St. George Island, Florida

Old Jun 25th, 2003, 05:54 PM
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St. George Island, Florida

It's in the Panhandle, east of Panama City Beach. Has anyone been there, and if so, does it have great beaches?
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Old Jun 25th, 2003, 06:05 PM
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The beaches are great but its a quaint little town.
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Old Jun 25th, 2003, 06:08 PM
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St. George Island is one large beach front Island. It is also mostly residential. I believe that there are many homes that are available for short term rental. There are only a few hotels in the area. We stayed in Appalacheecola {sp?}. Had a great time.
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Old Jun 25th, 2003, 06:10 PM
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If you are looking to stay in the area, I would highly recommend The Port Inn in Port St Joe. It is very close to St. George island.
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Old Jun 25th, 2003, 07:11 PM
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I've never stayed there, but have driven around and have spent a lot of time shopping in Apalachicola (a neighboring historic town). If I remember correctly, there was one gated resort and lots of houses - some private and some for rent. It's upscale and quiet - very quiet since it is an island. The beaches are beautiful - like they are all along the panhandle coast.
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Old Jun 26th, 2003, 04:31 AM
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I live over here... St George is ok, we go over occasionally to go out to the one or two clubs/bars. The beach on St George is ok, and like another poster said, part of the island is gated. However, that whole area is teaming with wonderful beaches/communities. Port St Joe is just starting to thrive with the mill gone and the Port Inn is really looking good - it just reopened this year after having new owners and refurbishments. Right across the street is a WONDERFUL resturant, the Sunset Coastal Grill, highly recommend it! Mexico Beach is also a great, more established place to stay with hotels or rent a home. Apalachicola is a quaint old fishing village that they are really trying to fix up. They have prob done more in that community than else where along that coastal area. And of course this is where Cape San Blas is, which was voted the number 1 beach in the world (or was it us?) last year by Dr Beach. There are houses along it to rent also. The only word of warning would be around Indian Pass there tends to be a lot of yellow flies and dog flies in the summer, which if you ever get stung by them you will know HURTS! Personally, I wouldn't stay at St George, I would stay in one of the other areas and visit the Island...
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Old Jun 26th, 2003, 05:42 AM
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Stay on the private end of the island. There is an inn or you can rent homes. nice, clean, quiet beach--- Drive into Apalachicola to eat at Christine's on the River. Make reservations.
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Old Jun 26th, 2003, 05:44 PM
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I don't think we'll rent as we're about three hours away in the NW Gainesville area. Want to give it a try some weekend.
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Old Jun 28th, 2003, 02:38 PM
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We stayed on St.George a couple of yrs. ago.On the public part of the island I believe there is only one hotel on the beach.It was an older hotel and the room we were first given was on the ground floor and the windows didnt open. We asked for something else and got a room in the newer building they had at the side of the hotel. It was a nice room but there are only about six or eight in the building. The island is pretty flat with not many trees. Just houses. There are only a couple of places to eat. Cant think of any reason to go there really.We got bored,it was really really hot and we came home a day early. Destin is a lot better.
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Old Jun 28th, 2003, 04:28 PM
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The only reason we want to try it is because Atlantic beaches are 90 minutes away and the closest good Gulf beaches are Clearwater Beach (3 hours) and St. George Island (3 hours). If someone knows a closer white sand Gulf beach to Gainesville, please let me know!
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Old Jun 29th, 2003, 12:21 PM
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Again, try Cape San Blas. Just follow 98 West another little bit. Beautiful beaches, although not alot of resturants etc. But then you are only going for the day. Mexico Beach is also just 45 mins or so from St George Island and they do have resturants etc.
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Old Jun 30th, 2003, 07:48 AM
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You mentioned Clearwater Beach as being 3 hrs. away. I live in Clearwater and went to school in Gainesville, and that trip is no more than 2 1/2 hours. I know the difference is only 30 min., but maybe that'll help you make your decision. As for St. George Is., I went to that area last year and loved it. It's very natural-looking. I would agree with some of the other posts and stay somewhere else and drive in. We stayed at the Gibson Inn in Apalachicola and loved it. It's a great town to explore and then drive to the beach.
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Old Jun 30th, 2003, 08:54 AM
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If you are curious about Florida's Forgotten Coast (which runs from Eastpoint down to Mexico Beach), I would visit it soon. It is being developed and changing. The St. Joe Company, which owns a LOT of land in the Florida panhandle, is lobbying to move Hwy 98 further inland. This is sad, because right now Hwy 98 along the forgotten coast is one of the prettiest drives around - the highway in most spots is very close to the ocean. So my recommendation? Go for a weekend if you can, stay at the Gibson Inn in Apachicola or at a hotel somewhere along the coast. If you really can only come for a day, spend some time shopping/wandering around Apachicola, some time at a beach (either St. George Island or Cape San Blas) and be sure to take that drive down Hwy 98 all the way to Mexico Beach. (You'll want to turn around in Mexico Beach or you'll find yourself driving through approx. 15 miles of Tyndall Air Force Base forest and you won't have the opportunity to turn around until after that.)

For your reference, here is the website for Eastpoint/St. George Island/Apalachicola: http://www.apalachicolabay.org/
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Old Jun 30th, 2003, 04:09 PM
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Thanks for your help. I have made several drives along Rt. 98 all the way to Pensacola but still just wanted a good day trip to the beach.

Jon, I'm actually 20-30 minutes NW of Gainesville almost in High Springs, so that's why it usually takes me three hours to Clearwater Beach.
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