S/V Sea Casa: January 2016

Well, looks like we're done with the Saints. Too bad, was kinda' hoping they'd be there for us all along the way. We left Saint Vincent's Island and the creepy "Wreck Island" while the gulf waters were tolerable. It didn't get worse until later. So we did ok for about 4 hours, then the seas started acting up again.

Difficult to tell how high the swells were in these photos.
Paul was trying to get low enough so he could get the effect.
We're up high in a center cockpit, thank goodness!

Swells

Big Splashes coming over the bow. Lots of banging down on
the swells.

The waves were really splashing up on the Dodger window.
Thank goodness our Dodger is still working from it's hit in Destin.
We have it taped with some clear Vinyl we bought at West Marine
in Panama City, FL. Seems to be holding well..

Doesn't look too bad here, but it got much worse later on.

We both decided to make it a short day and head for Apalachicola. For those who don't know this place, and aren't familiar with these amazing names, they are really deceiving to pronounce. For example, when we were on the Achafalaya river, Paul and I were saying: "AT chuh fuh LIE uh". Wrong!!! It's really "uh CHAW fu LIE uh". But the folks there just say "Cha' fuh Lie' uh. I remember passing Choctawhatchee Bay, and wondering if that word was just made up. Then there was Bayou Boeuf outside Morgan City, which we weren't sure how to say, but were told it is pronounced "Bayou Buff". Well, we are actually saying the name of this little town correctly, so we must be learning some of the different languages! "AP uh LATCH uh CO luh.

Apalachicola is a very quaint town. I loved it the minute we stepped off the boat and went for a little walk. When we arrived at the marina, (Apalachicola Marina) we fueled up the boat, filled the water tank along with several jerry cans of diesel fuel and gasoline for our Honda Generator. We are docked on a wall on the river, just a stone's throw from town. Easy walk, sweet town. The gentlemen who run/own the marina are very nice, and extremely helpful. They have loaned us the use of one of their golf carts to putt around town in, which I thought was perfectly decent of them!

Paul the Putt-Putt racer

When Paul and I managed to put things in order on the boat, we went for a little cruise around town. Found a restaurant and had dinner there. "The Owl Café". It really should be named something like "Le Chez Owl". It was fine dining with a price tag to match. We felt to embarrassed to get up and leave, so we decided to treat ourselves. I had fresh swordfish, which was ok. I would rather have had Mahi-Mahi. But it's good to know the taste of different fish for my own edification.

Today we tooled over to Piggly Wiggly grocery store to buy supplies for the boat. and go get groceries. No Walmart here! Can you believe it? No West Marine here, either! It's ok, we found everything we needed for this trip at the local PW. It was fun toolin' around in the golf cart, too. I was able to take shots of some very cute homes.

The Grocery Store

They new Paul was coming!

On the drive to the store...nice homes along the way

We turned onto another back street and found this amazing community garden. Love this!!!

Looks like lots of people have raised gardens. They are all thriving, too. In January!

This evening we went for a walk around town and took some pics. We stopped at Oyster City Brewery and had some of their brewed beer. From Paul and I, we give it 2 thumbs up! It only has a selection of about 5 or 6 beer types, but I have to say, I enjoyed one of the dark beers and one of the light beers. Now, neither one of us are connoisseurs of beer, but we like what we like. My cousin, Gary, could probably understand all the processing levels of how they make the beer. It's all Greek to me.

Some of the sizes they serve

Inside the bar. It's all open for you to see.

Outside of the Oyster Bar

Belly up to the bar, babe!

Some empties left on the table. I mean, check out the size!!

We walked some more around town after our drink, and came to an Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlour where we sat at the counter and each had a cup of ice cream. We had a nice visit with the young girl working at the time, who told us the story of how she had her baby there at the Apalachicola Hospital, which doesn't have a birthing/neonatal unit. Women here have to go all the way to Panama City for their services. She said they didn't have time to go, so the hospital took her in and she gave birth to her son here on July fourth of last year. They had to wrap the baby in warm blankets from ICU since they had nothing for babies. They let the young mother go home that night, and on the way, she and her husband had a flat tire. She had a great sense of humor about it and seemed like she was going to be a wonderful momma.

There is a liquor store across from where were docked, so we went there to buy some wine for me and some Amaretto for Paul. Cute place, and next door there was a bar where people could sit outside or inside and the doors were wide open. On the other side of the Liquor Store (The Honey Hole) were a pottery studio, and art studio.

The liquor store across the street from our boat.

The bar behind the liquor store with doors wide open and a
female mannequin standing outside the door to greet people.
You can see the lights on the palm trees. Decorative touches
everywhere.

We both thought this old boat was treated with the respect it deserved for time spent out on the waters catching food for the people of the town. A great community conversation piece!

I love the way they showcased it. Very artistic.

We took lots of other pictures of the town, so I'll try to be discriminating in my choices so it won't bore you to tears! There really were many adorable shops and restaurants in town. Love the creative way they decorated the shops. Lots of imagination in this place!

A bakery with a touch of class.

Nice little theatre

Then there were shops like this that we wished were open!!

Really wanted to go inside here. My two favorite things, besides my hubby,
coffee and chocolate!!

Oh Yeah!!!

Prices aren't bad, either

And just lovely little touches around town like these:

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Special little sitting place by the "Boat Statue"

And some interesting little shops like these:

Little coffee bar

Unique clothing shop

We wanted to buy some of this honey. Maybe tomorrow.

A decorative little niche

Souvenir shop

Riverwalk Café'

Artsy souvenir store

Front of a restaurant, with the leaded glass window. Love how this
town has refurbished and maintained the old buildings.

Tamara's colorful little tapas bar.

A lovely stained glass piece in a very interesting store. Had everything
from art to clothing.

This reminds me of my grandpa's store on what used to be Brownfield
Highway and used to be way on the outskirts of Lubbock, TX.
He had one of these machines in his store and he'd let us pull the
sodas through the little maze to yank it out and pop open the top
on the side of the machine. A lovely childhood memory.

Today we drove our little golf cart over to the Marina Office so we could take showers and clean up.
We paid our bill for two extra days, and then headed out to grab lunch at one of the quaint restaurants in town. On the way, we helped a couple of guys dock their boat and tie it off...we had an interesting visit with them. They were headed to Destin, and we told them of our experience with the wave crashing through our boat. They both said that Destin can be extremely hazardous and is known to be one of the most dangerous entries/exits in the U.S. Sailors be warned!!!

We putted across the street and decided to walk into the pottery shop. We met with one of the potters, Beth, who said there were three people that work in there. She made some interesting plates, cups, big platters, and some fun, creative pieces, such as totem sculptures, some cute little chameleons which she had mounted on a bush.

Pottery Studio

Beth, one of the potters.

There's also a little sitting area behind the art, pottery studios, where people can sit with their drinks, listen to live music from the bar, and play games.

Serving the beer from the Oyster City Brewing Bar.

Funky but fun!

After having lunch at the Chocolate/Coffee Company (Yes, we went back and I'm so glad we did) Had good sandwiches, good coffee and bought a couple of pieces of their chocolate. Nice end to our stay here.

Here are pictures of the area we were docked.

A Fish Company behind us...probably oysters, the specialty here.

Our dock, and the old brick building that is being refurbished. Lot's of this going on here. Apparently the Historical Society
is serious about keeping the old places maintained and looking inviting. They are, too!!