Exploring the State Parks

 

After a gloomy start to our time in Florida, most of the rest of our days were really very pretty, which was good, because most of our plans were outside! The Monday we were there, we explored two different state parks. 

The first one, Henderson Beach State Park, was very different from what we're used to in a state park in Indiana. It had beachfront to it, so we were able to sit on the beach for a while. It also had very pretty sand dunes, but you weren't allowed to walk on them. So the only real trail in the park was about a mile around, and it contained quite a diverse amount of sand and dirt trails. We had a lot of fun exploring this park, but it was a short stay, mostly because it was a small park!

One of the strangest things about this park was that it was IN Destin. So all during our hike, we could see the tops of hotels and hear the traffic on the highway. That was very different from parks at home!

Our only "big" meal that day ended up being at Whataburger. We hadn't planned to eat there, but we chose it on the fly. It was a first for both of us! I enjoyed the food (rarely have I met a burger I didn't like) but I wasn't absolutely blown away by it. We did get to watch a parking-lot-rage moment that managed to not get out of control. It may have been the longest honk I've ever heard in my life, though.

Then we went to Topsail Hill Preserve State Park for more hiking. They had WAY more trails than we had time to for in the afternoon. (A peril of activities like this in the winter is that the parks close at dusk - which is 4:45. So if you don't arrive until about 1, you don't have much hiking time.) We also didn't find the trails to be very well marked, so it's possible we were lost a few times. But it was still fun. And the park was very nice. We made a mental note that it had camping available. :) 

We did make it back to our Airbnb in time for sunset on the beach, and we found another beautiful sand sculpture had appeared while we were gone!

After sunset, it was time for another dinner in and a night of football for Ryan!