Apalachicola, Florida Sunrise on the Apalachicola Rider
When I think of small Gulf Coast towns my mind conjures up all the visions of the many small towns along the Gulf Coast I have had the privilege of visiting. While driving back from a family Disney World vacation last April we stopped for the night in Apalachicola, Florida. Apalachicola is a quaint, small southern historic town with a maritime culture, shops, galleries, restaurants , B & B’s, motels and museums. It is as near to perfect stereotype a Gulf Coast small town as one could hope to get.
Apalachicola, Florida Sunrise on the Apalachicola River
Apalachicola, Florida Pirate of …
We arrived on a Thursday and found a local motel for the night. Driving into Apalachicola on U.S 98, we drove through the historic downtown. After checking into our motel we drove back to the downtown area to find a place to eat. The restaurant we saw while driving in was closed, so we walked down to the Sea Food Grill & Steaks and had some great southern cookin’. Loved the white beans…
Apalachicola, Florida The Grady Market
Apalachicola, Florida Historic Downtown
After diner we walked down to the Apalachicola River. The sun was setting and there were a lot of photo opportunities… Old buildings with interesting architecture, an old wrecked boat and spectacular views of the river and docked boats. Unfortunately, we left our cameras back at the motel. What a bummer… We decided we needed to return at sunrise and get some of the pictures we missed…
The Three Soldiers Monument
Orman House
The next morning we get up before sunrise and headed down to the river. At every turn there was a great photo op… We got some great shots along the river as the sun rose over the river. There were several boats active on the river giving us some sunrise activity. We then strolled through town taking pictures of buildings and interesting sights while we waited for the Apalachicola Riverwalk Café to open. We had a great breakfast and enjoyed visiting with the owner. She filled us in on some of the history of Apalachicola and some of the must see sights.
Chapman Botanical Gardens
There are several museums in Apalachicola that we hope to visit. It seems that most of them are closed on Wednesday. So we will save them for our return to Apalachicola at a later date…
The Orman House was our first stop. The grounds were open to touring but the house was closed. We would love to have done the home tour but we will save that for our return trip. On entering the property we saw the Three Soldiers Monument, the focal point of the park. The Three Soldiers Monument pays honor to the Southern soldiers who served in Vietnam. Sculptor Frederick Hart said once that he believed that art must “touch our lives, our fears and cares – evoke our dreams and give hope to the darkness.” The Monument does just that.
Adjoining the Orman House is the Chapman Botanical Gardens. The Chapman Botanical Garden honors the memory of Dr. Alvan Wentworth Chapman, a noted botanist who in 1860 published “Flora of the United States”. We took a leisurely walk through the garden enjoying the early morning and the tortoise strolling across our path.
The Chestnut Cemetery Apalachicola, Florida
Driving in the previous evening, we saw an old cemetery that we wanted to explore. The Chestnut Cemetery, like any old cemetery, is like taking a remarkable walk back through time. If you stop, be sure to pickup a map which gives information about many of the people and history of Apalachicola buried there. The Chestnut Cemetery is open during daylight hours. The cemetery is on U.S. 98. There isn’t any parking at the cemetery so we parked nearby and walked to the entrance. The Chestnut Cemetery is very interesting and worth a look.
Chestnut Cemetery
We would liked to have stay longer but we needed to get on down the road. We will be coming back (hopefully soon) to explore more and to see the museums that were closed… Apalachicola, Florida; A Small Gulf Coast Town you need to visit… You will be glad you did…
