It finally feels as though Winter might be loosening its grip on the Panhandle, I say "might" because as I write this the wind is once again blowing 25 mph from the NW (with gusts even higher). Last weekend though was glorious, calm, warm, and sunny so we went boating.
About 20 miles to the North of Port St. Joe there is a little anchorage right off the Gulf of Mexico that has been calling our name (however not loudly enough to entice us away from the electric heat, until now). The name of this little slice of heaven is Crooked Island, all fall and winter we have heard how beautiful it is, how great the shelling is, how deserted it is. Last weekend the weather was finally perfect for a run up to check it out and we were so excited to untie our dock lines and see for ourselves. Oh my it was all that and more! We headed out armed with the way points that the locals here use to get over the bar and into the anchorage, and in the company of our friends Ed & Lucy aboard their boat "I Love Lucy". Our plan was to rendezvous with another boat, "Sea Sea" coming down from Panama City and spend a couple of lazy days at anchor and enjoying the beach. I love it when a plan comes together without a hitch!
The sky was crystal clear, the sunsets were spectacular, the shelling was unbelievable. Part of the reason for the great shelling is that the only way to get to this beach is by boat so things aren't picked over by a zillion other tourists. We must have found over fifty sand dollars in just a couple of hours. After seeing the prices of these sand dollars in the tourist shops I sure think the name is appropriate.
An interesting thing about Crooked Island is that the North border of the bay where we anchored is part of Tyndall AFB. One of the things they do at Tyndall is to shoot drones into the Gulf. I thought they were doing this just for our Monday entertainment but Larry assures me there is a more compelling reason. The mission here is to train pilots to intercept and destroy enemy missiles and aircraft. From the shoreline on the North side of our anchorage rocket fired drones are launched out into the Gulf at subsonic speeds, planes then seek to intercept and destroy them. When these exercises are being conducted boaters are restricted from traveling in the "launch corridor"; this means that if you are passing by in the Gulf you must be some distance off of the shore. How far off depends on the instructions that they announce on the radio, sometimes 3 miles and occasionally as much as 12 miles off shore. Boats anchored in the bay must be on the far East end, if you are anchored to the West of their imaginary line you will be required to leave or to move farther East. If you are on the beach they will come and tell you to remain to the East of the "line". These precautions are to ensure that boaters and beachcombers are safe from harm when the booster rockets drop off, or in the event any of these devices crash as they are launched.
This was just another really cool opportunity that our somewhat unusual lifestyle affords us. I mean how many people even know this kind of thing happens, sure if you think about it it makes logical sense but I never actually bothered to think about it before.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Charming Apalachicola
The town of Apalachicola lies about 25 miles East of Port St. Joe on US Hwy 98. Foodies across the land are likely familiar with the name because it is here that some of the best oysters, in fact many would argue the best, in the country are harvested and processed. There are approximately 200 oyster growing appellations in North America so what, you may wonder, makes these so special? Some say it is the nearly perfect combination of clean fresh and nutrient rich water from the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee rivers which meets the salty seawater of Apalachicola Bay to create an ideal estuarine environment where baby oysters enjoy the optimum salinity and temperature to grow big and juicy.
Oysters are bi-valves and feed on single-cell plants they filter from the water passing over and through the "beds" where they grow. the oysters (Crassostrea virginica) that thrive in Apalachicola Bay grow rapidly and generally reach market size in two years or a little less. The Florida Gulf Coast in one of only a few areas where oysters are still harvested commercially from small boats by "tonging". That means that the fishermen use large rake like devices known as tongs to dislodge oysters from the bed and scoop them up and into the boat; talk about hard work.
