Dog Island near Carrabelle, Florida

 We have a series of warm, sunny, calm days so we launched the Boston Whaler fishing boat and are sitting in a slip in the inside basin at The Moorings after launching here. We headed out to Dog Island with a picnic lunch with Pam and Bob on board and we trolled and walked the beach and headed across the pass to troll along St. George Island. We had no luck fishing but it was a beautiful day to be out.

A pelican for almost every post at Dog Island dock

Surprised to see a bicycle on the beach

Miles of beach

Back to the city boat launch with no fish

The second sunny day we headed out to Dog Island and followed the markers into the ferry landing and then headed around to the point on the opposite end of the island from the pass. We landed the boat on the beach and completed our 10,000 steps beachcombing along the marked bird nesting preservation area.

Beached along the preservation area

Bird heaven

Scattered as we walked by

A lone kayaker along ways from town

Colorful jellyfish in the surf

Rest stop

Gorgeous dunes part of the wild bird preservation area

The following week we had a sunny but not so calm day as we headed back out Carrabelle River to Dog Island. We trolled the stretch of beach along the houses with their docks and around the point. We landed on the beach and walked along the pass to the sea buoys and waded over to an exposed shoal filled with shells. We ended up doing our 10,000 steps since we had also walked into town for our first breakfast at The Turtle Next Restaurant at their outside porch dining.

Mr. Crab in fighting stance

Waded out to shoal for great shelling

 The only fish we have caught so far and threw back

With Pam and Bob aboard we headed out to Dog Island pass and finally caught up with schools of Spanish Mackerel.  The fish were striking like crazy and all of us caught a bunch but we decided all too small to keep. We trolled along the length of Dog Island over to the ferry landing and out to the point on the east side for a long beach walk. Another beautiful day on the Forgotten Coast with only a few other boats out fishing and no one else on the beautiful beach.

Birds in flight

Olive shell with seaweed trail

Poised on the point

Dog Island Ferry Landing

Amazing mushroom on the beach

Fighting mackerel

Tate's Hell State Park, Carrabelle Beach, Florida

 It was a bright sunny day so we took a road trip to Crooked River Lighthouse Park for the farmer's market. We picked up some artisan bread and local photography note cards. Down the road is the trail head for the Bluff Trails at Tate's Hell State Park. We changed into our hiking boots and headed out on the eastern loop trail for the shorter 3.5 mile hike. After working up an appetite, we drove back past Sopchoppy to Hamaknocker's Barbeque as they had many outdoor picnic tables and highly rated barbeque and local craft beer which did not disappoint.

Our dock mate

Crooked River Lighthouse

After so much rain, the sandy trails were flooded

Waded in water over the top of our boots

We had the All Trails map on our phone to take a few detours

More hikes for later

We got saucy at Hamaknockers BBQ

Historic downtown Carrabelle, Florida

 We finally had a warm morning to walk from the marina to the historic downtown district. We headed to Carrabelle Junction knowing they had sidewalk dining. We were bundled up in our rain jackets and polar fleece jackets so we were warm sitting outside by ourselves watching the traffic go by and enjoying our coffee and croissant. Next stop was the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center to get information on local hiking opportunities. We also stopped into a few of the gift shops before heading back to the boat with the threatening sky.

Along the main drag

Veterans Memorial

Memorial Park

Library Valentine's Day decorations

Waterfront  Bar

World's smallest Police Station

Window shopping

Old railroad car at C Quarters Marina

Amusing tree sculpture in the park

Fishy bike rack at the waterfront park

Visitor Center advertising upcoming Culture Crawl

Locals marina and cruiser hangout

Another sunny day so we walked heading towards the bridge to Pickett's Landing Park. We then followed a parallel street towards historic downtown and then along the waterfront in search of the Carrabelle Bottle House. We easily got in our 10,000 steps.

Pickett's Landing Park

Pickett's Landing Pier and Condos

Shrimp boat

Harry's Bar

Dockside Marine and Boatyard across the river

Cute turtles at waterfront park

Creative dolphins playing

Pelican by boat launch

Bottle house lighthouse

Bottle house closed for repairs

Dragon in the park

On another sunny day we hiked across the bridge with a view back of the marina across the island that makes the river branch.  We followed the road to the end with very little traffic along it. We passed the huge Carrabelle Boat Club shed, Dockside Marina and the RV community before stopping at Two Brothers Dockside Restaurant. Unfortunately it was not open for a drink on their waterfront deck.