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Few People Know This Charming Small Town In Florida Is The Halfway Point Between Jacksonville & Key West
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Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of Not Your Average Bucket List by OnlyInYourState. The article we’re focusing on today is titled: Few People Know This Charming Small Town In Florida Is The Halfway Point Between Jacksonville & Key West, and it was written by one of our hosts, Marisa Roman. Recently, Marisa visited the small coastal town of Hobe Sound for a fun day trip and created an entire itinerary of things to do when you visit.
Things we’ll cover in this episode:
- How the heck do you pronounce Hobe Sound?
- What is the history behind Hobe Sound, Florida?
- Describe a perfect day in Hobe Sound, Florida.
Podcast Timestamps:
[00:01:27] The Actual Pronunciation of Hobe Sound
[00:12:24] Kicking Off My Hobe Sound, Florida Day Trip Itinerary
[00:19:10] Let’s Talk About The Jupiter Lighthouse
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Get In Touch!
If you have personal experiences with any of the attractions mentioned above, call or text 805-298-1420! We’d love to hear your thoughts on these places and maybe even share your clip on the show! You can also reach out to us via email at [email protected].
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Transcript
Introduction and Florida Excitement
00:00:06
Speaker
This is Not Your Average Bucket List by Only In Your State, a podcast about exploring the hidden gems right in your own backyard. Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of Not Your Average Bucket List by Only In Your State. I'm really excited for this episode today because not only are we going to talk about Florida, which is where I live, but I've also been to this place. So I'm super stoked. I'm here with my co-host, Sarah. Hi, Sarah.
00:00:35
Speaker
Hey Marissa, the day has arrived. You did it. I'm so excited. I made it.
Discovering a Charming Town
00:00:42
Speaker
So the article from only in your state that we're focusing on today is titled, Few people know this charming small town in Florida is the halfway point between Jacksonville and Key West.
00:00:55
Speaker
It's pretty cool, first and foremost, because that is quite the distance if you're driving from one point to the other. And having this town as like a unique stopping point could potentially be very cool. Also, this article was written by me, which finally I made it.
00:01:20
Speaker
And so the first thing that I need to clear up that yesterday, quite embarrassing, but I've been pronouncing this small town wrong this whole time.
00:01:31
Speaker
Oh no, I mean look at tracks for us. No surprise there. I don't know why, I don't know if it's my brain that like went back to, I don't know if you watched Baywatch, but David Hasselhoff's son was named Hobie in that show. So I don't know why I just assumed it was Hobie Sound.
00:01:53
Speaker
It's not. It's HOB sound. HOB sound. HOB sound. I feel like that just... Okay. Yeah. HOB sound. HOB sound.
00:02:07
Speaker
So hope sound, yeah. I've been saying hopey this whole time and I don't know, nobody's really. So actually I was speaking to, shout out to, I'll get to this later on, but shout out to Juliet at Mood Restaurant, which is in the area because she's the one that said it's pronounced, it sounds like hope, but with a B.
00:02:27
Speaker
And then I was like, okay, she's like, but nobody really correct goes around correcting other people because it's just it is what it is, you know, like, so they're nice, at least. Yeah. Yeah. Get out of here.
00:02:40
Speaker
Wow, okay. Yeah, threw a curve ball straight away. So no one there was like a Baywatch fan and just like, you know what, we need to play in a flag in the ground or Hobie sound. Right. Yeah. So that's just like, that blew my mind first and foremost.
Hobe Sound's History and Appeal
00:03:00
Speaker
But yeah, before we dive into like my experience there and my adventure, which
00:03:06
Speaker
Surprisingly, there are so many things to do. I've also realized being there that I've been there before, which is the show. But sometimes when you travel a lot, especially in Florida, being here for so long, things kind of blur together. But I have been here before, but not really to explore the way that I did.
00:03:29
Speaker
And there's also that like mandala effect of you could convince me I've been somewhere that I haven't like, oh, yeah, I mean, I definitely was there. I remember it 100%. Yeah, especially writing for Florida for only in your state for as long as I did. There's so many places I feel like I've been to when really, like, I'm just like diving into research. And it's like, oh, man, that place seems so familiar to me. But it's like all the way in the panhandle and you know,
00:03:57
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, looking at, I just can't remember when I used to get on to Port St. Lucie, if I came up from West Palm Beach, because I might've driven through it too. Who knows? Right. Yeah. I'll never know. Yeah.
