St Joseph Peninsula State Park Cape San Blas Florida

It was late in the day when we arrived at St Joseph Peninsula State Park.  That's because we stopped at our new home on the way to the park.  Jim had never been here before and I was so anxious for him to see the beach and the condo.  We couldn't go in because some snowbirds are currently renting it until April 1st.  My stomach was in knots hoping and praying that Jim would love it as much as I did when I first saw it-and he did !  He couldn't believe how close we were to the beach-less than 50 steps away.  So we walked along the beach, checked out the condo from all angles and then headed to the park

We were in space 113 in the Shady Tree campground as opposed to the Gulf Breeze campground.  We talked to the ranger about switching to Gulf Breeze the next day and lucky for us there was an opening but we had to be at the station at 8am.  So we got up bright and early and that's when we ran smack into the gorgeous sunrise.  We just couldn't believe the colors and the peacefulness of the area.  We keep pinching ourselves since we can't believe we are so blessed to live in such a beautiful area.

We drove through Gulf Breeze campground and decided the sites were much closer together than Shady Trees so we went happily back to space #113 for the week we stayed here.

We stayed at this park because it gave us access to things we needed to take care of in anticpation of our move to Cape San Blas.  We found a storage facility just 6 miles from our condo; a CPA to help us figure out our tax mess this year; and we got to introduce Hailey to the beach she would come to know as home.  She loved it and it's not even the best time of the year according to the locals.  As far as I'm concerned anytime at the beach is the best time of the year.

We usually don't eat a lot of hot dogs but on this trip I discovered Boar's Head Vidalia Onion mix-oh so good.  But we used it up before we got to this campground and it's very hard to find.  So I looked at the ingredients and mixed up my own batch-Jim thought it was even better than the Boar's head !

I chopped up 2 Vidalia onions and cooked them in a little bit of olive oil until they started to soften and get a little transparent.  I added 2 chopped tomatoes (chopped into very small pieces).  To that I added about 3 tablespoons of garlic powder; about 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar; and 3 tablespoons of McCormick Smokehouse Maple seasoning; a sprinkling of salt to taste and about 1/4 cup of barbecue sauce. This was very very good on the hotdogs. Experiment with your seasonings-we like it a little spicy so I also added about a tablespoon of red pepper flakes. Then refrigerated everything.

I told Jim I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the beach for the entire week we were here-he said it's because I felt like I was at home and not just visiting-so I didn't need pictures to remind me . I promise to post pictures of the gorgeous beach-because it is so very pretty with the white sand and turquoise blue waters.  Until then, Happy Trails to all of you.