Florida 2009 #3

Today we went to Apalachicola early in the morning to check out an Art Fair that happened to be going on. The only thing was that when we got there we couldn’t find exactly where we needed to be. After circling around Apalachicola (which, mind you, ended up being a very small circle), we happened to go past some unsavory parts of the city, we passed by three different cemeteries all right next to each other which I found rather strange, and we saw a group of african american people standing outside someone’s house waiting for a wedding to occur. The unusual thing about the wedding was that I felt we were passing by the staging of “Cops-Apalachicola” in that no sooner did we drive by that we saw about 3 or 4 police cars pull up. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I was guessing that something more was going on than just a wedding.

Anyhow, we ended up going back into town, and stopped at the Visitor’s Center, where my mom got us a map and a listing of all of the different exhibitors. Well, it turns out that not only did we not know where to go, but we were also about 2 hours early. And no, it didn’t mean that we were two hours early because we were still on Central Time, but two hours early/same time zone. We decided to toodle around the city to check out all of the shops in the downtown area.

Apalachicola’s main downtown area is very old, and in parts reminds me of New Orleans with some of the warehouses that are lined up along the street. There are a couple of really old antebellum houses, as well as some really old bungalos. Apalachicola has a lot of artisans, and a lot of artsy type shops around it in its main downtown area. Once you get out of the main 6-7 blocks however, you get into major hicksville. Even worse, you know that something is wrong when the IGA supermarket is way nicer than the Piggly Wiggly, and the checkers have more teeth.

Anyhow, while walking from block to block, we got to see a really cool pet store complete with dog and cat outfits and costumes. I’m not one to be much fond of dogs and costumes, but I have to admit some of them were pretty darn cute. In fact, I was tempted to get the “Dogzilla” costume for Dillon, but something tells me that he’d more look like a very lithe iguana rather than a T-Rex. We then went to Tamara’s Tapas Café where we had a couple of cafes con leche and a couple of small things to eat. My mom said her dried fruit scone was ok, but that the fruit wasn’t the only thing that was dry in it. My mocho-choco-latta-ya-ya mini bundt cake, on the other hand, was fantastic. After finishing up, we were able to see an artist’s display of very intricate paper cutting and paper manipulation that was really interesting.

We then went over to an Orvis store. We had been at this same store once before, and the same lady that was working last year was working again this year. Honestly, this woman looks like a Southern Belle, but with a sour attitude. Now, my perception of a Southern Belle is that sickly sweet charming persona that always wants you to feel welcome and wants to be polite and hospitable. They are usually soft-spoken, and smile a lot, all the while leaning on their drawl like a tired and overused excuse. This woman, while soft-spoken, was quite a negative Nancy. Even when my mom was trying to pay this woman a compliment, this Southern Bomb didn’t even know how to react let along get the compliment itself. Orvis, usually being over-priced and very ordinary in their merchandise, was yet again a disappointment. So we left.

By then it was about noon, and we noticed several of the vendors were now set up.

Unfortunately, NONE of them had anything remotely close to anything that I would even consider buying. Bad photography, bad watercolor art, bad oil paintings, and spread out over a 4 block circle, it was just a disappointment. So we decided we were going to have some lunch at the Apalachicola Grill.

Lunch was fantastic, although the service was a bit slow and unremarkable. There were a lot of people in the restaurant, and there were a lot of people lined up outside waiting to get in. But, after having a delicious lunch of coconut shrimp with orange marmalade and sweet tea, I can totally see why.

We came back to the beach house and spent most of the afternoon lounging in the sun. My face feels extremely warm as do the tips of my ears. I also notice that occasionally I get the chills, even though the temperature outside is about 75. Perhaps next I’ll go into heatstroke and shock. Wouldn’t THAT be a great way to spend my vacation.

Anyhow, we took it easy the rest of the day, and then waited for my brother and his family to make it down to the beach. They arrived at about 9 p.m., and immediately it was a flurry of excitement and activity, as the girls were shrieking wanting to get out to the beach. I chuckled at the sight, as they were extremely excited. With flashlights in hand, and then the 7 of us in tow, we walked out to the shore, where it was quite starry, and the silvery moon cast its light on the beach. It was pretty incredible. I was hoping that we would see some creatures scurrying along the beach, but no luck.

After having some food, the energy level certainly dropped quite a bit. Sarah sat next to me writing in her new journal, and had me listen to everything that she’s writing. She has beautiful penmanship, and really knows how to write. She asked me how to spell computer, and I happily obliged. I asked her why she needed to know how to spell it (smiling), and then asked her if she was writing about me. Of course she denied it, and then smiled and giggled….typical woman!

We’ll see what tomorrow brings!