October 15: Apalachicola - Oyster Capitol of the US!

One last push on Thursday to make the run to put us in position to cross the Gulf of Mexico.

The trip to Apalachicola was peaceful enough. A combination of relatively large bodies of water and rivers.

The most notable thing on shore was a huge freighter??? being built on shore. It would be interesting to see how exactly they get it in the water!

The dolphins are still with us - leading the way in the bow wave. I really missed seeing them once we were in fresh water in New York on the barge canal.

It was weird in that we saw more sunken boats along the river waterways than we've seen anywhere.

It was kind of strange as typically there may be one occasionally but that's about it.

I loved the one that a local osprey took over with it's huge nest in the mast!

After 65 miles it was late by the time we arrived at Apalachicola so we quickly made our way to our dock where we expected to stay for several days.

The non-stop travel gets tiring so both of us are ready to stay in one place for several days.

First thing Friday morning we of course were off for breakfast! Stopped at Caroline's - a restaurant attached to a motel. Very quaint - and VERY slow. We left.

And decided to seek out the place we went to 6 years ago. The ladies  running it (Dolores's Sweet Shop) at the time had to have been in their mid to late seventies - which at the time seemed way older than us but of course really weren't :-) Could they really still be there???

Not only were they still there but they were still serving breakfast and lunch M-F!! Perfect -except we couldn't come back on Saturday .... Not sure how old they are now ... but they are both going strong!

Much history in the area. The home of Dr. Chapman has been redone back to the period of the time but it wasn't open so we weren't able to tour it.

Steve found a really nice walk through an area that is typical of the riverside land areas.

Again quite interesting. For his history and that of Dr. John Gorrie who invented the first mechanical refrigeration, click here.

There are many historical homes here but sadly many are in a state of disrepair due to the tremendous cost of upkeep of these homes.











But the REAL attraction? The unique Apalachicola oysters which are found and harvested in the Apalachicola Bay. Fresh water from the combination of 3 rivers provide what are described as the ideal growing conditions. These three rivers provide 16 BILLION GALLONS PER DAY of fresh water ---- per DAY. Amazing.

And Steve wasted no time finding the place my brother said he could buy bulk oysters. 1/4 bushel (30 - 50 oysters) for $30.

Kept iced they will last for two weeks. I suspect they won't last anywhere near that long :-)

And if that wasn't enough we needed to try a place for lunch today that looked interesting.








Very good gumbo and fried oysters (I don't do raw oysters!).

Sunrises have been quite nice - except this is looking directly out of my little porthole where I sleep! Makes for sleeping in difficult :-)

The marina/hotel has been perfect here. More a hotel for sure than marina but it has everything we need.

The initial concern was that our satellite dish would not be able to "see over" the hotel but Steve solved that problem,

Put the dish on the flybridge canvas and move the boat back 3 feet in the slip. Perfect :-)

Every post is occupied by a brown pelican or a seagull. The empty one will be occupied shortly!


Something we haven't seen before: parking spots for Tesla cars! Two spots with electric plugs.

Sign of the future, I guess ......

Tomorrow: fuel up and head to Carrabelle - staging area for our trip to the other side of the Gulf. Shore. 35 miles so it will be a relaxing morning. Sadly Delores's Sweet Shop is not open :-(.