Henderson Beach State Park, Destin, Florida
Before I officially begin, I want to include some pictures my sister-in-law, Kelli sent out this morning. These are in reference to the November Birthday Parties we used to hold in our home every year. The main critic is our son, Kyle (funny guy!), the other, a friend of our boys. Here’s what she had to say:
For those of you who ate at this kitchen in November of 2001, you may remember this meal. I have attached the menu from that meal and some of the patron’s reviews. I personally loved it and my family went there every year because it was so good!! Lol! Enjoy!
What fun! Thanks, Kelli! And for the compliment as well!
This is how we anticipated our day playing out. We’d putter around in the morning and leave around 11am (or whenever we were ready). We’d head into town to pick up a few items at various stores, then go down the road about 20 minutes to check out another State Park. We’d look at the campground (for possible future sites), check out their portion of the beach (although we expected it to look the same as ours) and walk the 1.5-2 mile trail that was supposed to be there, then go to a late lunch/early dinner, check out another State Park campground, and back home to walk our beach.
This is what actually took place. We puttered around and left about 10:30am. We did our shopping. We drove to the State Park.
Our package from Amazon, picked up at an Amazon Locker in a grocery store.
Here’s where things took a dramatic turn.
We arrived at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park (which houses the Gregory E. Morre RV Resort) and were given a park map and on it were not only the 1.5-2 miles we were expecting, but a total of roughly 10 miles! In addition, the walk to the beach is a mile. Blaine was wearing – – well you saw what he was wearing . . . I had on my old sandals. Because I thought I was walking on a beach and going to dinner.
First we drove around the campground. They have about 170 sites here, but it’s called and “RV resort”, so that was our first clue. It’s just not our cup of tea. I can’t really explain it. But this is where all the “rich and famous” hang out. You could tell by the coaches. You could tell by looking at the people. (How does that work anyway? What is it that makes people “look wealthy”? You can almost always tell. . . )
Once we parked, we looked over the map and decided to just play it loose. Blaine strapped on his waist pack so we could take water with us . . . just in case. We also took an apple and some trail mix with us . . . just in case.
And then we left.
1 mile to the beach.
Looks just like Henderson’s boardwalk, doesn’t it??
But the sand dunes seem to be larger
2 miles on the beach.
Almost whole!
How’s that for creative! : )
This was supposed to be an interesting picture, but the dimensions are missing. . . . : (
Looks like the high rises from Henderson, but they’re not.
Look!! We finally discovered a whole one!
1/2 mile to see a portion of Morris Lake.
There’s where we started in from.
We managed to find the trail head, but only thanks to the footprints!
There was no sign!
Here’s where we’re going.
The start of another trail.
But we’ll come back to this spot.
First we’re searching for Lake Morris!
Just as we began the Morris Lake Trail, we started smelling chard wood. Here’s why!
I don’t know how long ago the burn was, but the smell was still pretty strong.
Evidence of life in the burnt tree.
We’ve heard the pines hold up well from the controlled burns.
Beautiful lake!
Watch out for snakes in the grass!
(Yes, I saw one. Looked just like the grass.)
1.5 miles towards a bathroom and the parking lot.
I don’t know what this is. I tried to find out.
Remember when Blaine was holding one a few days ago and I said it was light, but hard?
These look exactly the same, but they’re spongy! Isn’t God amazing?!
This is Lake Campbell.
We skimmed past it as it was getting late.
The restaurant closes at 3pm!
1 mile to get back to the Jeep by land (as opposed to re-walking on the beach).
These are the camping cabins.
They’ll set you back $100 a night.
Hmmm. I can find a nice hotel for less than that. . . .
Aren’t the saw palmettos lovely with the sun shining thru them?
It was a wonderfully, beautiful time! But we were getting really hungry and dinner was still another 15-20 minutes away. We found the restaurant we’d chosen (The Red Bar) . . . . Finally! Because finding it wasn’t all that easy! . . . .
. . . . . only to discover it was CLOSED!!
They are enforcing “Winter Hours” and are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays! Their website said nothing about that! Others were faced with the same problem as they drove up and discovered there would be no lunch – or dinner – today.
Now we’re faced with the dilemma of finding another place to eat. And now we’re really hungry and starting to get a little perturbed and grumbly. Some places weren’t open. Others weren’t what we care for – for various reasons. Still others were waaay too froufrou or expensive. One we couldn’t find. Heavy, Heavy Sigh . . . . Grumble. Grumble.
This was across the street.
I had to do something while Blaine was surfing the web . . .
We finally, in almost desperation, found The Chanticleer Eatery. (BTW – a chanticleer is a name given to roosters, especially in fairy tales, hence all the rooster stuff in the place)
We almost missed eating here as well.
Note the hours!!
I’ll be honest. The place wasn’t cheap. In fact, when was the last time you paid $45 for lunch for 2? But it was also our dinner. And we were distressed. And it was the #1 pick on Tripadvisor. And we found it. And we didn’t have to wait to be seated.
Take a look at the wall. I looks like it washed up in a hurricane. : ) And there’s a rooster on the table. : )
They make all their own stuff right here.
Check out the top of the menu.
And Oh My! Was it terrific! And not just because we were hungry! Blaine ordered a pulled pork plate (a mound of pork, baked beans, cole slaw, corn muffin (with actual corn in it!) and lemonade. I ordered the Jambalaya, which came with a slice of homemade bread and included 8 very large shrimp and lots of sausage pieces. The jambalaya I make is good, but this? This was extraordinary! Everything here is made from scratch and in their very own kitchen. You could tell. We shared our choices 50-50 so we could enjoy everything!
I had a picture, but Blaine deleted it off my phone in the restaurant because “I didn’t like the way I looked.” Seriously??? After the way I looked in the last post? And may I add, others as well??? I was not a happy camper! It’s a good thing the food was scrumptious! (Obviously, I’m still a little miffed, or I wouldn’t have included this little detail in the post today.)
In fact, the food was so good (or Blaine felt so guilty), we ordered dessert. A key lime cheesecake. The best graham cracker crust I’ve ever had! It had coconut and lime rind in it. And the cake? Melt-in-your-mouth delicious greatness! And it came with real whipped cream!
We kept hearing our waiter talk to other people about how they’re known for their cookies, so guess what? We bought 4. Two of each kind. What? Who wants to share cookies?? We took them home for our “dinner” tonight. 😊 Oh Wow! Double Chocolate Chip and White Chocolate Coconut. Yummmm! At least I have a picture of those!
Anyway, the day’s not over yet. After our bellies were happily filled, we went back to the Park to walk off some of the food we just ate – namely the cheesecake. 😊
We clocked another mile down to the beach, a mile on the beach in the opposite direction, a mile back to the boardwalk, a mile back to the Jeep. Whew! My feet and legs were tired! Sneakers would have been a better choice for today, but at least the sandals were a good second choice. Much better than flip-flops! 😊
Just before we headed back, we noticed this huge flock of birds over the water. We have no idea what they were, but they were fascinating to watch!
You’re looking for the black specks in the sky. : ) There were even more than this.
Look how the wind is whipping up the salt spray!
What remains of the sunset. We were driving home and missed it.
Back home checking out the extraordinary moon!
It was really bright, but not quite bright enough to take a picture. I had to use the flash.
And now we’re done. Terrific unexpected adventure!
TOTAL MILES: 10!!! (Surely this will bring up our average!)
Year to Date: 98
Daily Average: 3.37 (hmmm. . . not as much as I’d hoped . . .)