Louisiana to Florida

This morning I said goodby to New Orleans and Louisiana. I crossed back through Gulfport and Mobile to enter Florida.

I immediately had a rude awakening that I was no longer in the Deep South (which I consider to be LA, MS, AL). I have made a habit of stopping at the welcome center as I enter each state. Often it is not useful, but sometimes I am able to obtain helpful information. I had heard horror stories about the FL toll system, especially for out-of-state vehicles who don’t have a SunPass. I noticed a whole kiosk devoted to tolls and SunPass sales, so I stopped to inquire. The woman working the kiosk immediately gave off a completely different vibe than I had become used to. She was not there to help, she was there to sell me something.

I asked her if it was worthwhile to purchase a SunPass for one week. Instead of listing the pros and cons, she took out a map which showed only toll roads. OK, that was marginally helpful, but still did not answer my question. She pointed out a couple of bridges that were cash only and for which the toll fluctuated depending on assorted variables. OK .... I asked her what the range might be and she could not say. So I started a courtroom interrogation - was it more than 1 dollar? Less than 100 dollars? What? She refused to give any kind of range. It looked like I would never go over the bridges listed, so I let it go. I pointed out to her that, unless I took a wrong turn, there was only one small section for which I would actually be taking a toll road. She was clearly there to sell SunPasses and started describing the fees, which were clearly not worthwhile for a week’s travel, mostly avoiding toll roads. I gave up and walked away. The irony is that crossing the bridge into Destin, which was not marked on the map, the toll was cash only UNLESS you had a SunPass. I was perfectly fine with the 4 bucks, but seriously? I fully expect to be confronted with some outrageous toll or other problem before I leave the state.

After I checked into my hotel I had a few hours to explore Destin. I had been here previously, but probably a good 20 years ago for work at Eglin AFB. I remembered the white sand beaches, but not the miles upon miles of strip malls that run parallel to the beach on the other side of the road. Henderson Beach State Park is just across the street from my hotel and it was a pleasant destination. I first walked the nature trail. According to the signage, this is some of the last remaining coastal scrub communities on the Florida Panhandle. Predictably, and in contrast to the masses of humanity on the public beach, I had the place to myself. Even the beach at the State park was much quieter. It is amazing what a six dollar admission fee can do to discourage crowds.

Tomorrow I will make one more pit stop just South of Sarasota.