Things Are Different In Florida — driving to Port St Joe 11/26/21

As we drove the back roads away from civilization Toward the forgotten coast and the Gulf of Mexico, I started noticing things. Everything is different in Florida. They have lots and lots and lots of trees. Then we saw areas which once had trees but they were gone. It was odd. Like a forest fire but nothing was charred.

Turns out that the timber industry is huge business in Florida. Who knew? 50% of Florida’s total land is forest land. Mostly pine forests. But the pine trees are not like in NY — they are very tall and skinny. Nothing like Christmas trees. They are swamp pines also are called slash pines.

The closer we got to the coast i started noticing huge areas that once had trees but now they are gone. It was really strange. Other forests had areas that had been logged but not clear cut for miles. Then we started noticing foundations of houses. Closed businesses with no roofs or signs for businesses but the building was gone.

In October of 2018 a category 5 hurricane hit the forgotten coast. The eye of the hurricane passed right over Port St Joe. So that is what happened to all the trees.