Day 20 Apalachicola

The drive on Route 98 from Carrabelle to Apalachicola is right next to the Gulf and is a beautiful drive that should be taken if you have sufficient time. Before going to Apalachicola we drove across the St George Bridge to St George Island and rode around. There's not much there except for a fairly large community of beach houses. It's about 10 miles long and a quarter of a mile wide. The most interesting part was crossing the bridge and seeing about a 500 oyster fishermen in small skiffs hand tonging. There were zero patent tongs. More than 90 percent of Florida oysters are harvested from Apalachicola Bay, so naturally it's why we enjoy stopping there. We checked into the River Inn at noon and immediately went for lunch. Instead of going to our usual stop at Boss Oyster's, we went to Papa Joe's Oyster Bar & Grill. Oysters on the Half Shell, Baked Oysters, and Oyster Stew were all better than excellent. The Oyster Stew was made just the way I think it should be, very simple - cream, butter, oyster liquor, and pepper - unbelievably good. Afterwards we walked around town stopped in a few shops before going to the old Gibson Inn for a refreshment. The bartender there showed us a picture she had just taken of a ghost she saw in the bar the day before, apparently it's infested with the damn things. A little more walking around before dinner at The Tap Room next to the Owl Cafe and more good food, Duck Confit, French Fries in duck fat with crispy prosciutto and parmesan cheese, and Pork Tacos. We are getting fatter by the day.

The next morning we had the complementary breakfast at Caroline's in our hotel. I had Trigger fish with poached eggs and Sylvia had Lemon Pancakes with Raspberry Butter. Whoa!