Florida's Last Frontier: Horseshoe Beach

(If some of you wonder what happened to us over the last month, I dropped my computer and broke it. Those Toughbooks aren't as tough as I thought. It's repaired and back now, and I'm starting to write again.)

Consuelo flew to Phoenix to sew with her girlfriends from Minnesota, leaving on Feb 20 from Tampa, and returning on March 1. I stayed home, attended to some RVmaintenance, walked the dog, and visited my cousin Fred in New Smyrna Beach.

When Consuelo returned, I met her at the airport with a yellow rose. I really missed her while she was gone.

<- Horseshoe Beach Waterfront

The next day, we ventured forth in the rain to a tiny Florida town on the Big Bend on the Gulf, Horsheshoe Beach. This is a little fish camp, almost no businesses, and 20 miles from the nearest town. It's the next town up the Gulf from the Suwanee River, of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home" fame. From what we saw, the Suwanee river mouth is a much more popular destination, with numerous campgrounds and activities like waterparks.

The reports we had were that you could camp on the beach for free. What we found was a county park, wherein the edges of the boat ramp parking lot had enough space to park on, but just barely, for us with our 38' motorhome. There were about 6 picnic table shelters, and 7 or 8 RV sites. Electricity and water were provided (30 amp, even) but no dump station. There were toilets in the middle. The going rate for RV sites was $12/night for foreigners, $8 for locals. Five or six other families were camping over the weekend while we were there.

The "beach" was not. A retaining wall surrounded the park. The bottom of the wall was in the water. As this is the gulf side, the average depth at high tide was probably a foot. At low tide, it was a negative foot. Good place to look for clams. But not to swim.

<- The dirt roads of Horseshoe Beach

There were a large number of what appeared to be seasonal houses in the community. And canals had been dug between most of the streets, and just about ever house (trailer, cabin, mobile home) had a dock and a boat on the canal. Some building sites were for RVs, and some had old, immobile RVs still in place. The place got hammered by the "Storm of the Century" in the early 90s, and the newer houses that had been rebuilt were up 10-12 feet off the ground, to avoid any future storm surges.

There was one convenience store, one restaurant, where we had dinner one night. Food was OK, not remarkable. There was a marina that also had a campground. $25/night, no view. At least in the county park we could watch the sun go down over the mud. There was a deep channel out to the open Gulf, enough to support a small fleet (we saw 2, one for sale) of shrimp boats. The local famous delicacy is scallops, though, and not in the season we were there.

There were lots of birds, and starting about 7:00 on Saturday and Sunday morning the fisherpeople began to arrive with their boats, filling up the remaining space in the park with pickup trucks and boat trailers. They put in, an motored out about 7 miles to where the fishing started, navigating the channel.

<- Air boat going out to fish

A few folks had air boats, the kind that the Everglades are known for. When the tide was in, they just zipped straight out of the harbor. I had never been around them before. Given that the are driven by propellers, they sound just like airplanes. I kept looking out our windows for an airplane buzzing us, but finally realized it was the air boats. And, they are loud. Really loud. I don't think you could sneak up on any fish with them.

The park was posted in several places with signs that said "No Pets". We talked to several of the other campers, who said that the intent was to keep the place from being overrun with barking dogs, and Thumper would not contribute to such behaviour. But we were careful to keep her out of sight when the lady came to collect our rent.

We spent 2 nights there, and found it interesting, but not what we expected.