I discover myself deeply touched by the outpouring of concern I’ve acquired by way of calls, emails, and texts. Even from sudden sources like Steve Badger, there’s been an amazing want for my security within the face of Hurricane Idalia. This gratitude, nevertheless, is tinged with an odd irony. Whereas my residence and group could be spared, another person will bear the brunt of this storm. I can’t assist however consider the cherished bay scallop looking areas, stretching from Steinhatchee to Homosassa Springs, that maintain so many fond reminiscences for me. They stand the chance of being decimated by the fierce winds and the upcoming storm surge.

Predicting the precise landfall of a hurricane is at all times a sport of probability. A mere 5 to ten-mile shift can spell the distinction between complete devastation and manageable injury for the subsequent fifty miles, particularly when the hurricane’s trajectory runs parallel to the coast. At the moment, the forecast means that Tampa Bay, together with my boats – Chip’s Ahoy! and Chip’s All In! – will likely be spared the worst of the storm. But, my ideas maintain drifting to the residents of Yankeetown and different quaint cities nestled within the Massive Bend space of Florida.

Wikipedia paints a vivid image of this area:

The Massive Bend of Florida, United States, is an informally-named geographic area of North Florida the place the Florida Panhandle transitions to the Florida Peninsula south and east of Tallahassee (the world’s principal metropolis). The area is thought for its huge woodlands and marshlands and its low inhabitants density relative to a lot of the state. The world is residence to the most important single spring in america, the Alapaha Rise, and the longest surveyed underwater collapse america, the 32-mile (51 km) Wakulla-Leon Sinks cave system.

The associated Massive Bend Coast area consists of the marshy coast with out barrier islands that extends alongside the Gulf of Mexico from the Ocklockonee River to Anclote Key. Florida’s Nature Coast area is included within the Massive Bend Coast.

The Massive Bend area is positioned on the northern finish of Apalachee Bay alongside the broad arc of land the place the predominantly east-west shoreline of the Florida Panhandle connects to the predominantly north-south geography of the Florida Peninsula. It stretches eastward from the Forgotten Coast previous the delta of the Suwannee River, with some definitions extending the southwestern finish so far as the sting of the Tampa Bay space. Inland areas are sometimes coated with woodlands and marshes across the southward- and southwestward-trending rivers draining in the direction of the Gulf of Mexico. The Massive Bend area consists of the world between the Apalachicola and Suwannee Rivers traditionally referred to as Center Florida. North Florida’s portion of the Pink Hills Area is positioned throughout the Massive Bend area. The Massive Bend Coast both accommodates or is coterminous with the Nature Coast.

Such cities, typically missed, are the true gems of America. As we hope for the perfect, let’s additionally decide to cherishing these locations. Let’s ship a prayer, maintain a optimistic thought, and make a promise: Every time we journey, we’ll take a second to really recognize the fantastic thing about these hidden treasures.

Thought For This Night

For any American who had the nice and priceless privilege of being raised in a small city there at all times stays with him nostalgic reminiscences.

—Dwight D. Eisenhower