Apalachicola, FL

We got home Tuesday afternoon and are happy to be here, although we came home to broken sprinkler lines, two malfunctioning toilets, and a few burned out light bulbs that had been left on by the cleaning crew while we were gone. Oh well, that is behind us.

We expected a good deal of traffic on our way to Apalachicola since it was Memorial Day Weekend, but it was not too bad really. We arrived at our reserved campground at Indian Pass, FL and found it to be unacceptable. We were lucky to have been able to find a space so late on a holiday weekend. It was a great setting at the end of a small point of land. There was a small beach and a boat ramp, but the space that was available was just too unlevel and difficult to get a Class A motor home in and out of. We elected to leave, but had nowhere else to go. Our friends were already docked in Apalachicola, and we were afraid we would have no choice but to continue home to Orlando.

We had to unhook the jeep to turn around and leave, so before doing that I called and left a message at Coastline RV Resort to see if they had a cancellation. By the time we were turned around Coastline had called back to say that they had an early departure and a site was available! Yea! It was our first choice, but they were full when we tried a few days earlier.

We hurried on over to Eastpoint, FL and as we drove through Apalachicola we waved and honked (aren’t air horns assertive?) to Jim and Phyllis when we saw them on the main drag.

The people at Coastline, and the site itself, could not have been nicer. So much better than the primitive campground at Indian Pass. Once we were set up we drove back to Apalachicola to have cocktails on Jim and Phyllis’ sailboat “Sisu”. Sailing is the common bond that brought us together. We met while cruising the Bahamas.

After rather significant gin and tonics on board we found our way to the Up The Creek Raw Bar (nice, try it) for a rustic old Florida dinner experience. The next morning we met at The Owl Café for Sunday brunch, and it was fabulous. 

 Apalachicola is a great little town that has found its footing in post recession Florida. There are several very nice places to eat and several shops to while away the day.

We drove through Saint George Island State Park and spent time walking the beach. Barbara could spend countless hours walking the beach looking for shells, but we opted to head back to the campground for cocktails and dinner.

Jim and Phyllis have limited space on their 34’ Tartan, so the enjoyed having a chance to do laundry on our motor home as we worked our way through some wine. The wind was still pretty strong. It had blown the flag off the nose of the motor home twice, so I stowed it. The picnic table was in the lee, so we sat outside and grilled dinner.

SPAM on the barbee

Don’t laugh, but we had grilled SPAM as an appetizer. A few years back we stopped at the SPAM museum in Austin, MN. They served Cracked Pepper SPAM on pretzel sticks as an appetizer, and we found it to be pretty good. In honor of that trip we shared this delight with Jim and Phyllis.

We bid Jim and Phyllis adieu at the dock, and the following morning we headed home.

For those of you that plan to visit the panhandle of Florida, Highway 98 offers a good road to transit the beach areas, and you can continue on to Perry, FL and pick up Highway 27/27A to Ocala for a stress-free way to avoid much of I-10 and I-75.