Mexico Beach trip

[270win]

We trailered our SR to Mexico Beach last Saturday to spend this week playing in the Gulf. It's been a beautiful week! For themotet part it's been pretty calm. But last night when we headed out for our daily "sunset cruise" the Gulf was a bit rougher than we cared for. I've never been in 2-3' seas in this boat...it was fine but my older parents were not thrilled with the spray or spilling their wine. We never got on plane...or farther than 3/4 mile from the inlet. Coming back in with a following sea was really the best part of it.

In two days of fishing we've caught our limit of Kings and Red Snapper...over 100 lbs of fish in the freezer.

I could live here!!! I'll post some pics when we get back home.

 

[Swimparent]

We just got back from there on Monday...went down last Thursday. We snorkeled in St. Joseph's Bay and found a conch that was about a foot long. Go over to the point at Cape San Blas, anchor and there are spots about waist deep that are covered with sand dollars. Just be careful...there is a shelf which makes the water get very deep very quickly and the current is very strong in the afternoon as the tide goes out. Hope the weather holds out for you. As far as living there...lots of affordable housing at the moment.
Glad you all are having a great time!
If you want to go somewhere for a quiet drink...try the Thirsty Goat at the Port Inn in St. Joe. Just remember it is on Eastern Time.
View attachment 10246

 

[270win]

This place is amazing for boating, the lake is going to be a bit mundane after this!

fortunately this is only 6 hours away from home...

 

[270win]

We're thinking about buying a place there with my parents now.

The weather was incredible! The Gulf was smoother than the lake we usually boat on other than that one evening. The last day we fished 10 miles out and it was great! The boat performed flawlessly and everything went as planned...we limited out on fish every time we went. Now I need to decide if I want to buy a second boat (center console) or just use this one for the trips to the beach.

We're not sure where we're going to buy, but it will be on the Gulf in the Panhandle.

 

[fwebster]

Do yourself a favor and spend the same amount of time in Destin, Panama City Beach Mexico Beach and Port St. joe before deciding. Each location has something different to offer.

In my case, we bought a house, not a condo, on the west end of Panama City Beach for a variety of reasons: Best boating location with barrier islands, I'm on Front Beach Road so the kids can enjoy the beach when "the boat driver" isn't along, 12 miles out so it is on the quiet end of the beach (much like Mexico Beach), much better variety of restaurants & shopping (all the way from locals joints to up-scale stores and restaurants), Closer to interstates to cut down drive time, closer to airports, close enough (30 miles) to enjoy Destin shopping/restaurants if we want, etc.

 

[270win]

We've spent a fair amount of time in Destin but where we stayed was just too crowded. A good friend of mine has a condo (The Inn at Crystal Beach) so we've gone there frequently. I haven't been to PC for a vacation in a few years...actually more like 20 years! I've heard it's changed alot...for the better. We never did get over to PC to do any boating. I can see where it would be far superior to MB. At MB, you're either in the canal or you're in the Gulf, two extremes. Port St. Joe was nice, and Joe Mama's Pizza is the best pizza I've had anywhere...not cheap, but well worth it!!! Cape San Blas was really nice too, it looked like 90% of the properties out there were on the market. We also went to Apalach for the afternoon, that was great! The Grill on the corner in town makes an awesome Grouper sandwich.

There are alot of choices right now so we're just narrowing it down to location. Looks like the ol' 182 might be making some house hunting runs in the next few weeks!

You were right though, we fell in love with the Panhandle area once we got out on the water....

 

[Swimparent]

My brother-in-law lives in Port St. Joe. He is an attorney who specializes in real estate law. I will be glad to pass on his name if you are interested. We have property on Mexico Beach, Beacon Hill, Port St. Joe Beach, in town (Port St. Joe), Indian Pass, and Cape San Blas. We also have some property in East Bay that we bought for investment. We (my immediate family) are not in the real estate business to make a living so I would honestly tell you to hold off for a while (that whole oil well thing). Prices are really good right now....I am sure you saw all of the condos built on the canals....most of them are for sale cheaper than what they were sold for before construction was completed. Truth is...they will probably be cheaper yet. Property is being sold by auction almost every week. I love the condos on the canal & would love to have one if we kept a boat down there. The kids and I go often, the boat driver...not so much...he has to work Someday we would like to take our boat down the Tenn-Tom to the beach.....we/he just cannot get enough time away from the office right now.

