Camp Helen State Park

The property known as Camp Helen was first known as the Inlet Beach Hotel in 1910, including cabins (which no longer exist) and a General Store (which was later used as a kitchen, and still stands today.

 

In 1928, the property was sold as a private residence, and additional buildings were constructed.

The main home, now referred to as the Lodge,

 

which over looks Phillips Inlet – the connection between Lake Powell and the Gulf of Mexico,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

several cottages that were used for rental income,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the Caretaker’s Cottage,

and a stable. 

 

 

A water tower behind the main house provided all the water needed for the facility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1945, the property was purchased by Avondale Textile Mill as a corporate summer camp for their employees and families, and it acquired the name “Camp Helen”. 

The camp saw a lot of use during those years that it was owned by Avondale, and there is a slide show in the Visitor Center of pictures from that era.  Many people who come to visit the park now had also come here as children when their parents or grandparents worked at Avondale.

Avondale added the Recreation Hall, which is still used by the State Park today.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1996 – at the urging of a group of concerned citizens who later became the “Friends of Camp Helen” organization, the State of Florida bought the property, saving it from development into yet another high-rise hotel.

Now that the property is being preserved by the state, the historic building are being maintained but not open for use or tours.  There is a self-guided walking tour of the buildings, and on the 1st Saturday of every month the Friends Group holds a guided history tour.

The Lodge is available for rent for weddings, or meetings – we had our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner in there last weekend --

as is the Recreation Hall.  There’s a day camp for kids going on in the Rec Hall this week and next, and every other Wednesday in June & July the Friends of Camp Helen host a “Movie & More” session.

Sponsored by Camping World and other local businesses, the event is free for all attendees, including admission to the park.  The evening starts with a 30-minute program by the Rangers, then the kids and their parents roast hot dogs over campfires and make s’mores, and then a movies is shown in the Rec Hall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These events have been very popular, with 140 – 160 people attending each week.  Everyone seems to have a lot of fun.

Within the 184 acres of Camp Helen State Park, there are also many opportunities for recreation.  The park is sandwiched between the Gulf of Mexico,    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and Lake Powell, a large coastal dune lake.

At our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner last weekend, we watched a documentary that had been produced on coastal dune lakes recently.  This area of Florida is the only area in the US that has coastal dune lakes, and only one of a few location in the world.  The only other place that has as many is in Australia.

Coastal Dune Lakes are formed when the shifting sand dunes cut off an area of water from the gulf.  Over time, the water becomes brackish as rain water mixes with the existing salt water, and darkens in color as trees grow up around the shore and introduce organic matter into the water.         

One of the nature trails in the park is a paved walkway/raised boardwalk along Lake Powell,

 

with lots of options for bird-watching and fishing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a lovely area for an evening walk.

 

Each coastal dune lake has a natural inlet to the gulf where, in times of high water, the dark, brackish water of the lake flows back into the clear crystal-green water of the gulf.

The inlet here at Lake Powell is Phillips Inlet,

and it’s naturally closed by a sand bar under normal conditions.

 

This quiet area of water to the south of the Hwy 98 bridge is a favorite nesting area for shorebirds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we’ve been here, we’ve helped with the movie nights, I spend time in the Visitor Center,    

greeting visitors and handing out maps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On these hot July days, the air-conditioned Visitor Center is a popular place for people to come in and cool down after walking on the nature trail, or up from the beach.  It’s also a place for the volunteers to cool off!

 

Tom and Bryce have been helping out with a few maintenance projects in the park, including building a handrail for a new section of sidewalk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most photographed features of Camp Helen is the old pier.

 

During the Avondale era, Camp Helen had the longest pier out into the gulf, but it was abandoned later, and has slowly been deteriorating.

There are still a few posts in the water, too.

 

Last week when I felt like spending some time at the beach, I had Bryce drop me off with the gator.

 

From Camp Helen’s beach you can walk right along the sand bar into Panama City Beach.

 

Camp Helen is a real gem in the Florida panhandle, and we’re glad we had time to spend here exploring it!

Seaside, FL and Inlet Beach

When we first arrived at the beginning of the month, we took a drive down highway 30A along the emerald coast, but didn’t really stop anywhere.  I was completely enchanted by Seaside, FL, so on Saturday we took another drive, and this time we stopped to check it out.

 

The town of Seaside is a pretty new development, with cobblestone residential streets on either side of a small town square.

It’s a master-planned community, that was developed to have minimal impact on the environment.  There are no high-rise hotels, only individual vacation rentals and residences . . . and the downtown square, with it’s restaurants and shopping just off the beach is very cute.

 

 

 

We got there right after noon, and with the sun high in the sky, these palm trees were casting shadows on the sidewalk that looked like a painting!

There was a small Farmers’ Market going on, so we walked around a bit, and checked out a few shops.

There were a few cute shops, and if I had a seaside cottage to decorate, I could have gone crazy in one of them . . . but I didn’t.

They could use a quilt shop in this little town . . . just sayin’

At the far north end of town, we found a secluded “Artists’ Park”, surrounded by what looked like studio apartments, like something you would see in a big city – very cool.

My favorite part of Seaside, though, is the cute little Food Court area – all Airstream trailers.

 

There were a lot of food choices – hot dogs, BBQ, Asian, health food – but we weren’t ready to eat yet, so we just got Hawaiian ice.

 

OK, it was pricey . . . $6 for a small (I think we pay about $2.50 for the same in Shipshewana!), but it was cool & refreshing on a hot day.

From there, we crossed the street and walked down to the beach.  It’s a short walk, and there’s a covered seating area where people seemed to leave shoes, so we did the same.  We regretted that, though – the sand was extremely HOT even on the short walk down to the water!

The beach was full, with more people sitting under umbrellas than in the sun.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful beach . . . with hardly a speck of anything floating in it.  I told Tom it looked like they installed a filter out in the ocean somewhere to make sure that no seaweed made it to shore!

This is definitely the high-rent district, but it’s beautiful!

After our walk on the beach, we continued west on 30A, stopping in at the two other state parks on the beach – Grayton Beach, and Topsail Hill Preserve. 

They are both beautiful parks, with nice campgrounds that we could even get our rig into.

 

We stopped in the Ranger Station at both parks to get information on volunteer opportunities and the contact info of the Volunteer  Coordinator at each park.

They both seem like really nice parks, and we know people who volunteer at both of them and enjoy it, but I think our preference might be Grayton Beach – it’s smaller, and seems less commercialized than Topsail Hill Preserve.

 

 

 

When we left Topsail, we were at the end of 30A, and if we continued west we would end up in the chaos of Destin, so we turned around and made our way back toward Camp Helen.

In the evening, after dinner, Tom and I decided to go catch the sunset at the beach.  We could have just walked to our beach here at Camp Helen, but it was still pretty hot out, so we drove to Inlet Beach instead.  Tom wanted to get the truck out anyway, and it’s right next to the park.

When we arrived, we weren’t sure we were going to see much of the sunset since there was a big cloud covering it, but we hung around anyway, walking down to the state park boundary and back.

As we were making our way back, the big cloud was moving, and we gradually saw more of the sunset.

We saw birds flying overhead, and sand castles on the beach,

and the set-up for a sunset wedding.

By the time we walked to Camp Helen and back, the wedding had started,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and the sky was getting prettier. 

We talked with a resident of Inlet Beach as we all enjoyed the sunset.

 

Beautiful end to another beautiful day!