Eric Rodriguez

If you are tired of what they call the beach at Keaton or you have tried to find the beach at Horseshoe Beach to no avail, I have just the place for you to try, and it is only about a three-hour drive from Live Oak.

Mexico Beach, Florida, is a great place to go to see a nice, wide, white sand beach that does not have hardly any tall construction to ruin the seaside view. There are some houses on the beach, but there are still some stretches where all you see from the road are sand dunes, seagulls and the Gulf of Mexico.

There are many ways to get to Mexico Beach, but my favorite route starts by heading south towards Mayo on State Road 51. Once you cross the river, take County Road 536 to U.S. Highway 27. You will pass through Lafayette and Taylor counties. Don’t worry; once you get past the pines and the prisons, the drive does start to get more scenic. When you get to Perry, stay straight on Hwy. 27 and it turns into Hwy. 98. You stay on this road all the way to Mexico Beach. If you get to Tyndall Air Force Base, you went too far.

On the way, you will pass through Carrabelle, Eastpoint, Apalachicola and Port St. Joe. Each one of those towns has some interesting things to see and do, but none of them have a beach that compares to Mexico Beach. You might save a little bit of time driving on I-10 and then working your way south to Hwy. 71, but you can not even begin to compare the scenic nature of the two routes. You get to see so many vistas of the Gulf of Mexico and some barrier islands meandering west on Hwy. 98.

One of my favorite things about Mexico Beach is all of the public access boardwalks leading to the fine, white sand. They are spaced at regular intervals, and a decent amount of parking can be found along the road. There are several restaurants in the town of Mexico Beach, and the laid-back atmosphere and lack of tall buildings makes me feel like I am stepping back in time when I am there. There are very few beachfront areas left in Florida that do not have tall condos and hotels. It would be nice if Mexico Beach finds a way to resist the development that has marred most of our coastlines.

Some of those houses on the beach can be rented. It is cheaper to rent one that is a block or two away from the beach. There is one beachfront motel called El Governor, but thankfully, it is only a few stories tall. There is also an RV park, if you want to bring your accommodations with you. Summer is nearly over, but there is still plenty of time to plan a trip to Mexico Beach.

Eric lives in Suwannee County and is a public school educator. He is an independent contractor. You can reach him at miamistyle8@gmail.com.