Once again, I am glad you and your family had a good trip.

 

[270win]

My brother-in-law lives in Port St. Joe. He is an attorney who specializes in real estate law. I will be glad to pass on his name if you are interested. We have property on Mexico Beach, Beacon Hill, Port St. Joe Beach, in town (Port St. Joe), Indian Pass, and Cape San Blas. We also have some property in East Bay that we bought for investment. We (my immediate family) are not in the real estate business to make a living so I would honestly tell you to hold off for a while (that whole oil well thing). Prices are really good right now....I am sure you saw all of the condos built on the canals....most of them are for sale cheaper than what they were sold for before construction was completed. Truth is...they will probably be cheaper yet. Property is being sold by auction almost every week. I love the condos on the canal & would love to have one if we kept a boat down there. The kids and I go often, the boat driver...not so much...he has to work Someday we would like to take our boat down the Tenn-Tom to the beach.....we/he just cannot get enough time away from the office right now.

Once again, I am glad you and your family had a good trip.

If you don't mind sending your brother-in-law's name and number via PM that would be great.

My father is a real estate agent too, we were discussing the combination of the oil spill, the current property market and my thoughts that things will get worse...maybe much worse, before they get better. I don't think we've hit the bottom of the market yet so we're thinking the same thing. Time is probably on our side here...

We were also thinking about taking the boat to Chattanooga for a trip up the TN river through a few locks. Perhaps when the kids are a bit older.

 

[Swimparent]

Just sent you his name and number. This is our house we rent in St. Joe/Mexico Beach.

http://www.vrbo.com/95734

Yesterday, we went out to one of favorite spots and on the way into the cove we hit something...never saw what. On the way home one engine running 3200 rpms, the other 5,000. Oh well, I guess I know what Bill will be doing this week.

If you ever make the trip to the Tennessee River, let us know.

 

[270win]

Just sent you his name and number. This is our house we rent in St. Joe/Mexico Beach.

http://www.vrbo.com/95734

Yesterday, we went out to one of favorite spots and on the way into the cove we hit something...never saw what. On the way home one engine running 3200 rpms, the other 5,000. Oh well, I guess I know what Bill will be doing this week.

If you ever make the trip to the Tennessee River, let us know.

Thanks for the number!

I think we saw that house, actually I think we stopped right beside it to make a picture of a sunset on the way back from dinner at School of Fish at Windmark.

So do you know what happened with the boat yet? It's always something with boats!:grin:

Would you guys start the trip to TN in Lake Guntersville? It'll probably be next summer before we make that trip.

 

[Swimparent]

It depends on the amount of time you have. From here in Scottsboro it takes Bill 3-4 hours (depending on side trips, swimming, and time to get through Nickajack dam) to get to Chattanooga going around 27 mph. If you started in Guntersville above the dam, it would add another hour. The prettiest part of the trip to me is through the gorge just south of Chattanooga and Chattanooga is a great place to hang out for a couple of days. Minor league ballpark, great restaurants, the aquarium, the pedestrian bridge...all are right on the riverfront.

The trip to Knoxville from here would only be worth it to me on a football weekend in eary fall ;-) Beyond Guntersville towards the Huntsville area...not much stuff.
There is a guy (370 Dancer)who has just moved from south Florida to Huntsville and brought his 370 up that could probably give you more info on that area.

When you get closer to your trip, let me know. There are several folks around here who know the river very well and I can get their e-mail addresses to you. They would be glad to help.

Another great resource would be the Great Loop organization. A lot of Loopers do the side trip up to Chattanooga when doing the loop. Lots of specific mile marker info. The following link is to the blog of a boat from Lake Tellico (above Chattanooga) that has just crossed Lake Ontario on their trip. He has a section on the Tennessee River and he will be coming back this way in late fall I would imagine.
http://www.tellicolady.com/ourlogbook.html

As far as our boat, no word yet. We will see. The bilge pump is out on the ski boat, the motor wouldn't start on the 14 foot Alumna Craft on Saturday, and I am sure it is just a matter of time on the wave runner ;-) Got to love boating.

When you decide to do the Tennessee, plan to spend some time here & we will show you our favorite places to play. We don't fish much, but I am sure we can find some folks to show you the best places.