April 2 - Apalachicola, FL

Day 27 - The Forgotten Coast

Battery Park Marina

The Forgotten Coast is the name most commonly used to refer to this quiet section of coastline stretching from Mexico Beach to St. Marks. It got its name in the early nineties when a Florida tourism group "forgot" to include information on this area on their map. This prompted a local group to create their own brochure and map and call this area the Forgotten Coast. It's the perfect place to spend the weekend. After seeing how much boat traffic there was during the week in Destin and Panama City Beach. It must be a real zoo on Saturday and Sunday. Boats owners aren't as courteous in Florida as they are in Texas...people seldom slow down when they pass someone else. The bigger the wake the happier they seem. I guess when there are so many boats around it would be impossible to slow down for them all.

We are glad we chose the pier at Battery Park; it's so much prettier than the other two options in town and located just blocks from all the stores.  We have a nice view of the water and marshy grassland area, where there are quite a few birds. We spent most of the day browsing through the little shops, with beach decor, beach clothing and antiques. All were of nice quality...no cheap tourist junk. Everyone in town is very friendly.

Stan needed some parts to fix a few things in the engine room, so we rode our bikes about two miles to Ace Hardware. I also picked up a few things at the grocery store. For all my Texas friends...don't complain about food prices at the store. It's sooo much cheaper than anything we have found since leaving home, we did find a Wal-Mart and their prices were comparable. We'll definitely stock up when we find another one. My biggest surprise here in Florida is the limited choices in fruit and vegetables. Very little in the stores that we have been to.

Our morning view

The Tin Shed - one of the nautical antique shops

The old sponge exchange building built in 1840