Hobe Sound, FL

Stayed at: Jonathan Dickinson State Park - just north of West Palm Beach

Dates stayed: Oct 4 - 9, 2021

Located just north of West Palm Beach, this was our first Florida State Park that we stayed and we were SO IMPRESSED. This park in particular used to be a secret World War II training camp,, and you can still see some of the old buildings and foundations that remain. The park’s namesake was a shipwrecked Quaker merchant, and from this place lived Trapper Nelson, the legendary Wild Man of the Loxahatchee.

They had the best Nature Center, staffed with super smart and helpful park rangers - Owen became a Junior Park Ranger here, and because they had good WiFi, we did school quite a bit here. They also had a store close by that sold the best coconut popsicles I’ve ever had in my life.

They also have an alligator cove, and we saw two baby alligator, and what was either the papa or mama and that was pretty cool. We also spotted a gopher tortoise. Great mountain biking and trails in this area too.

We did not get out on the water on this stop, although we did go to the ocean, where there were miles and miles of shells. We also watched huge tarpin play in the surf, right next to shore.

Other points include the best pizza we’ve had to date (Fridays are pizza nights), although Tom left his credit card at the restaurant and thankfully made it back in time to get it as we were leaving EARLY the next day!

Anxious to see what future state parks have in store as we have a few more coming up.