Our Road Trips

8/28/2015

8/26-27/2015

Last night’s sunset was pretty lame, too many clouds. We went back to the camper and ate some leftovers for dinner and watched some TV…Tuesday night…NCIS re-runs. This morning, we just hung out in the nice cool camper…it is definitely still summer. About 430, we went for a ride, got some gas for the car and drove to Port St Joe, about 25 miles west. The county (Gulf) is one of few in the US that has 2 time zones in the same county, and Port St Joe being in the western part, we are again in Central Time. We had a recommendation to try Sunset Coastal Grill so we decided to give it a try…delicious dinner and a view of St Joseph Bay. As the sunset got closer, I went out the door and took a few pictures…beautiful sunset but unwanted people in my picture. We drove a little ways north on US 98, turned around and headed back to the camper. Time to get some rest.

I got up early and drove west a couple miles where I could get both some internet and a view of the sunrise. It did not disappoint…very peaceful place to sit and wait…beautiful way to start a morning. I went back & after some breakfast, we took another ride. Apalachicola is a cool little town at the point where the Apalachicola River flows into the Apalachicola Bay, providing a perfect breeding ground for the huge oyster crop that is harvested daily. This has been going on since the mid-1800s and is still a very big part of the culture of the area today. Dr John Gorrie moved there in 1833 and his desire to help those stricken with Yellow Fever led him to invent a way to mechanically make ice, which was used as the first form on mechanical air conditioning. There is a museum in town that is also a Florida State Park. Dr. Gorrie was issued Patent 8080 in 1851 but died just 4 short years later, unable to witness the far reaching effects of his invention. So the next time you have a drink over ice in an air conditioned room, give a salute to Dr Gorrie, nearly 165 years since this great invention…salute! We then drove about 6 blocks NW and visited the other State Park in town, Orman House, an Antebellum home built in 1838 by Thomas Orman, a local entrepreneur who made his fortune shipping cotton back to the US east coast and to Europe. The Civil War was also the demise of his livelihood and thus his fortune. Both of these State Parks are open for tours and are worth the $2 admission…very interesting history of Florida.

We asked the Park Ranger at both Gorrie House & Orman House about dining and both recommended the Up the Creek Restaurant & Raw Bar. We drove by and looked at others and decided to take their recommendation. We got a seat overlooking the Apalachicola River and sat there watching oyster boats come & go and ate some dinner. I had some oysters (been quite a while) and Barb had a really good fish sandwich. Nice way to end the afternoon. We then drove back to St George Island, stopped at Harry A’s on the water on the NW part of the Island and listened to some live music, watched the sunset and enjoyed the island atmosphere. I think we will come back here more often…we both enjoy it a lot.

Steve & Barb Larson