Apalachicola Florida

Well it came time to leave this picturesque little place and head to the small town of Apalachicola, FL

Typical views along the Gulf Waterway

Sunrise leaving White City Park,  yes we love sunset but sometimes you just have to be up to make the next port. 

This is the second "NEW" home we have passed, is the economy better or worse?  Is this an upgrade or downsize?  For reference the first one was less than 1/2 the square footage.

Old rotating railway bridge

I stayed here last spring at the Water Street Hotel due to a strong storm passing by.  That is a great little motel that one of the townsmen just informed us that may be going bankrupt.  For some reason they negotiated a deal at building that they would not go condo,  to preserve the little town, but since all the tourists have become accustom to condos that may be it's undoing.  But that is their politics and not ours.  

The Seafood Grill has the best burgers in town and the other items I tried now and in the spring were good also.  They also have free WIFI and only two blocks from the Park.  (just ask for the pass code)   The restaurant at Cipio Creek Dock was also good last spring.   Now the downside of Apalachicola is IT IS OYSTER TOWN!  Why can I get oysters from Apalachicola in other places for as low as $1.99 a dozen and the price here is ridiculous?   You will not be happy at Boss Oyster

One dozen raw from the closes place to the oysters.  Boss Oysters

You would expect that for $10.95 they would not be full of grit or shell chips!

We spent two nights at the City Park Free dock.  One our last afternoon we spoke to the manager of the City Park and talked sailboats for a while.  Once he realized that we were on an Albin Vega we had more to talk about our our short list of boats to compare.  He asked if we know Espin (s/v Mini Pearl) and that just proves how small a world it can be. We talked about the house we were near as it was once Jimmy Buffets and some issues with Barbara Mandrell's visit.  He inquired if the "Port Master" had been by to see us.  And didn't seem surprised when we said no.  I asked if we should move to the anchorage across the river and he said that he would stay on the dock.   So here we sit in Apalachicola waiting out another storm just as my last visit.

Waiting one more day for the storm to pass.  Front arriving with fury!

Friday we filed the float plan with family and headed out across the bay to Government Cut.  The bay got more choppy as we closed in on the cut as we were now on the windward side of the shore.   We arrived at slack tide which is much better than my first pass through this small channel in the spring.  Listening to the radio and looking at the windfinder charts everything was still a go as the small craft advisory had just been lifted 37 minutes before we entered the "cut".   We left with 4-6 foot seas weakening over the next two days and winds from the NW becoming N.

Blue water here we come!

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