Another Beach Trip to St. George Island

I know not everyone enjoys seeing vacation pictures, but most of you seem to like it when I share our beach trips. Someone told me once that they didn’t want to see my travel posts, but that doesn’t seem to be the majority and also I share these trips because I’ve been doing so for 18 years and this blog is a diary of my life for all those years. I go back often and look at old posts when I can’t remember when things happened, so that comes in handy. As I’ve mentioned before, Mark’s family has been going to St. George Island, FL for 25 or 30 years. His kids grew up going there and when we first met I went that first summer we were dating and we’ve been several times since then. With the kids growing up and having families, it’s not as easy to go as a group anymore, with school and work schedules to contend with. We managed to rally most everyone last year to go for Kim, Mark’s sister who passed away from cancer in August, just weeks after that beach trip last year. We sure do miss her and we know there’s nothing she would like more than to be there with us this trip too. Her husband, David, joined us for 4 nights and it was nice to have him. Other than that, it was me, Mark and Daisy, and we had a relaxing time of just sitting on the beach most all day and looking forward to what seafood we would eat that night. That’s half the fun of going to the beach, the seafood!

We decided a couple months ago to go back in September, so I started looking online to see what was available. We wanted to be on the beach, so I started looking at these beach cottages. I think the official name is Cottages on Boardwalk and there are about 30 of these that were built all in a row, just to the left of the lighthouse when you come on the island. St. George is just over the bridge from Apalachicola, FL, a cute town too.

I found a few of these on the Collins beach rental website and settled on Aboard the Katie Leigh. It was available the week we were looking at and I loved the looks of these cottages and how close they were to everything. We could walk to the Blue Parrot restaurant, as well as Aunt Ebby’s ice cream shop and there was a neat coffee shop right across the street from our front porch. Very convenient! This is my most favorite house we’ve stayed in so far on the island because of how cute it is and how convenient too. They are not all managed by Collins, so if you want to check out more of them, you’ll have to see if you can find them elsewhere. I noticed on the signs outside many of them there were all different management companies listed, but I know Collins had a few of them. You can click on that link and look inside, it was adorable and had everything we needed. I was super happy with it, the layout was great. We only used 2 of the bedrooms, but it had an upstairs loft area with a Queen bed and 2 bunks which was cute as well. The bathroom for that bedroom was located on the middle floor. Bottom floor had the master bedroom and one other bedroom & they both had private bathrooms. Middle floor had the living room and kitchen and then the loft room up above that.

Mark was up about 7 am every morning and got our tent set up. I helped him too since it took two people to pull apart the metal frame. It was such a relaxing place to stay and we loved the views. How could you not love this?

I loved the dunes with the little fences to protect the sea oats and grass. The best part about St. George is how isolated it is and it still feels like Old Florida as opposed to all the high rises of the other beach towns that are so popular. You won’t see a highrise on St. George. Three stories are all you’ll see.

The weather was picture perfect in the mid 80’s, with a beach breeze blowing every day. There were a few people on the beach, but it wasn’t crowded at all.

A shot from the living room looking out to the water. What a view! Oh, we took Daisy too as you can see. She did fine and stayed in the house while we were on the beach. I went back and forth a  lot so she wasn’t alone for long. I would take her out on the porch too and she enjoyed looking at everything going on.

Master bedroom with king bed view on the lower level.

I enjoyed eating my breakfast on the upper porch many mornings.

The sunrises and sunsets on the island are spectacular and each day they were a little different, so I took plenty of pictures. This is sunrise around 7 am.

And sunset looking the opposite direction.

Our little cottage from the back. It’s so cute and the perfect beach house if you’re looking for 3 bedrooms. We paid $2800 for the week, which isn’t cheap, but beach rentals have really gone up the last few years. And that’s off season!

Our favorite beach front seafood joint on the island is Blue Parrot and we always go there the first night and usually another night too. Nice beach views, right on the beach side and the food is good too.

I love their grilled shrimp with cheese grits and slaw. So yummy! I got seafood every single day and never get tired of it.

The lighthouse was just next door to where we stayed and we walked past it to get to the Blue Parrot. It was nice to walk instead of drive.

Another night we went to another favorite restaurant in Apalachicola, the Owl Cafe. They have been there for many years and their food is always fantastic.

I got the special, which was redfish that night. So good!

The lobby of the Owl Cafe. I wanted to take a pic of this dress. I got it in Cashiers, so don’t have a link for it, but it was perfect for the beach.

We also tried a new to us place in Apalachicola called Up the Creek and it was great. It was simple seafood done well, with a casual dining option on their open porch looking out to the bay. The food was delicious and we ended up going here twice.

David was with us too for those meals.

This was our view. I got the grilled shrimp again with sweet potato fries and slaw. I loved it so much I got it twice.

A beautiful and relaxing view for dinner.

The sunsets were so spectacular every night, so we would go and eat and then go back out to the beach and watch the sunset.

Such a pretty time of night. I took Daisy out there with us.

Sunsets do not disappoint.

The skies in St. George are always changing clouds and beautiful colors.

Spectacular!

Me and Daisy

Another beautiful sunrise.

This particular day, the sunset was just stunning and I couldn’t stop taking pics. Those orange and coral clouds changed and evolved.

God’s glory showing off!

It was something else!

Beautiful end to a beautiful day.

Our cute cottage all lit up at night.

We ended up going over to Panama City to Captain Anderson’s, a fave for both of us for many years. It was fun to meet up with college friends that I haven’t seen in awhile too.

Another beautiful sunset evening at the lighthouse.

This was our last night and I wanted to capture the sunset with the lighthouse against it.

It’s absolutely stunning on St. George. It was a wonderful week of rest and relaxation and much needed after the tragic events of the week before transpired. It gave me time to rest and thank God that he is sovereign and in control and we don’t always understand his plans, but we can trust Him.

I’m scheduled for my second hip surgery October 21, so just wanted to let you know that too. My first hip surgery has done so well and I’m 3 months out from that one now and doing great. I hope the second goes as well as the first! I’ll be ready to travel again next year and I plan to do just that.

 

Don't Miss a Post, join my list!