After a night’s sleep interrupted by a door-slamming, loud-talked neighbor (boooooo!), SMS and I had breakfast at the Hibiscus cafe, which was included in our B&B package. We split the multi-grain pancakes and an egg dish and were really happy with the meal.
After breakfast, it was time to hit the road. About 45 minutes into the drive, we stopped at Seaside, which was an exquisitely cute town. The beach and water there looked spectacular although we didn’t go in. There were a lot of Airstream trailor “food trucks” that were serving pretty delicious looking things but we weren’t hungry at all. I told SMS that this was my ideal beach food- still junk food, but over-priced and artisanal. SMS and I agreed that this sounded very white to say.
I also checked out Seadog bookstore, where I ended up talking to one of the ladies there for awhile. We swapped book recs and I walked out with three! She and her husband split her time between Seaside and Memphis. She was very interesting to talk to and I’m glad I met her! We figured out that we shared the same first name so no wonder we thought highly of each other.
I had heard good things about Rosemary, but we drove through and I just checked it out through the window. In the future, I think a Florida Panhandle vacation centered on Seaside would be pretty awesome. Maybe I’ll visit my sister when she’s living in Pensacola!
As we headed for Apalachicola, we were entering oyster country. We stopped at Indian Pass Raw Bar for a late lunch. It’s so popular that there was still a long wait but it was worth it! The local oysters are meaty but with a very mild taste- not particularly briny or butter-y, which is how I’ve always thought of dividing oysters. We shared oyster, gumbo and a slice of Key Lime Pie. We also self-served ourselves a draft beer and made our check on the honor system orange tab. It was a pretty great experience!
We drove through Apalachicola and crossed the two bridges to St George Island. We drove through the State Park, which had beautiful beaches but some biting flies so we didn’t last too long. It’s weird- the bites don’t hurt severely but they are pretty annoying!
Our hotel was off of Airbnb and check-in desk-less. It was amazing! A beautifully restored building with gorgeous hardwood floors and pretty decor. We went out and sat on the balcony for a bit while trying to figure out what to do for dinner.
We decided to head over the bridge to Eastpoint to eat at Lynn’s Quality Oysters, which had rave reviews. It was also a Southern Road Trip jackpot because our waiter had the thickest regional accent of the trip. He was a super skinny, super nice oysterman who was waiting tables on the dinner shift. He told us the back porch was his turf and that if management left him alone, he could manage the whole thing on a busy night. That night, it was just us and one other table so we talked for a bit.
We ordered raw and baked oysters. The raw oysters were so good we wished we had just stuck with those, but I had been interested to try the variation since we really hadn’t had oysters any other way since our grilled oyster experiences in Japan.
We left just as they were closing and took two slices of Key Lime pie to go. We ate on the balcony of our hotel and they were absolutely delicious. SMS and I usually share dessert but that night, my slice was mine! It ended up being a good decision because the slices were medium-sized and amazing. Sharing would have been hard!
Portmanteau Suitcase 