Just found it on the map. You could give it a try - and if you don't like it go on to Cape San Blas. The beach at San Blas is incredible. Just incredible. You could also stop at St. George Island. I have friends that rent there every year. Just don't know about public access to beaches, but it's a nice place with good beaches, restaurants, etc.

SSSue?

Bald Point State Park is on Alligator Point (see second post above). I read in the paper this morning that two Wakulla beaches are off-limits for swimming because of high bacteria counts. Here's a website where you can check individual beaches you're thinking of visiting:

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/
Select "Beach Water Quality" from the drop-down menu on the upper right-hand side of the page. That will take you to a map that lets you click on a FL county and see whether there are any advisories for beaches in that county.

If it's really a pretty beach to lie on that you want, ebiddix, it is worth the slightly longer trip to St. George or Cape San Blas. Alligator Point is nice but not in the same league as far as beaches go.

From Valdosta, St. George looks like it is 3 hours + . We are going to try it, as we are doing this for a day trip--I'll let everyone know how it is looking these days.

Erika

Barbara--thank you--I think we were posting at the same time The daytrip is what is throwing us as far as deciding how far to go. Your input as been very helpful--I'm hopeful we can make it to Cape San Blas in the next few weekends when we can find an overnight dog watcher.

"Alligator Point is nice but not in the same league as far as beaches go."

Barbara, You are so diplomatic! I am going to have to remember that line!

I will be more blunt. I don't care for Alligator Point at all. The water is murky and the beaches are narrow and not real pretty. There also is not a lot of public access there. As far as I know there is only one public beach.

Ebiddix, The public beach in St. George is directly in front of you after you cross the bridge. However, I suggest taking a left at the 4-way stop and driving down to the state park. There are nice pavillions with showers and bathrooms and picnic tables.

I don't mean to seem too inquisitive, but are you elderly or have some disability that prevents you from driving more than three or four hours? You could leave by 7:00 am, get there by noon, have a nice lunch and lay out for two to three hours, have dinner and still be home well before midnight. If you aren't used to Florida sun, being that you are from St Louis, you don't need to lay out on the beach for more than two hours.
Having lived in Tallahasse, Pensacola and Panama City Beach, I can assure you that the previous posters are correct about the "beaches" at St Marks, Wakulla, Aligator Point, etc. Not worth the drive if your interest is sun bathing.

Thanks to everyone...

Gracie, you aren't being "too inquisitive" but it did make me laugh--we are 27 and 28 Truth of the matter is, we just relocated and haven't quite settled on a dog sitter, so we are limited on the number of hours we can be gone (they are still crated). We are testing a new one out on Saturday, for just a few hours, before we strive into overnight or all day territory...the puppies are a bit high maintenance.

One of the plusses to moving to Valdosta was the proximity to beaches. We've figured out how to do it to the Atlantic, just haven't figure out our bearings in relation to the Gulf yet.

Ebidix,
I had two theories as to why you moved from St. Louis to Valdosta. At first I thought Air Force, but discarded that theory because of the way you said "that's another story" in your original post. Now my second theory is your husband took a job at the university. How far off the mark am I???

You're right on the mark--he's a professor at the University. But, everyone I run into here (grocery store) etc. assumes we're military--that's pretty normal for here.

I am sure that's true, especially as young as you are!

You will have to take a day trip to Tallahassee and check out FSU.

We have very good friends here from St. Louis-actually the husband grew up in Cape Girado (sp?) and wife is from St. Louis.

Ah -- dogs. I completely understand. What we won't do for our dogs. For years, I traveled with my parents and our shared 6 pound maltipoo. It was hard finding hotels that allowed dogs back 10 years ago, but now that the hospitality industry is more accomodating, I no longer travel with my parents and the dog. (The parents have health problems.) I recently married last year and we have a blended dog family -- DH has a 70 pound rotweiller/lab mix.
Now I will be really inquisitive -- what kind of puppies do you have?

Happy Monday! Just a quick report from our daytrip. We ended up at St. George's Island--3.5 hours from the north end of Valdosta to the actual island itself including a stop. Not bad!

We had lunch at the Blue Parrot--decent beach food, good atmosphere and right on the water. It sits on a public beach with great sand and water. Folks seemed to be using the BP bathroom and geting drinks from their beachside bar.

We decided to head to the state park (for the showers mostly) and it was wonderful! $5 for the car and we went to the tip of the park. They recently finished brand new bathroom facilities and they were very nice and modern. Good outdoor showers too.

The beach was fairly empty--a family every 100 feet or so. Clear water, great weather--it was a great day!!

We will probably try the state parks from now on--to be honest, I wouldn't have thought to go that route without your help. Thank you again to everyone!!

Erika

So glad you enjoyed it. Those are my favorite beaches on Florida. If you decide on a longer visit, there are dog friendly rentals in the Indian Pass/San Blas areas. I used to go there yearly. Try out the Indian Pass Raw Bar sometime - if you want really good and inexpensive seafood.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And I'm glad to hear the facilities are finished, and that you could drive to the tip. I'll have to try to go down very soon (I haven't been there since Feb. of this year).

When my husband wanted to convince me that I would like living down here, that's where he took me. I still have a picture from that day (in the spring of 1994!) on the refrigerator. After growing up going to the Jersey shore (which I still love, so no insults please) I never get tired of a beach where you don't have to step around people to get to the water.

SunshineSue,
Are you interested in lunch at Indian Pass Raw Bar on Saturday, Sept 30th? I'm meeting friends at St. George that afternoon and would love to drive over to IP to check out the new digs

Hi Starsville,
That just might work. As it happens, my husband is supposed to be in your neck of the woods that weekend on a golf trip-Cuscawilla, near Reynold's Plantation, so maybe I can slip down to the island for a couple of nights. We have a place on St. George and if it isn't rented (not likely this time of year) I may just plan a trip. Even if it is I would enjoy a day trip. E-mail me, seg333@ aol dotcom. (Just trying to foil the spammers!) Look forward to hearing from you.

Yep, he may in fact be driving right past me. I'll email

The Raw bar IS open. The entertainment editor for my local newspaper, John MacDonald, mentioned eating there in his column a few weeks ago. Don't know if his column is online yet. This was in the August 11th issue of the Panama City News Herald.

I was at the Dillard House this weekend and saw an Indian Pass tshirt. I asked them if it had been snazzed up too much - and the answer was thankfully, no.

John MacDonald didn't mention any changes to the Raw Bar, and from his columns, I know he is a native of Port St Joe and has frequented the Raw bar many times.