00:04:13
Speaker
We'll see if anything like Jogzoo Memory today. Yeah, all right. While we're recording. But, so Hobe Sound, first and foremost, there's a lot of history, which I thought was really cool because sometimes you can just chalk up a place to what it is now as just like a charming coastal town, a place people go to retire, a good surfing community. But there is a lot of maritime history in the area in particular, which I thought was really cool.
00:04:43
Speaker
And I do also think that there's a lot of emphasis on nature in this part of Florida, which I really, really liked.
00:04:55
Speaker
interested in protecting the surrounding area, the dunes, the state parks. It's really a place that you can go that for me coming from living near a big city, it's just so refreshing to be in nature, be by the beach, have these areas protected. That to me I thought was really neat.
00:05:16
Speaker
Yeah, especially since there are so many parts, especially right now, of Florida that are probably busy, slam with spring break students or just like, you know, people who are now they're starting to warm up wanting to go to the beach and being able to find a little, you know, respite among that is probably nice. So down a no-be-sound, I refuse to give that up.
00:05:39
Speaker
Well, I'm not going to correct you. Thank you. Thank you. But yeah, so the area was originally inhabited by the Jaga tribe, indigenous people that they said the name Hobie Sound came. I'm sorry. I know. I'm going to start just counting with hash marks. All right.
00:06:02
Speaker
Yeah, so they were saying that the name, obviously it was inhabited by this tribe many, many moons ago before it was anything at all and before Spanish explorers came and kind of stuck their flag in there. But during the time that prior to the Florida East Coast Railway being built, Hogue Sound is believed to have originated from the Job Indians.
00:06:29
Speaker
which was that's so that's the name where the name comes from the indigenous tribe that lived in the area. And it's kind of like it sounds like Job Indians Hope sound that's weird. So maybe like an Anglo-Saxon sort of bastardization of Job.
00:06:45
Speaker
Right. Okay, cool. Yeah, yes. Interesting. So the sound portion of the name refers to obviously the water body that was adjacent to the town, which is now part of the inter coastal waterway. So that's where like the maritime history comes in, which I think is very, very neat. Oh, I'm stupid. That didn't even sound like the actual like a geographical aspect of the land is a
00:07:13
Speaker
All right. Yeah. There we go. Slowly this week. Look, we're both learning things with this episode. We learn together and we learn with our listeners. So thank you for being along on this ride. So yeah, I think, um, eventually the 19th, 20th century, uh, hope sound became then a popular destination for Northerners that had a lot of money that wanted a winter retreat. They came down.
00:07:38
Speaker
The Florida East Coast Railway made it really easy for people in the late 1800s because tons of people came down from the north and then they had winter homes here because it was beautiful, it's on the water, and it's still kind of relatively small today. It's only about 15,000 people that live there. It's a small town charm. It has it in spades.
00:08:01
Speaker
Um, you know, their roads are small. There's like only one way in and one way out of the town, which oh wow. Okay. So yeah, it is one more town kind of deal um, so When let me ask you a question for about florida life. So is Highway, is it a 1a or just 1a? How do you what do you say? So i'll say a 1a Sometimes us one
00:08:25
Speaker
Okay, so is it a drive that someone like you would take or Floridians would take for like an adventure like route 66 or going up the Pacific Coast Highway? Or is it just like, no, this is utilitarian. It just goes through the state. So I'm curious like how much road trip traffic they get going through.
00:08:43
Speaker
I would say it depends on the part of this state really because it's definitely road trip worthy because you're right on the coast. So there are pockets of nothingness where you're just driving through and there's just land and dunes and you can't even see the ocean. But then just the other day, I was on the part of A1A by Fort Lauderdale with my sister. We were going out to eat and that is very saturated.
00:09:10
Speaker
restaurants and clubs and bars and hotels and stuff like that. So it does really depend on where you are. But I do think hopping on A1A at any point in the state and just driving a couple of miles, you'll come across small businesses, you know, like little dive bars, restaurants, stuff like that. So yeah. Cool. All right.
