st. george island

monday night, w & m took us on a tour of st. george island. it has an ocean side, and a bay sid,e with lots of sand dunes in between. the community has done a great job (at least recently) of trying to conserve the sand dunes. there are lots of walkways to the beach & bay side so that people don't tramp on the dunes & destroy them. it's really beautiful there, and at least at the time, quite unpopulated & unfrequented.

night at "the plantation."

here are some pictures from our night at the plantation. the plantation is a gated community on st. george island, and some members of the family rented a house there. it was really beautiful! we had grilled hamburgers, kumquats, and lots of other good stuff, and i realized the next morning that gin & tonics in apalachicola are much too much for me, given that they're made giant-sized!

night at "the plantation."

c is giving j a good night hug. so cute!

eco tour

on tuesday morning, we all met to take an "eco tour" of the apalachicola bay, and surrounding marshes & swamps. we learned a lot, and the following are some pictures of the highlights of the tour.

eco tour

this is a new development going up on the apalachicola bay that the man who was running our eco tour didn't like. development on the coastline hurts the eco system. i guess this development is officially called a hotel, but is really a set of condominiums.

eco tour

here's a picture of nets that let baby turtles out when the fishermen are fishing for shrimp. this puts them at a disadvantage with foreign fisheries, and makes the american shrimp more expensive than foreign ones. if you can, find out where your shrimp come from, and support the u.s.a., because they let the baby turtles live. :)

eco tour

grammy & d are waving at us as we pass by on the eco tour.

eco tour

here's a picture of an oyster shucking line. oysters are a declining industry for apalachicola. the apalachicola bay is one of the last healthy estuaries, and the nutrients left by the estuary help oysters to thrive. apalachicola bay provides the majority of the oysters consumed in florida.

eco tour

i thought this would make a cute picture. i took this as we were riding under a railroad bridge.

ecotour

here's a picture of the first alligator we saw in florida. yay!!!

eco tour

here's an example of high class-mansion living, and trailer park type nests. the lower class type nest turned out to be a much better picture! in my easter/mimosa induced haze, i can't actually remember the exact type of bird...

eco tour

click on the picture to see the bald eagle in the center of the photograph. i never really thought florida would be a home to bald eagles, but it is.

eco tour

click on the pic to check out the cute little baby alligator!

southern flavor...

you'd never see this in portland!

amberjack at j & j's

here's a very blurry pic of j at sunset on st. george island. i tried it first with the flash, but it ruined the sunset & all came out black, so i think without the flash everything has to be steadier. dunno. i've never been good at photography. j is sporting one of his favorite climbing t-shirts. :)

amberjack at j & j's

hmmm... i just realized i took zero pictures of the "fancy" dinner wednesday night at w & m's house. i guess i was too busy talking to the newly arrived relatives, whom i had never met before, to take pictures. ah well. wednesday night was a fantastic dinner of roast beef, salad, & among other things, a fancy cake with actual fudge as an icing. good times! anyway, on tuesday night, j & j hosted all of us out on st. george island, with shrimp cocktail and grilled amberjack. yummy!

amberjack at j & j's

we had fun entertaining c (and she entertained us) by tying a chain of slipnots and then letting her pull them out. she would let out a cute little "ooohhhh" every time. i have a video of it, but posting a video is too complicated on blogger.

st. joe bay/island/spit/peninsula.?

on our way to st. joe's bay, we stopped at this air force base/site to check out the lighthouse.

st. joe bay/island/spit/peninsula.?

the lighthouse in the first picture used to be here, where the posts are in the water (in the 2nd picture). the coastline has (unsurprisingly) been receding, so it was transferred farther in, past the houses. j's relatives long ago lived in the house(s) and took care of the lighthouse.

st. joe bay/island/spit/peninsula.?

check out this sandcastle in "large" mode (click on picture). i've never seen one so decorated before - these southerners go all out - i love it!!! we spent the late morning/early afternoon out here, and we got a little pink from our time in the sun. it felt a lot warmer - less breeze - than st. george island. on the other side of the land, the bay side (where the water is totally crystal clear), we saw an alligator. unfortunately i didn' t have my camera with me, hence no 'gator picture.

