followed her along the bar area where she pointed to the spot where the Men’s and Ladies rooms were located, “there they are.” I thanked her, stepped down a few stairs, turned left toward the restrooms; it’s a busy spot with another set of stairs heading up toward the back of the bar. I spot the sign on one of the doors but I don’t take time to read the smaller print only, MEN and start to push the door open when a voice behind me says, “Sir, that’s the Ladies Room.” It’s not the same woman who directed me here but I look back at the door, I see MEN in big letters, I turn back toward her and, with an indignant but, not too indignant tone, I reply, “No it’s not,” but she’s quite busy and doesn’t have time to receive my response or engage me further. I head in and greeted with a second door, a saloon type door with a message in big letters. The pictures below will tell the remainder of the story.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Click on each photo to enlarge |
Yesterday, we headed in the opposite direction east, toward Panama City. Again, just to check it out and do a little shopping. Mag strolled through Marshall’s and I strolled around the area. Across the way was a Fresh Market. It’s like Whole Foods and we were looking for some special cheese for our homemade pizza; a mozzarella made by Miokos. We think her product line is in high demand because it’s hard to find but we did locate some and also picked up a few additional items. As we were checking out, the one of the managers was working our register, she was very pleasant and Mag and she briefly discussed the previous customer who appeared to be in a rush. Them manager closed the conversation with, “bless her heart.” 
As we neared the end of our transaction, Mag spotted a giant Peanut Butter Cup on display very near the pay terminal; a real impulse buy. Mag exclaimed, “Look at the size of this thing!” We’ve already completed the transaction and were grabbing our bags when the manager grabs a PCB, sticks it in my hand and say, “Oh, just take one!” They were $3/ea., a far cry from the 5 cents I paid back in the 60s! In all fairness, it was bigger and not quite the same. When we got outside I explained to Mag our gift and she we very excited. Once we started our drive back to Freeport, Mag ripped open the package and we shared the treat. Yummy. It’s been almost a couple of years for Mag.
Hoping for warmer weather….
So, did you just go out back?
love you.
When I saw Door #2, I realized they we’re having fun at my expense. One evening every week is Ladies Night, I’m not sure which night but, the waiter said, “it’s basically co-ed bathrooms!”. Funny!
I would have been very flustered about the bathrooms.
AHHHH the new CO-ED
Oh we so enjoyed seeing you. It was nice to have my chores list completed. Thank you. See you on 22nd
Love Trice
We enjoyed it too! See you soon! Love, T&M