00:09:31
Speaker
Yeah, so pushing along in history, Hope Sound ended up becoming this picturesque place for people, and it attracted a lot of artists and writers and nature enthusiasts. And that's why it's retained much of its small town charm that today it still is known for. And then it just became this hub for outdoor recreation and ecotourism and all that fun stuff, which
00:09:58
Speaker
They really lean into their artist community, galleries, cultural events, stuff like that, which I think is really neat. That's usually one of my favorite parts about small towns is the culture that's kind of formed, but it still has that relaxed coastal feel.
00:10:16
Speaker
Yeah, I did like the proximity to some of the like natural and I don't want to like blow up your spot with what you're going to talk about. But some of the things that are nearby that I think look really cool that I would visit that I would plan to both in terms of parks and just like natural features. So I mean, it's really a great location to like it's accessible from a few different major cities. It's not so out of the way to where it's just going to be a slog to get there. So yeah, I think it's a great spot.
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah, it definitely is extremely close to Jupiter, another hometown to Cuesta. And so, yes, obviously, you already know when I travel someplace new, I love to create an itinerary. How's your show? Yeah, I just feel like you get the most out of it. And I hate that feeling of like, oh, man, I missed out on seeing this because I didn't, you know, do my research. I'm looking forward to it. This is what I, yeah, I'm ready.
00:11:19
Speaker
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00:12:22
Speaker
Yeah, so from where I live, it's about an hour and a half. So it took me that long to get
Exploring Local Eats and Parks
00:12:30
Speaker
there. But I found this place, which apparently is a chain, I had no idea, called Three Natives. And they're right in town. Right as soon as you get in town, you make a left into the plaza. They have acai bowls and smoothies and wraps and juices. Really cool place. So that I recommend kicking off your little adventure there.
00:12:52
Speaker
And then there, there is this park called Zeus Park, which super neat. All the like, uh, streets around it are, you know, Venus, Aphrodite, uh, mythology, really cute little park in a circle. And they had one of those free libraries where, you know, people can put up there. So I stopped to get a book and then there was a butterfly garden right next to the library, little boat.
00:13:20
Speaker
So I went into there, and there are just like a couple of butterflies, and I'm like, this is so magical. And then on that same street, there was a bubble house, which is now historically registered. It's like one of those dome houses. Oh, yeah. So that was really cool. And then, yeah, so from there, Jonathan Dickinson State Park is about five miles if you drive outside of town, which, yeah, this park,
00:13:49
Speaker
I've heard about it so often. I've never been, but it's beautiful. And I had so much fun. First of all, it became a state park in 1950. It's over 10,000 acres, so it's massive. And there's hiking, biking, you can rent bikes, you can rent canoes. There's like a pontoon tour that unfortunately I didn't get to take, which takes you to this place where this mysterious trapper lived.
00:14:16
Speaker
that he was like reclusive and he just like kind of trapped animals to eat and use their pelts and he like lived there for years. Yeah. I also saw there, yeah, like so biking, fishing, boating, birding, camping, cabins, also there's glamping there, which I thought was adorable. Yes. Yeah. It's a company I think called Timberline.
00:14:41
Speaker
that yeah, they set up some bell tents and it's like, I just think that's such a cool feature because not everybody has an RV, not everybody has a tent. Some people just want to have like maybe a couple more amenities than like a pop-up tent allows, but having that as an option, I think yeah, is really cool.
00:14:59
Speaker
Yeah, and especially if it's, you know, I read that it was the largest state park in Southeast Florida, and you have all these amenities, and you have actually a bunch of natural ecosystems coming together. So coastal sandhills, upland lakes, scrub forests. Obviously, I was not there. However, I assume you can verify this. And also the Loxahatchee River going through. So I mean, it's just chock full of things to see.
00:15:24
Speaker
Yeah. And there's a lot going on just in terms of like the activities that you can participate in. Because even if you're just driving through the park, there are little places to stop and placards. Like there's this one little observation nook that is specifically for alligator watching. Really? Yeah. So like I was able to see an alligator maybe, I don't know, it was like three feet away from this platform.
00:15:52
Speaker
And then the gator like kind of slowly started creeping up the bank and I was like, Oh my God, here we go. This is how I died. But, uh, no, luckily nothing like that happened. And, um, but then you can, how often do you see gators in like day to day life? Yeah. Not, not often at all. Never. No, you just know, I was.
