Let me start by giving you a bit of history about our favorite Florida State Park! 🤫 This 145-acre park is located on a barrier island, named for Florida folk singer and storyteller Gamble Rogers & railroad entrepreneur Henry Flagler. It’s tucked away between the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway.
**** The site of Gamble Rogers was abandoned and the state of Florida obtained the title to the property from the federal government on October 4, 1954, shortly after World War II ended. Flagler Beach State Recreation Area originally opened in 1961. On January 23, 1968, management of the park was transferred to the Florida Park Service.
On October 10, 1991, beloved Florida folk singer Gamble Rogers and his wife were camping at Flagler Beach State Recreation Area. Upon returning to their campsite after a long day of cycling, Gamble was approached by a young girl whose father was struggling in the rough surf. With an unwavering spirit, despite the fact that he had suffered from spinal arthritis since he was a child, Gamble grabbed an air mattress and headed toward the ocean. Within minutes, a park ranger joined in the rescue attempt. Gamble, still clinging to the air mattress, indicated to the ranger that he was OK. The ranger was able to pull the drowning man’s wife from the water; however he was unable to locate the man, who was later recovered by a rescue team.
Meanwhile, a large wave washed over Gamble, ripping his air mattress away. The surf overcame the heroic Gamble and, tragically, he drowned.
In 1992, after much deliberation, the Florida Legislature passed the bill to change the name of Flagler Beach State Recreation Area to Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area at Flagler Beach to honor the heroic efforts of the late Gamble Rogers. ****During late spring, summer and early fall, many sea turtles crawl up on the park’s beach to lay their eggs. Many interesting creatures such as shorebirds, crabs and fish inhabit the beach. Right whales may be seen offshore during winter months. During the warmer months, manatees and dolphins can be seen frolicking in the ocean or in the Intracoastal Waterway. Wildlife such as butterflies, otters, bobcats, deer, owls, gopher tortoise, snakes and alligators are all around here, 🦋🪱🦎🐊🦈🐬🐇🐿 🦉🐢 🦦 🦌 🐚 🦀 🦅 ******This year we had the best campsite…. Lucky # 13 right next to the boardwalk with the ocean as our backyard. We hiked the trails, took bike rides, enjoyed the beach, went shelling and kayaked through Mantaza’s Wildlife Mgmt area and intracoastal in our new inflatable kayak. Walked about the butterfly garden at the park and saw 🦋 Gulf fritillary, White peacock, Monarch butterfly, Cloudless Sulphur, Common buckeye and Phaon crescent that I saw so far.
🐢 Lots of sea turtle nests here this year! Over 340 nests! The highlight of camping on the beach is getting up early to walk the beach, watching the sunrise, admiring God’s creations & meeting up with the wonderful GR Sea Turtle volunteers for digs to release hatchlings & mark new nests! Every year I learn so much more about these beautiful creatures of the sea. Over the years I’ve gotten to know most of them and keep in contact with them over time! No surprise there, right! 🤣🤷🏻♀️ This year I made amazing new friends that I met up just about every dark-thirty morning! We shared our love for turtles, photography, life, adventures and happy hours! 🍷🍺🍾🥂 Truly blessed to have these wonderful new cherished friends! 💞
❤️❤️❤️ This visit was all about family & friends! We started with our dear friends Kathy & Darryl who we met last year camping here at Gamble Rogers. 6 days of sunning, trying new local restaurants, campfires and so much more! Our son Matthew camped 1 1/2 weeks with his dog Barley in his new Geopro camper a few sites away. Our first weekend our youngest son Daniel & fiancé Lauren camped with us ( back again the next weekend) along with our dear friends Shane & Ryan. What happened at the beach & campfire stays at GR!😇😍 Then on Sunday we started the morning in Ormond Beach at The Grind Gastropub &.Kona Tiki Bar for an amazing brunch. Then headed over to the Ormond Garage Brewery to then seal the visit at RoseVilla Southern Table and Bar for their famous Blueberry Lemontini (blueberry mint ice ball) & Candied Bacon Old Fashions! Then it was back to the campground to be greeted by our oldest son John & Rebecca and grandchildren Mackenzie, Jensen, & Tanner! Great afternoon swimming in ocean, building sand castles, grilling hamburgers and closing the night with a campfire with s’mores! Our grandkids then stayed 4 days with us! One morning getting up early with me they witnessed 27 turtles emerging from a nest! How can we beat that record now! During the week we tried local restaurants and breweries with Matthew! Think our favorite new find was the Turtle Shack! The next week all the family was back together and we celebrated Mackenzie’s 11th, Jensen’s 8th, & Tanner’s 6th birthdays! Mackenzie and I went to New Smyrna Beach to have lunch at Outriggers to meet up with my dear friend Melanie who I’ve known since grade school. Then a bonus afternoon for me was to watch Mackenzie on her last day of middle school dance team camp performance. Happy hours with family, new campers we met and then my turtle tracker friends!
As we pulled away after 2 weeks I have to admit I was a bit sad to leave for God gave us the best sunrise sent off! I walked down to the beach to soak in one more moment of the smell of the sea air, sounds of the ocean, birds and stillness at 6:00 am! Blessed for all the loggerhead & 7 leatherback turtles I witnessed on their birth days to have It’s on to our new adventures! Only 4 more states to visit to complete all 50 that we have slept in! We need a new sticker on our US map for this year. North Dakota here we come!
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