sunrise

here are two pictures - one of the sunrise over apalachicola bay, and one of the rising sun's light on the consulate. i usually have problems sleeping late when i change time zones. earlier in the week, i succombed to my insomnia and left the b&b for a walk by the water, only to catch the sunrise. on thursday, i dragged j out of bed to come with me & accompany me for a post-sunrise jog, and these are the resulting pictures. whenever i visit the south, a trip is not complete without a sunrise jog. that was one of my favorite things about playing the spoleto festival in charleston (for 4 summers) - running at sunrise along the battery, seeing dolphins swimming in the bay, and saying good mornin' to the other familiar walkers & joggers (after a month, you sorta get to know a place...). i must admit that my reason for running so early was only 80% to see the sunrise. in may/june, 5:30/6:00am is the only humane TIME to go running, with the hot temperatures and the humidity. hmm. j has never been to charleston. we have to make a trip sometime. any joiners???

sunrise

this is a picture of j's grammy's elementary school. it was sold a while back to a family and is now a private residence. how cool it would be to live in an old schoolhouse?!

french toast.

thursday morning, the staff at the coombs house inn made us french toast, and it was delicious! they were worried that we were getting sick of their breakfast egg dishes (which we weren't), since we had been staying there since saturday, so they went out of their way to make us something a little different. if you're ever going to apalachicola, i'd highly recommend this historic bed and breakfast.

cheesy picture

paul, look closely. this picture is for YOU!

bike ridin' & beach readin'

thursday morning we decided to spend some time away from the beach, as we had gotten plenty the day before. b & c wanted to go bike riding on st. george island, and we went with them and just read on the beach (under the shelters). check out this beach ready wheel chair - i'd never seen one before.

bike ridin' & beach readin'

can't stop thinking of oklahoma... "surrey with a fringe... on top!"

bike ridin' & beach readin'

c & b are stylin!

bike ridin' & beach readin'

woohoo! i FINALLY got to ride in the front seat! the whole week i was relgated to the back because i was tiny compared to my companions, and even a couple times got stuck in the trunk. since it was finally just the two of us, I GOT TO RIDE IN THE FRONT SEAT and it was absolutely glorious and everything I had imagined. :) here's a pic of j reading under the shelter at the beach. those shelters were really convenient for taking in the beach & ocean without getting the sun exposure.

yay! grand grits!!!

these oysters preceded the "grand grits" we had all been looking forward to the whole morning. grand grits are a most creamy concoction of grits, spicy ham, shrimp, grits, lots of cream & butter & other goodness. what a great lunch!!! i'll have dreams about boss oyster for a long, long time...

yay! grand grits!!!

this was a most interesting way of keeping our pitcher of beer cool while outside in the warm sun. just plop a bag of ice in the middle of the pitcher. i had never ever seen this before. those kids at boss oyster are super smart.

cocktail party

here are a couple pictures from the inside and outside on the balcony of the consulate thursday night, those staying in the consulate teamed up to provide a "cocktail hour" type light dinner. the food was great, especially the desserts!

cocktail party

this is j, father of c. he enjoys gin. so do i. he makes a mean gin & tonic! why did my hubby not inherit the gin gene, which the rest of his extended relatives seem to have? i love gin.

cocktail party

this is aunt m and little c. what a cute picture! c was so well behaved. i miss both of them.

cocktail party

handsome men! this is uncle t, uncle m, and j.

boardwalk

here are a couple of pictures of a boardwalk in apalachicola that extends over the marshland. it documents the plantlife that thrives in the marshy ecosystem. if you ever find yourself there, watch out for the poison ivy that dangles in places above the boardwalk. don't touch the trees! we did the boardwalk tour the morning of our departure on friday. it began as a bit of an overcast, windy day, but by the afternoon the clouds had disappeared and it was sunny again.

boardwalk

near the boardwalk was a sort of mini aquarium filled with marine life that can be found in the area. you can make out a couple of turtles in the picture to the left, and you can see c & b through the aquarium glass....

here's the picture of everyone minus one, n (mother of c), who was taking the picture. large bunch, eh? unfortunately, a couple relatives arrived just minutes before we had to begin our drive back to the airport in tallahassee. it was great to meet them, and i hope to get to spend more time with them in the future. we had a fabulous time on our trip to apalachicola, and hope to return soon!

if you can't read the sign in the picture, click on it and it will expand & be clear. what exactly is a worm gruntin festival? if you know, please leave a comment! we saw this on our drive back to the airport. just HAD to take a picture!