Day 2 - Most Scenic Drives in America Route #118 and the drive to Pensacola

The Road/Segway

After leaving Marianna, it was my intent to follow route #118 from the Most Scenic Drives book, from Apalachicola National Forest to Wakulla Springs to St. Marks Wildlife Refuge, then hugging the coast to Panama City.  This route required that I retrace some of the drive on I10, almost all the way back to Tallahassee.  Eric had mentioned Three Rivers State Park, which we had passed on the way to Marianna.  I had noticed it as well, and as I was approaching the exit for it on I10, I decided I may as well take a look at it.

When I got to Three Rivers State Park, the ranger at the gate looked at me a little inquisitively as he asked if I was just there to drive around.  I replied in the affirmative, not understanding why he had an overtone of "why are you here?" in his voice.  He said if I was just going to drive around, I didn't have to pay, so in I went.  It is a nice enough park, but it is small, with a picnic area consisting of two pavilions, a camping area, and a boat ramp.  This is the feature that this park is really about.  Being at the junction of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers, which Lake Seminole before the waters go through the Jim Woodruff Dam to form the Apalachicola River, it is more a fishing and boating based park than a terrestrial one.

Moving on from Three Rivers, I took a road labelled Woodruff Dam Overlook. I never saw the dam overlook, but I did see the dam it was referring to while driving across a bridge which took me to Chattahoochee. I drove to the center of Chattahoochee - to the funny farm, where life is beautiful all the time... really - it's the State of Florida Mental Hospital.

After observing the stark white washed walls of the Chattahoochee Mental Hospital, I decided to get back on course, so back to I10 I went - and back across the time zone line to Eastern time. Scenic Route #118 includes a visit to Tallahassee, but I didn't want to take the time to go there, as I wanted to get to Pensacola that evening. I still wanted to encompass most of the routes covered by it, so I diverted from I10 down FL HWY 267, which was a fun drive (lots of ups and downs) heading into Lake Talquin State Forest and Apalachicola National Forest.

Wakulla Springs

At the end of HWY 267, I headed east to Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park. This park features a large swimming area as well as a river tour. They sometimes operate glass bottom boats, like Silver Springs, but for the last couple of years, the spring has been cloudy, so they don't bother with them unless it clears up.

I decided to take the river tour, which I expected would be much the same as Silver Springs' tour, and I was right. However, the tour guide/ranger was one of the most entertaining and informative guides I've ever had, starting out with a full song - not just a jingle - about the river, which was quite funny and set the mood for the rest of the tour. He and other riders pointed out several animals throughout the tour, including the usual birds, gators, fish, and also a white tail deer, which was too obscured for me to take a picture of before it ran off.

On the return up the river, we passed through the area used for the shooting of the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies. The Creature From the Black Lagoon, and other movies were also shot at the springs (interesting that it was used for such a movie, since many dinosaur skeletons hve been found here, including the mastodon bone displayed in the visitor center) . We continued to the 150ft deep spring, which was cloudy that day, so visibility into it was poor, then back across the swimming area to the dock. Though it was much like Silver Springs, overall, I think it was a little nicer, and parallels much of the history, including it use as a vacation spot, movie set, and it's conversion from a private resort to a State Park.

US Rte 98

From Wakulla Springs, I headed southward to the St. Marks Wildlife Preserve, located at the arm pit of Florida, right on the gulf. Hoping I could climb the lighthouse, I drove the 15 mile road through the marsh, to find out that access to the interior of the lighthouse is prohibited. I took a little walk around the lighthouse, then left the preserve, and headed west on US Rte 98.

Along Rte 98, I passed through several towns and cities, including Carrabelle, home of the Worlds smallest Police Station., crossing back into the Central Time zone. Having already been to the US's Smallest Post Office in Ochopee, FL, I thought I should visit the smallest police station as well. The Post Office was small. The Police Station was smaller. It is literally a phone booth. I took a picture of my car impounded in the police station's lot, and drove on.



I stopped for lunch at Carrabelle Beach around 4:30, which is a small causeway of pavilions on the stretch of natural quartz beach along Rte 98. I made a PBJ tortilla and ate an apple while I checked out the pristine sands and small dunes.

After this short respite, I drove on toward Apilachicola. By the time I got to Apilachicola, night was dawning, and I knew I would be getting to the campsite late. I checked out a little of the downtown, and the Veterans Memorial.

I got back on the road, and headed toward Panama City.   Driving through, I chose to drive the business route, going past a large factory, then I thought I would like to check out Panama City Beach. This wasn't smart. Trying to drive Panama City Beach on a Saturday night during Spring Break. I crawled through Front Beach Road. After creeping along for a while I took a side road back to Rte 98, and bee lined through Fort Walton Beach, then north to Milton, where one of the two KOAs near Pensacola is located.

Driving toward Milton, I went through a lot of dense smokey fog, and it was still around when I got to the entrance of the KOA.  Thinking that I would likely be camping in it, and because it was around 11:00 already, I didn't want to pay to stay in the smokey mess, so I headed south-west toward the KOA in Lillian Alabama, a route that took me through Pensacola.  I arrived in Pensacola around midnight, and wanted to eat something for dinner, so I had my first visit to a Krystal Burger.  They are indeed tiny burgers, though they weren't bad - at least as hungry and tired as I was.

By the time I finished eating my tiny burgers, I was feeling more alert than before hand, but I was still worn out, and still didn't like the prospect of spending the full amount to camp for less than half the night after the remaining 25 min. drive to the KOA in Alabama.  I found a Walmart, parked my car in the most remote corner of the parking lot, and took a nap...