00:16:15
Speaker
So I was shook whenever I went to visit my brother and he lived in Port St. Lucie, so obviously different area from where you are. But in his development, saw the gator in the pond. They're just, they're just like, yeah, just don't walk your dog along there. There are gators there. I'm like, Oh, I see it. It's there. And then we went to this nature center and library nearby where the kids had classes, gator in the pond. I'm like, they're everywhere. I mean, obviously they are everywhere.
00:16:40
Speaker
We are living on their turf whenever we're down there. I'm just surprised that you don't really run into gators on the day-to-day. We have little channels that maybe there are some that I don't know about. I'm close to 75, which is called Alligator Alley, which that has a lot of alligators. I don't really drive on it too often across the state.
00:17:06
Speaker
But does it have like a median with alligator? Like, why is it alligator alley on the sides of the highway? Oh, I see. But then you can see them just like on the embankments and whatever. And there are a lot to if you're really looking. Yeah, you can see a lot there. And then it's that's passing through like the Everglades. So, you know, all the fun stuff. Yep. All hell breaks loose. All right.
00:17:32
Speaker
Yeah, so yeah, I was able to see an alligator, which was really cool. And so there, there are a ton of wildlife in this park. Bobcats and otters didn't get to see an otter. I know, I know. But gopher tortoise's galore, which I was taking a video on, was like snacking on some leaves, which I thought was adorable.
00:17:54
Speaker
And then everybody in the park is really helpful. You check in, you pay your fee. She gave me a bunch of stuff, pamphlets, a to-do list in the park, which to me, that's right up my alley. And it was just a really well-maintained park. And I would definitely go back. I want to do that pontoon boat tour to the Trapper Island. Yes. I'm sure you'll see a lot more gators on that tour.
00:18:23
Speaker
probably that was one of the only reasons I didn't I wasn't thinking about renting a canoe or a kayak cuz I don't know yeah that's a little bit too close to water like if I'm up that's fine and I can like get away from them but yeah very close like what if I fall I fall all the time right you know you're like panicked and scrambling and then yeah
00:18:45
Speaker
No, thank you. I will say that in the past few episodes, we've talked about some unique state parks, and I know we've talked about national parks before too, but I'm starting to realize maybe in my next life I should be a park ranger because I would be so excited to talk to these people coming out. I want to give them to-do lists and get them excited about all the things they can do in Jonathan Dickson State Park. That's
Nature and Landmarks Tour
00:19:10
Speaker
awesome.
00:19:10
Speaker
No, I agree. And so actually speaking to that from there, I went down a couple miles to Jupiter and I went to the Jupiter lighthouse and they have volunteers working there who are like super stoked to tell you about this lighthouse and to like, which I thought was absolutely adorable because you know, it's these people that just are doing it out of sheer
00:19:35
Speaker
Joy. They love it. They want it. They want to do it. That's great. Yeah, like preserving history and it's just like, um, yeah. So I highly recommend anybody in the area to go to this lighthouse. It's $12 per person. There are discounts for veterans and kids, but it is well worth it because a lot of people are just volunteering their time there.
00:19:55
Speaker
And you get to take a tour of the lighthouse. You get to walk up. Yeah. Nice. All right. I'm sold. That's great. Yeah. It's just also very beautiful because they have these absolutely gorgeous trees lining the area. It's right on the water, you know, and then you climb up 139 steps. My calves are cooling this guy, but it's worth it because we get to the top and then you have just views of the ocean, views of, you know, Hopi Sound, views of
00:20:24
Speaker
the little inlet there. It's really, really beautiful. I hope you threw on a beanie and a pea coat, maybe a little pipe, and just stood there and got into your lighthouse keeper vibe. You know what I mean? Oh my gosh. That would have creeped everybody out.
00:20:41
Speaker
No, but yeah, so that was fun. And also, so from there, I went over to Blowing Rocks Nature Conservancy. Ooh, I'm glad. I read about that. That looked really cool. Yeah, so it's free to go. You can give a small donation if you'd like, which I do also recommend if you have a couple of bucks. And I didn't get to see any of the actual, like, tide hitting the rocks and causing this because it was low tide.
