Carrabelle

On Thurs. morning before we left Apalachicola, I visited the Orman House in a new FL park across from our marina. I was the only one on the 9am tour...and thoroughly enjoyed the history lesson from Ranger Mike. Thomas Orman was an amazing entrepreneur, originally from the Syracuse, NY, area. The house was another pre-fab structure from near Syracuse and finished in 1838. 

                                                         Cotton plants lined the walkway!!!

I also learned that the yellow house, the Coombs House, which has been turned into a B&B, the house picture that I posted already, was originally built in 1905 by James Coombs, a good friend of Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy supposedly asked him to be his VP running mate, but Coombs declined.

We arrived in Carrabelle around 1pm, after passing the oystermen in Apalachicola Bay. They loosen the oysters with long-handled shears, and then use a rake to pick them up.

Carrabelle has a hardware store and supermarket near the waterfront, but it doesn't have the history or charm of Apalachicola. We found a great local spot called Old Salts that serves the best gumbo!

We and our dogs have to walk across a wide band of grass to get to the road, and we pick up tons of sharp prickers. It is so annoying and painful for the dogs!

Don and the girls were up at 6:30, and it's hard to believe that I slept in until 8:20!!! That doesn't happen very often. It`s all the sea air...

After checking the weather yesterday, we decided to stay put today, Friday, and cross the Gulf tomorrow, Saturday.

We will head for Crystal River, about 140 miles away. Most of Crystal River is fresh water because of the many springs that come to the surface in the area. The water is a uniform 72 degrees which makes the river and King's Lake at the end an ideal home for manatees. The water is very clear so we should get a good look at the manatees.