Saturday, April 29, 2023

Dwarf Cypress in Tate’s Hell, Tupelo Honey in Wewahitchka, and Other Stuff [April 10 – 30, 2023]

Water Lilly's in Tate's Hell


Tate’s Hell [April 10, 2023]

 

We have mentioned before that the Forgotten Coast is quiet and relatively undeveloped with small towns and “Mom and Pop” businesses.  Several of the reasons it isn’t developed like the rest of the Florida Panhandle coastline are Apalachicola National Forest and Tate’s Hell State Forest.  Tate’s Hell is more swamp than forest, and serves as a green buffer to the adjacent bays and marshes.

 

Overlooking the Dwarf Cypress

Legend has it that Tate’s Hell gets its name from a local farmer, Cebe Tate, who went into the swamp searching for a panther that was killing his livestock.  He got lost, was bitten by a snake (species unspecified in the legend but they do have Coral Snakes here), drank the swamp water, and wandered around the forest for days.  Finally, he came into a clearing near Carrabelle and lived long enough to say “My name is Cebe Tate, and I just came from Hell!”

 

Dwarf Cypress trees

In the middle of Tate’s Hell is a sizable grove of 300-hundred-year-old Dwarf Cypress (sometimes called Hat Rack Cypress) trees that grow no more than 6-15 feet tall; most Cypress trees grow 50-80 feet tall.  They say that the tree growth might be stunted because of an underlying layer of clay and low-nutrient soil in that area, but they aren’t really sure.

 

Boardwalk above the trees


There is a boardwalk up to an observation platform where you stand above the tallest tree and look out over the top of this interesting grove.

 

Bee hives in Tate's Hell

Tate’s Hell is home to many wild animals, including bears who are sometimes seen in town or along the road.  Along our drive through the swamp to reach the Dwarf Cypress grove we passed several banks of bee hives surrounded by electrified fences, perhaps to keep out the bears?  We had heard that bee keepers in this area move their hives to locations when particular trees are blooming.  Perhaps that is what we were seeing.

 

Tupelo Honey

Wewahitchka [April 24, 2023]

 

Tupelo Honey is a delicious, rare and special honey made from the nectar of flowering Tupelo trees.  This part of Florida is where most of the Tupelo Honey comes from.  Tupelos live in swamps among Cypress trees.  Beekeepers load their hives onto barges and float them under the flowering trees.  The Tupelo blossoms are very fragile and are easily damaged by weather.  Tupelo honey season can last for 3 weeks, or just for a few days.

 


The center for Tupelo Honey-making is Wewahitchka, Florida a few miles north of the smaller town of Honeyville.  We visited the Smiley Honey Co. to learn more about Tupelo Honey.  They purchase raw honey from the beekeepers and store it in large cans.  Then they pump the honey into a vat where it is warmed just enough to flow freely (but not so hot as to kill the beneficial elements) through a filter and into containers on a hand-operated machine.  Another employee manually affixes labels to the containers.  Then the product is packaged to be mailed to you the online purchaser.

 

Vintage 2020 Barrel Aged Tupelo Honey

The folks at Smiley Honey Co are experimenting with aging Tupelo Honey in a retired bourbon whiskey barrel.  They let us taste it out of the barrel (we used clean spoons).  It was delicious!  We ordered some to be sent to us after it was bottled at the end of the week.  We are open to suggestions of ways we can eat it…

 

We visited the Smiley Honey Co. a few days after the bees were placed among the Tupelo trees.  Since then, we have had two days of heavy rain and two other days of high winds.  We hope the weather has not adversely affected this year’s honey harvest.

 


You can find out more about the Smiley Honey Co by clicking here.  They sell many types of honey in addition to the Tupelo, as well as beauty aids created from beeswax.

 

Our campsite at Carrabelle Beach RV Resort

We have camped at Carrabelle Beach RV Resort for the past two weeks, across the street from a beautiful long white sand beach.  Every morning, we take Schooner for long sunrise walks where she can swim, retrieve her fetching dummy, and run around on the empty beach.  Here is a video of Schooner one beautiful morning.




 

Tomorrow we start our journey home.  We’ve had a wonderful adventure these past 8 weeks.  We started out wearing our winter coats and gloves on the windy beaches of North Carolina and have finished up basking in the hot Florida sun. 

Cape San Blas bright white beach and green water

Kayaking St. George State Park




In case you ever wondered if pelicans drag their fingers in the water as they fly over

No comments:

Post a Comment