00:21:06
Speaker
But it's still beautiful to walk around. They have these gorgeous covered mangrove trails right on the water that you can walk under these archways of leaves. Mangroves are such a cool tree, honestly. The way they grow, they're like underwater trees. It's amazing. Yeah. This place was really stunning. And before you even walk towards the actual,
00:21:34
Speaker
area there because you have to walk a little ways to get to the bluffs but you're walking through the vegetation and they have a little area with buckets that they say take a bucket and whatever trash you come across while you're walking put it in the bucket and then when you get out just like dump it um which to me I was like why are they doing this more often you know
00:21:57
Speaker
And, uh, but needless to say, there was only two things of trash that, uh, cause I guess everybody's doing it, but it was very, very clean, well-maintained. Um, yeah. And just really a really beautiful day. Like I, I lucked out for sure. Did I hear a little bit of disappointment that you couldn't pick up more trash? Yeah. You're like really excited to clean up. No, no, no, it's adorable. It's great. It's, it's a good thing to want to do.
00:22:27
Speaker
Yeah. No, I mean, I just feel, you know, we have these places and we need to take care of them, you know? Absolutely. No, I agree with you. So yeah, people will keep going to, uh, is it in blowing rocks preserve the, that path or is it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good job. Good job, everyone. Way to go.
00:22:47
Speaker
And yeah, and then I ended the day at this place called in Mood, which is a restaurant, also like plants everywhere, which you already know, that's like, you know, my jam. And it's also a completely plant-based restaurant, which was just awesome. And it's right there. It's in Tequesta because all these areas are kind of together. I think everything maybe was within a seven mile radius of everything I just mentioned.
00:23:12
Speaker
Yeah, that's where I met Juliet, the bartender there who was just, you know, helping me with some local tips and stuff. And yeah, so very delicious meal, like highly, highly recommend. It's, you know, not every, I feel like when you're cooking plant-based food, it's tough sometimes for restaurants to hit the mark, but like this restaurant really, really did.
00:23:36
Speaker
Great menu, highly recommend. I love that at the end of the day is when you learn the pronunciation. Isn't that so embarrassing? Thank you, Juliette. What a star. Yeah, seriously.
00:23:51
Speaker
I know what you mean though about plant-based restaurants. There's one in Columbus commune that every time I go, it just slaps, not even for just plant-based, but it is just, it's food is just like unbelievable. And I'm like, wow, I mean, so moods and where'd you say this was? And to, to Cuesta. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. She was just talking like they make their, they makes everything pretty much in house.
00:24:17
Speaker
I've never had a sun choke before and they were like crispy sun jokes and they make blood orange, lemon cello, they make in-house. Cool place. The window was wide open of the front, so it was just everything. You get the wind, the sun, there are plants everywhere. It was like that's awesome thing to the day.
00:24:39
Speaker
Yeah, so yeah, so not only I like I feel like we almost undersell This area hope sound by saying oh, it's a geographically significant place, which it is It's the halfway point between Jacksonville and Key West, but that's not the
Final Thoughts on Hobe Sound
00:24:53
Speaker
attraction. It's all these other things There's so many like natural attractions it's in between like you said like a cluster of Whether it's like little points of interest or like little towns or you can just like get to everything Goes to do a lot of stuff and it's not incredibly busy. I love it I think it's like a prime hidden gem area
00:25:09
Speaker
out the state. I wholeheartedly agree. I think hidden gem is like the perfect way to talk about this place because you know usually when you're in route on the term pike or 95 this isn't like your destination that is your end you're usually going someplace else maybe you pass it because I've always passed it and seen the sign and been like oh you know or they're like first to evacuate during hurricanes like that's that area
00:25:35
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I definitely, I would recommend 10 out of 10. Like that small town is doing it right for like so many reasons. Yeah. I mean, if we haven't covered it as officially a small town on alllinearstate.com, I think we might just might now. Yeah. Hopefully, hopefully I'll get the job. So here's the big question. Could you see yourself living there? Yeah.
00:26:03
Speaker
You cross the town line, you're like, you know what? Actually, I'm coming to you live from my new house in Hobsound. Amazing. Oh, God. Only in Your State is an award-winning travel publisher that uncovers hidden gems and local favorites across the US. We have a presence in all 50 states with a passionate following of fellow travelers
00:26:33
Speaker
looking to get out and explore. Head on over to OnlyInYourState.com to find the best attractions in your backyard and beyond.