I could claim it was the warm waters of St. Joseph Bay with its porpoises, rays, and turtles that brought me to Gulf County. I could rhapsodize over the delicious light of dawn and dusk, a swirling photographer's dream of electric skies aglow in pink and lilac and tangerine. I could linger over the seductive flavors of this quiet coastline and the succulent sweetness of scallops plucked from the bay. Or I could park myself at the Sunset Coastal Grill, infusing my senses with the southern aromas of plump shrimp boiled to perfection and pecan-crusted mahi-mahi. Then there's Tupelo honey, to me only a great Van Morrison song until that first bewitching taste of the real thing, a delicate amber nectar straight from the cypress swamps around Wewahitchka's legendary Dead Lakes.

In truth it was none of these things. It was Ulee's Gold, a movie filmed in Gulf County, which brought me here. Those southern landscapes

hung with Spanish moss, sandy back roads winding away into the slash pines, and soft light filtering through ancient trees and slanting across still backwaters called to me. I made plans.

Sometimes we arrive at a place and it's not all we expected. Not here. Come and let Gulf County reveal itself - slowly. Walk the silky-sand beaches and get a glimpse of what was once the natural beauty of Florida. Follow the evening light as it bathes the sea grass marshes in burnished tawny tones. Watch a heron stalk the sunset shallows in pursuit of dinner. Close your eyes and savor that first taste of pure Tupelo honey.

And let the magic of Gulf County wash over you.

Eric Lindberg
Travel Journalist and Photographer
2013 and 2011 Photographer of the Year
Society of American Travel Writers