Did Ft. Clinch State Park wow me like I thought it would?

I won’t beat around the bush in this post. I really, really, REALLY wanted to like Ft. Clinch State Park! In the days and weeks leading up to my 4 day camping trip, I had a lot of anticipation. I mean, what is there not to look forward to? Exciting things like being near the beach, finding sharks teeth, and a fort that goes back hundreds of years were at the forefront of my mind as I drove 3 hours from Tallahassee, Florida.

I guess I’ve sort of beat around the bush, haven’t I? I’ll say this… the fort was really cool! Visiting and walking through it is where I got my best pictures from the whole camping trip. I enjoyed ocean kayaking. As far as wildlife, I saw dolphins and an alligator (in the ocean, yikes!). But besides that, I was underwhelmed for a few reasons…

1. The campground is very spread out. To see the fort or explore trails from your campsite, you need a bike or car. I like being able to walk to the adventures, and this is not that type of experience.

2. There are 2 campground areas. One on the Atlantic side has no shade, but it does have gravel sites. I was parked at the campground closer to the fort. It had shade (a major plus), but the sites were dirt. I HATE DIRT SITES. For the first few days it didn’t rain and dirt still got everywhere in the trailer. On day 3 it rained and of course, that multiplied the dirt being tracked in from my shoes and my pups’ paws.

3. In 4 days, I found 5 sharks teeth, and this was after searching a couple of times each day. A pretty big disappointment. I’m not good at sifting through shells, I get that. Some people can find more in a short amount of time, but I was frustrated with the lack of success on my part!

Overall, my expectations were not met. It’s not necessarily any fault of the park itself (except for the dirt sites that, again, are absolutely no fun especially when it rains). My take-away is the great preservation of the fort. I enjoyed reading some history, walking where soldiers once trained, and getting a glimpse into what life was like so many years ago in the south. OK, enough talk! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip…