Day 157: Town of Apalachicola

December 22, 2023

Day 157: December 22: Finally a really beautiful day; warm enough for shorts and light shirts. We took both dinghies to shore and were able to tie up at the end of the dock where Mark and Mel Bonds on Paradise were tied up. Mona and Frank know them pretty well, having met at the AGLCA rendezvous in November. It's fun meeting more Loopers.

The dock sits up against an old brick building, open to the water. Evidently the owner rents it out as a wedding venue for $4500. In its previous life it functioned as an ice house. Attached to it is what appears to be an apartment.

Apalachicola, located where the Apalachicola River meets Apalachicola Bay, is one of the most historic cities in Florida. The town was originally named Cottonton and was incorporated as West Point before being renamed to Apalachicola in 1831. The name Apalachicola is an Indian word that means "a ridge of earth produced by sweeping the ground in preparation for a council or peace fire". Over time the name has come to mean "Land of the friendly people".

The town is rich in history. Remnants of Native American cultures date back to the Middle Archaic period (2000 BC) and there is evidence that indicates native cultures lived here during the Woodland (broadly dated from 1000 B.C. to A.D. 900) and Mississippian (A.D. 800-1600) periods. Europeans first explored the area in the early 1500's and the earliest known settlement of the area was a fort built by the Spanish in 1705. Eventually it was ceded to England in 1763.

While the city is probably best known for its role in the seafood industry, it was also home to other enterprises including timber, the Apalachicola and Alabama Railroad Company and the sponge and cotton industries.

The six of us strolled leisurely through the quaint, very walkable town, enjoying the small shops, historic buildings, lovely homes and the sunshine! Listening to folks' accents and noting the shrimp, fish, oysters and sweet tea on restaurants' menus, it feels like we are still in Alabama!

We had lunch at the Hole in the Wall, a small restaurant with indoor and outdoor tables as well as counter seating. John and I both had a fried oyster and fries basket and sweet tea. Delicious.

We slowly sauntered to Orman House Historic State Park. The Orman House is closed for renovations but we were able to visit the adjoining Chapman Botanical Gardens and the Three Soldiers Detail, a bronze replica of the Vietnam memorial statue in Washington, D.C.

Built in 1838 by Thomas Orman, the home overlooking the Apalachicola River was used for business and social gatherings. Orman was a cotton merchant from 1834 to the 1880's; his business played a role in Apalachicola becoming one of the Gulf Coast's most important cotton exporting ports by the mid 19th century. The Ormans owned more than 20 slaves whose labors supported the wealthy lifestyle of the family. There is one slave shack remaining out of the 3 or 4 that existed on the property, a stark reminder of the cruelties of the slave trade.

The garden was created in memory of Dr. Alvan Wentworth Chapman, a noted botanist who lived and worked as a medical doctor in Apalachicola. He devoted much of his time to studying nature and wrote "The Flora of the Southern United States", a classic that is still popular today. Besides the fauna and flora, there is a cool carving of a mermaid made out of a tree trunk on the property.