April 10, 2013 
Scipio Creek Marina

Spent the day in port, we did a few things on the boat early, then walked around town in the morning and again later in the afternoon. Traveling on a boat gives you a good oportunity to do lots of walking since marinas are not usually located near the town centers. Some boaters carry bicycles on board and ride them into town for shopping or sight seeing. It seems to me there are too many bad or "distracted" drivers on the road to take that chance so I stick to the sidewalks, walking.
  I forgot to mention that on Sunday as we cruised from Sandestin to Panama City we kept hearing,  every hour or so, the  Coast Guard Mobile Alabama advisory asking boaters to look out for a blue sailboat with two adults and a couple of kids on board. The CG said to notify them of the boat was sighted but not to approach as the adults were presumed "armed and dangerous"  apparently the couple had kidnapped their own kids, boys 4 and 2 yrs old from the grandparents who had been awarded custody. Turns out the family turned up in Cuba a couple of days ago, the parents now in US jail, the kids to child services, a sad story.  You can see details here http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/04/10/cuba-says-it-will-give-us-florida-couple-who-allegedly-kidnapped/

Some pictures take in Apalachicola today

Veterans Memorial Park across the street from the Marina

Bronze statue of Vietnam era soldiers, the grounds in the park are very nice and well kept

The Old City Cemetery dates from 1830s it is an interesting visit. There are quite a few graves of Confederate Army Veterans along with family plots. It is sad to see the large number of children's graves and to read the inscriptions by greiving parents . The headstone in the foreground is of a family's two month old daughter

The grave of  a young girl, Apalachicola was in an area often plagued by yellow fever which hit children especially hard.

A downtown apalachicola street.

Apalachicloa oysters are famous in this area. they are not dredged but tongued from the bottom with long tongs 

 

A conveyor at an oyster shucking (opening) plant carries the empty shells to the yard for collection, seagulls stay close by to pick up the scraps. Those who have shucked oysters know it is a lot of work to produce this many empty shells.