Current Location: Indian Pass Campground, Port Saint Joe, Florida
Raining, windy, stormy and dark: 62 degrees F at 8PM
We made it to Florida, mid morning on the 9th of February. Stepping out of the MoHo at the Florida Welcome Center on I-10 we were greeted with comfortable temperatures in the 60’s, skies that were almost sunny, and the wondrous smell of Florida velvet air.
The visitor center was quite large, comfortable, with several kiosks for each zone in Florida, and we gathered up some maps and brochures to supplement what we brought with us. We didn’t have far to go to reach Indian Pass Campground.
When I planned this trip, I reserved a site for a week at one of our favorite places, T.H Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park. We camped here in the baby MoHo back in 2007, and again with our current MoHo in 2014. We were really looking forward to spending more time in this magical place.
It wasn’t to be, however, since Hurricane Michael devastated the park which is just across the lagoon from Mexico Beach, ground zero for the hurricane. Our reservation was cancelled, our money returned, and we frantically tried to find a location for the open week in early February on the Florida coast. Not an easy task.
We were lucky to get reservations, the last one available due to a cancellation, at Indian Pass Campground, just a few miles beyond St Joe Peninsula, and just across a narrow sound from Saint Vincent Island.
We have lived through horrendous fires out west, and our campground host hadn’t even heard about the fire in Paradise. I wonder how many of us out west have paid much attention to the devastation that happened here in Mexico Beach and all along this part of the Florida coast.
On a more positive note, talking with locals, we have learned that the people are working hard to rebuild and restore their wonderful coastline. The positive attitude of our camp host, who lived through the hurricane in an attic in Port Saint Joe is admirable. Local television ads are almost entirely about rebuilding the community in one way or another. The extensive work here at the campground is ongoing, and some of the campsites were lost, but the park is operating and is still a pleasant place to be in spite of parts that reflect the damage of last fall.
All along the highways and neighborhood roadsides are huge piles of debris, with separate piles for household appliances and metals, and other piles of vegetative debris. Huge black trucks use a giant bucket to pick up the piles and stuff is hauled away on a daily basis. It will take months. Every now and then we see a boat rammed up against a tree, an overturned trailer, or other signs of the power of the wind, and even more so the power of the storm surge.
My heart hurt from the moment we saw the first signs of debris along the roadside, insulation strewn along the highway more than 20 miles inland. I will be writing about our time here more in the next few days, but for now, I want to ask for a moment of silence as you view the photos of the devastation in Mexico Beach where lives, and livelihoods, neighborhoods and businesses, parks and beaches, were all lost.
So painful to see.
ReplyDeleteYes it is, Gaelyn, and I debated posting it at all, but it seems that people around the country hear these things on the news, and then in a blip they are gone and no one thinks about it again, except the people trying to rebuild their lives and living through it all months later.
DeleteThat is just behind awful.. I was following it as was worried about Emerald Coast/Navarre area as that is where I stayed when there in 2010-11.... Very sad
ReplyDeleteI remember your time at Navarre, Loree, been following since way back then. I remember you doing a lot of crocheting at the beach. Yes, it is sad.
DeleteFires and floods -- so destructive. Not easy to rebuild. Takes time, sometimes more than people have or are willing to give. My sister knows. We're lucky, you and I, that we've escaped. Not much I can say. The heart hurts.
ReplyDeleteYes, my heart hurt physically as we passed through. Words fail.
DeleteMother Nature has her way with us here in Florida and in California.Unfortunately,we all do not heed her warnings and seek safe harbors in time,
ReplyDeleteSo true, Richard. In fact the woman here at the pass was proud of the fact that she rode out the storm, and said she didn't feel the need to leave. She says these kinds of storms excite and thrill her and she was glad to have experienced it.
DeleteSo sad to see this devastation, we were at that beach a few years ago and loved the area, and heading west along I-10 last fall we saw quite a bit of debris. They will rebuild eventually but it does take time.
ReplyDeleteI guess you did see it after Michael, George. I think I remember you saying something about it back then
DeleteI know that "the mountains don't care." Neither does the sea, apparently. This has to impact tourism...their "bread and butter." Hard to look at...
ReplyDeleteBox Canyon
It impacts tourism a lot! All the news programs are talking about convincing the tourists to return, especially to Panama City, which was also hard hit, but not completely destroyed like Mexico Beach. They are talking about redoing the beach for tourists, but then there are no restaurants, pizza parlors, stores, no place for them to spend money, so it will take a very long time.
DeleteIt is the worst feeling to see this close and up front. As if the hurricane isn't bad enough but what is left behind is tragic in so many ways. Growing up in the east coast I can remember many hurricanes. These people are a hardy lot and I give them all credit due for rebuilding and coming together
ReplyDeleteI think the aftermath is much worse than the actuality, Jo. I am amazed at how they do it.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a poignant, heartfelt post, Sue. We were lucky that Apalachicola didn't suffer the same kind of devastation that struck Panama City and Mexico Beach. My parents were two of the "old-timers" that chose to ride out the storm (much to my angst).
ReplyDeleteThe courage and resilience of the locals is something to behold.
So so sad. I can understand why you would do a separate post as there is simply no way to segue from something like this to the rest of your day. We saw some horrible photos of the devastation in Port Aransas due to a storm that hit after we sold our pad there. From what we’ve heard, the clean up still continues. I am sure the impact of the devastation on us would have been even more had we seen it in person and not just in photos taken by friends.
ReplyDeleteWith the propensity of media reporters to choose the worst possible spot of devastation from which to do their live-reporting, I admit I often wonder how bad things really are. I guess, I became a skeptic a few years ago when the TV reports we saw of the floods made it seem like all of Houston and the suburbs were under several feet of water. We were saddened for everyone losing so much and wondered how a city the size of Houston would rebound. It was especially worrisome because the motorhome was in Houston while we were in Norway, helpless to do anything. Turns out, our worries were needless from a personal point of view definitely, but also because the reports were over-the-top in many ways. Parts of the city had heavy flooding ... nary a drop in other places, including where the motorhome was stored. The devastation wasn’t nearly as widespread, but you wouldn’t know that if you relied solely on the media to understand the situation.
Thanks for such a well thought out comment, Erin. I have thought the same about reporters choosing the worst case scenario to photograph. That was definitely not the case in Mexico Beach. There was devastation no matter where I pointed the camera. Still so grateful Phae was fine during the Houston flooding.
DeleteThanks for your account and the pictures of Mexico Beach. Hard to comprehend.
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