Pensacola and Apalachicola
Nov. 01 - Nov. 07, 2020
Sunday, we both gained and lost an hour today. We left Avalon Landing around 10 am headed to Apalachicola. There was supposed to be a seafood festival here this coming weekend but it is canceled. Our new campsite is at Coastline RV Resort across the river from Apalachicola in East Point, FL. It is a very nice campground and they have some cabins if you don't have an RV. Our site faces the Apalachicola Bay and we can see St. George Island across the bay. It was a beautiful day and we spent it outside until the sun went down. We watched the sunset from the pier, and we saw three dolphins hunting for dinner from the pier too. Its gonna be a good week.
Monday, we had a great drive over to St. George Island. We started with lunch at The Blue Parrot Ocean Cafe. I had boiled shrimp and some baked oysters, and Elard had a blackened fish sandwich. Their deck on the beach was a wonderful place to watch the waves and enjoy good food. We have to come back for an afternoon adult beverage before we leave. Next we climbed the Cape St. George Light house. It fell into the Gulf in 2005 and the locals worked tirelessly to get it rebuilt by 2007. That is impressive for such a small town. We drove to the east end of the island to checkout the state park, Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park. It was nice and there are several sites that we should be able to fit into. The park also has three large public beach areas with pavilions and facilities. We tried to drive to the west end of the island too but there was a gated community there so we couldn't drive the whole way. It is a pretty place to enjoy the Gulf. We drove around the little town of East Point as well, there were several very nice homes on the river as well.
Tuesday, I spent nearly the whole day outside reading and watching the pelicans feed. I wasn't paying attention to how much sun I was getting and I am now TOAST. Our wonderful friends, Ron and Karen Kay, joined us with their RV for a few days. Karen brought over a great appetizer tray and we enjoyed some Camellia brand Red Beans and Rice for dinner while we watched election returns. We all watched together until about 9:30 and Ron and Karen decided to go back to their RV. I watched until about 2 and gave it up.
Wednesday, another beautiful day. I got up much earlier than I thought I would, around 9:30. We enjoyed some coffee and hung out on the patio with the Kay's for a few hours, chatting and enjoying the sun. We all went to The Blue Parrot for a late lunch/early dinner. The food was really good and the view was as good as it was on Monday. I did try the watermelon daiquiri, it was good but not heavenly. Great food and great company. I managed to get in a walk before it got completely dark but only a little over a mile. I tried to enjoy some star gazing but one of the campers had too many lights.
Thursday, we had a visit from my sister and her husband (Willie and David Roche). We sat on the patio with the Kay's for a while and then we went to lunch with Willie and David. They took us to Apalachicola to a marina with a great restaurant, Half Shell Dockside. It was a great little place and the food was good. There was a group of pelicans hanging out in the channel. It was a great day.
Friday, we visited The Raney House Museum over in Apalachicola. We saw three bald eagles sitting on the power poles over the river on our way to Apalach. The Raney House is a historical home owned by a cotton baron back in the day. We found out that Apalachicola was the third largest port in the gulf, behind Mobile and New Orleans! After a short drive around Apalachicola we stopped by Barber's Seafood to get a bushel of oysters. Elard and Ron shucked enough to feed all of us and we spent the remainder of sunlight just enjoying the view. I am soaking up as much of this view as I can before we leave.
Saturday, we visited Carrabelle. We visited the worlds smallest Police department and the bottle house. Cute little roadside curiosities. We also stopped at the Crooked River Lighthouse. It was built in 1895 and had a very unique lens. They also had a farmers market going on at the base of the tower. I got some gingersnaps, raspberry jam, and boiled peanuts. We watched a short history film and then Karen and Elard climbed the light house. Ron and I enjoyed the rocking chairs on the porch. We ate a few more oysters for lunch and enjoyed more of the view. We are surrounded by Florida Gator fans but they are being pretty well behaved. We ended the day back at Half Shell Dockside with the Kay's since they didn't join us the other day.
Make Life an Adventure!
