Retirement Blog: Lighthouse Day Trip

On the first sunny day of our stay on St George Island we made a lighthouse tour of the area.

The Cape St George lighthouse holds a dominate place in the center of the Island and we passed by it every time we drove on or off the island. Later, on our last day on the island, we were able to climb to the top for a special event that only occurs rarely, the moonrise and sunset are only minutes apart in opposite directions.

The area lighthouses included Cape St George Lighthouse, Crooked River Lighthouse, and St Mark Lighthouse.

The loop we drove was about 150 miles, round trip. We took the very scenic coast road drive along the bay, taking a few side roads and just meandering around the area. A couple of the side roads led to Bald Point and Alligator Point. We also visited (along with what appeared to be about 100 bikers) the town of St Mark which is separate from the lighthouse area, and the quaint harbor town of Carabelle.

The Crooked River Lighthouse is on the "wrong" side of the road and easy to miss, so of course, we missed it going out. Fortunately we managed to spot it coming back. Arguably the least impressive visually of the three lighthouses we visited, it was still a fine discovery, with a lot of history behind it.

The St Mark lighthouse was a little disappointing at first. Not that the lighthouse itself was not impressive, but it seemed almost impossible to get a good view of it. Everywhere we looked there was a tree in the way or signs or some other obstruction. After striking up a conversation with one of the refuge volunteers that was on the grounds, I learned of a little known trail along the beach to the back of the structure. After a short walk I was able to get the following shot.

We also enjoyed the drive through the salt marshes leading to the St Mark lighthouse. We spotted alligators sunning themselves, and hundreds of birds, of every color shape and size. We also learned that the area is winter home to the Whooping Crane. We were not lucky enough to see or hear those.

Even with the weather being a little uncooperative, we truly enjoyed our visit to this coastal area of northern Florida. We will definitely return if so blessed. Here are a few more pics from atop the Cape St George lighthouse.