Whatever the reason for the excellent quality and flavor of oysters grown in Apalachicola Bay we are quite appreciative of the result and find ourselves heading over to “Apalach”, as the locals say, at least once a week to get our oyster fix. Not that that we can’t enjoy the same fine oysters here in Port St. Joe, in fact the marina restaurant has a “2 for 1” weekday special (steamed, baked, or on the half-shell) that we try to take advantage of at least once a week. But the Boss Oyster Company restaurant over in Apalach has the best oyster po’boy that we have found outside of New Orleans and since we are so close, well, it would be foolish not to enjoy ‘em while we can
On our most recent excursion we took the opportunity to visit the John Gorrie Museum. Dr. Gorrie was the inventor of the original ice machine which was the precursor to refrigeration that we now take for granted. As a physician he was looking for a way to cool the air and relieve the suffering of his patients suffering from Yellow Fever. Dr. Gorrie received the first U.S. Patent for mechanical refrigeration in 1851, however he died without enjoying the commercial success of his work. While the Gorrie Museum was interesting we already knew much of the story and just stopped in because it was open on the day we were in town. The real treasure for the day was our visit to the Orman House Historic State Park for what our friend Joe Rattini described as the “best two dollar tour I ever got". The park ranger that gave the tour was quite a history buff and was a treasure trove of information on the town of Apalachicola as well as the Orman family and the general history of the region.
Apalachicola has seen both boom and bust many times throughout its rich history; first as a thriving port shipping cotton from Alabama & Georgia to Europe. During the Civil War the town's economy was shattered by a blockade that closed the port. About a decade after the end of the Civil War the lumber boom brought the community back to boom times which lasted until about 1930 when the area was finally stripped of Cypress. As the lumbering boom faded Apalach turned again to the rich waters and became the third largest sponging center in Florida. Today the fishing industry thrives and oysters harvested here are shipped around the world. Apalachicola is also working hard to re-invent itself as a tourist destination with more cute shops and new restaurants springing up each season. It sure works for us.
Oysters are bi-valves and feed on single-cell plants they filter from the water passing over and through the "beds" where they grow. the oysters (Crassostrea virginica) that thrive in Apalachicola Bay grow rapidly and generally reach market size in two years or a little less. The Florida Gulf Coast in one of only a few areas where oysters are still harvested commercially from small boats by "tonging". That means that the fishermen use large rake like devices known as tongs to dislodge oysters from the bed and scoop them up and into the boat; talk about hard work.
Whatever the reason for the excellent quality and flavor of oysters grown in Apalachicola Bay we are quite appreciative of the result and find ourselves heading over to “Apalach”, as the locals say, at least once a week to get our oyster fix. Not that that we can’t enjoy the same fine oysters here in Port St. Joe, in fact the marina restaurant has a “2 for 1” weekday special (steamed, baked, or on the half-shell) that we try to take advantage of at least once a week. But the Boss Oyster Company restaurant over in Apalach has the best oyster po’boy that we have found outside of New Orleans and since we are so close, well, it would be foolish not to enjoy ‘em while we can
On our most recent excursion we took the opportunity to visit the John Gorrie Museum. Dr. Gorrie was the inventor of the original ice machine which was the precursor to refrigeration that we now take for granted. As a physician he was looking for a way to cool the air and relieve the suffering of his patients suffering from Yellow Fever. Dr. Gorrie received the first U.S. Patent for mechanical refrigeration in 1851, however he died without enjoying the commercial success of his work. While the Gorrie Museum was interesting we already knew much of the story and just stopped in because it was open on the day we were in town. The real treasure for the day was our visit to the Orman House Historic State Park for what our friend Joe Rattini described as the “best two dollar tour I ever got". The park ranger that gave the tour was quite a history buff and was a treasure trove of information on the town of Apalachicola as well as the Orman family and the general history of the region.
Apalachicola has seen both boom and bust many times throughout its rich history; first as a thriving port shipping cotton from Alabama & Georgia to Europe. During the Civil War the town's economy was shattered by a blockade that closed the port. About a decade after the end of the Civil War the lumber boom brought the community back to boom times which lasted until about 1930 when the area was finally stripped of Cypress. As the lumbering boom faded Apalach turned again to the rich waters and became the third largest sponging center in Florida. Today the fishing industry thrives and oysters harvested here are shipped around the world. Apalachicola is also working hard to re-invent itself as a tourist destination with more cute shops and new restaurants springing up each season. It sure works for us.
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