USA Road Trip- Destin and Henderson Beach State Park
Moving West from Florida
It was time to leave Talahassee and move on towards the Texas Gulf Coast
After some shopping at the local Best Buy we finally headed out of town on I-10 towards Pensacola and eventually Texas and Oklahoma. Our first experience of a KOA Campground at Ocachoobie was good, with well designed showers and an equally well set out camping area with a rondavel- type shelter and friendly and helpful staff.
On Monday we travelled about 200 miles, again on I-10, until we reached the beautiful area of Destin and stopped to watch a huge number of birds feeding off a school of bait fish in the inter coastal lagoon. We were lucky to find the last campsite available at the beautiful Henderson Beach State Park in Destin along the Emerald Coast. This State Park enjoyed a gold medal rating as the top State Park in the U.S.A. a few years ago, and was indeed a lovely place to be. The whitest, softest sand was gently swept by crystal clear, warm waves, and the sunset was spectacular.
The weather was however rather cool as the sun dropped below the horizon and we wished for something warmer to wear, especially as I was wearing a wet swimming costume after a pleasant swim and some good body surfing in the small, but perfectly formed waves, and Audrey had no jacket.
One of my now famous camp potjies sent us to bed to dream of white beaches and gentle waves and the promise of an early morning walk with the hope of finding a sand dollar or spotting some special birds. Audrey did the walk but because my knee was playing up I sat on the beach and was delighted to watch a pair of large American Gannets with their black tipped, white wings, gracefully and watchfully flying over the blue/green water and then sweeping and swooping with those same wings tucked in tight to dive into the water under their unsuspecting prey. After a few seconds they would reappear to take off across the ocean for a repeat performance!
At the same time I was amused by the small, white and black Sanderling, foraging along the water’s edge and then as they approached me scamper past with their short legs working overtime as they then settled again into their relentless search for food, following the edge of the waves breaking gently onto the white sand. The occasional Tern and Gull would also do a fly past in search of breakfast and then a trio of Brown Pelican flew low over the water looking for a place to feast. What a magic place to be but as always we have to keep moving and with the Thanksgiving week- end looming up we needed to secure accommodation in good time. Tonight we should be somewhere near New Orleans, but who knows?
