As I sit in the morning sun at the campsite, composing my thoughts, I realize we are already the first weekend in May and out on our first adventure of 2025. It has been a while since posting anything about our crazy retired life – so how is it we find ourselves camping amid thousands of rumbling bikes during the Thunder Beach motorcycle rally in Panama City Beach? Well, let me share just how wild this year has started for us and why this is our first “breather.”
For the past several years we have been looking to downsize our home and move just a bit closer to our grandsons – while also having a little more outside space and room for our various activities and interests. Late in 2024 we found the perfect spot and scrambled to make it happen, while still keeping up with our travel plans (the cruise on Wonder of the Seas in particular). There were also a few modifications we wanted to make at the new house, including a better studio for Doug’s glass art and YouTube video space, in addition to moving our things, and getting the old house ready for sale. It has taken much longer than expected and we really aren’t completely done yet. But here we are at the beach trying to relax.
It has been a great trip so far. The start to this adventure was our granddaughter’s wedding at the beach, for which my sister Linda and husband Norman flew out to be a part of. They got to see our new digs, we hit up a couple of breweries “just because” and quickly got the motorhome prepped and ready for the first adventure of the year. Into the motorhome went food and drink, clothes, essentials, a few boxes of stuff for the wedding and rehearsal dinner, the pets (Binx the cat and Kodi the dog), ebikes, the Jeep and off we went. The wedding was to be on Jekyll Island, Georgia and we had a site booked at the island’s campground. The trip was long (8 hours), since we opted to leave the interstate and take 4-lane backroads half of the trip. But we don’t push the speed while driving the motorhome, so that was just fine.
Once on the island things moved along on a pretty tight schedule, the rehearsal and dinner were perfect events to let everyone mix and get to know various relatives and friends. But the highlight was the wedding the next afternoon – a perfect weather day on an amazing beachfront. The tide was out, the groomsmen and bridesmaids standing with bleached white logs and trees behind them and the barefoot bride was soon making her way down the sandy “aisle.” The framing and location on the aptly named Driftwood Beach was perfect and this rare spot truly let us all get swept away in the moment.
We finished out the weekend biking around the island, visiting the historic area where the millionaire’s Jekyll Island Club hosted the country’s industrialists at the turn of the century. Once everyone departed for home and we collected up a few boxes of the decor we had one more day before we set off for part 2 of the trip: the Okefenokee Swamp. It wasn’t very far inland before we were at Laura Walker State Park on the edge of the swamp. Perfect spot on a lake, with gorgeous weather once again as we decompressed just a bit from the weekend’s excitement. Linda and Norm drove to visit friends in St. Augustine and we would all be reconnecting in two days for part 3 of the trip.
We had a boat tour of the swamp booked the next day with Okefenokee Adventures in the National Wildlife Refuge and made sure we got there early – it was about 45 miles away in Folkson. A couple of school groups were arriving at the marina as we discreetly inquired if they would be joining us. “Oh no, they have their own tour planned,” was the correct answer for us. Former teachers can be so picky about spending vacation time with middle schoolers!
Our boat had only 8 of us, so it was a good group. The blackwater canals dug to drain the swamp in the 1890’s, unsuccessfully, were lined with cypress draped in Spanish moss, their knees poking out of the dark water. Other things poking out of the water moved closer to the boat to check us out or maybe just to meander along the shoreline – these alligators ranged from 6 to nearly 12 feet long, by my estimation. They definitely were curious about the intruders and kept us in sight, sometimes submerging until all you saw were eyes and nostrils on the water’s surface.
We turned off the canal into a more natural prairie setting filled with water lillies, pitcher plants, iris and orchids in bloom. It was really a magical journey. We saw a nest of red-shouldered hawks with the juveniles standing at the edge, another hawk on a crag hunting for critters and a few turtles on the floating peat islands. On a drive around the area we stopped to take pictures of more pitcher plants and orchids before stopping to visit a thoughtfully restored homestead in the swamp.
The next day it was time for part 3 of this adventure – a long drive across south Georgia and the Florida panhandle to our favorite beach spot: St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach. Linda and Norm beat us there by one day, staying at a rental just a block from camp and steps from the beach. They had already checked out two of our favorite watering holes, Patches Pub and Schooner’s, and texted that there were a bunch of motorcycles at Patches. Uh oh, we managed to hit here during the Thunder Beach cycle rally – again. That’s ok, we decided to all go back to Schooner’s for dinner and the sunset cannon blast and actually had no problem getting a table beachside.
At the beach it was windy, but the water was its usual perfectly clear blue-green color, with the white sand beach stretching along to the rock jetty. Norm and I were maybe waist deep in the surf, watching dolphins beyond the waves and Norm had his eyes on an osprey to catch him in a dive for fish. Suddenly I was startled by a big splash next to us as two dolphin zipped past us, missing by maybe 6 feet. Norm turned at my yelp to see them and when he looked back up for the osprey it already had a mullet in its talons. “Darn, I missed it. I missed the catch,” he said. Yeah but we almost got nailed by dolphin! The dolphin spotting was worth it. They continued to fluke and splash around, maybe only a wave away from us. Very cool.
Next day we watched for more dolphins and were treated to seeing several devil rays swim by, a bull shark (identified by someone skimming along on an aqua foil), more osprey, lots of terns, a pair of skimmers and of course the return of the dolphins. Great day at the beach topped off with dinner at Sharky’s on the beach. Of course I had to have the grouper sandwich and we made sure to bring our souvenir cups along so we paid the refill price for drinks. OMG we sound like old people. The drive along the beach to and from the restaurant was a big show of bikes in every sort of color, style and sound. Lots of fun.
Unfortunately, the big day for the rally was Saturday and it rained pretty hard on and off into the night. Norm and Linda flew out and back to California late in the afternoon and we stayed dry in the motorhome, reading, making a quick trip to Walmart and planning the next few days here at the beach.
On our last visit to this state park in the fall we noted the improvements being made – repaving the main roads and a parallel bike lane. Well they still haven’t finished, particularly the entrance area of the park, and the road to the beach access is now a one way loop. Can’t complain about the new paving, but it makes it just a bit further around to get from campground to beach by car or jeep. Not a problem for bikes and golf carts, though. But it is still a great spot to stay, if you can wrangle a reservation.
Well our last days were gorgeous and the water was clean, clear and nearly wave-free. The beach has been renourished, so it is a long, long walk to the water, but our beach cart makes it pretty easy to haul the chairs, umbrellas, towels and cooler. What a great end to this three-stop camping adventure. Oh, and on our morning bike ride we were treated to a bald eagle surveying his territory. Naturally I did not have my long lens on the camera, so I hustled back to the campsite, switched out and got back in time to snap a few shots. Still not as crisp as I would like, though.
Our journey back home runs about 6 – 7 hours, with a time change back to eastern from central time zone, losing another hour. That usually puts us in Atlanta rush hour traffic, so we break it up with one more night near Columbus or Eufaula. This time we stayed in FDR State Park at a nice spot beside the lake … with an overnight rainstorm. Ah well. Out early and back home in 2 hours we are now unpacking and planning the next outing. I think it will be a week at the lake near us this summer, with the grandsons staying over for a night or two.
Thanks for joining us on the journey and stay tuned for more adventures. Be sure to visit Doug’s glass artist pages on YouTube for some summer garden decor ideas or learn how to bake your own sourdough! Adventures with Doug & Jackie – YouTube Until the next adventure!
Adventures with Doug and Jackie 
Comments