The view from Room 301 at the Water Street Hotel
The little town of Apalachicola claims to harvest at least 10 percent of the nation’s oyster haul, and I’m not going to debate them, because every other business in this town appears to sell oysters. This town is like Key West probably once was – nutty old people, artists, fishermen, roosters blocking traffic, an overgrown, ramshackle charmer of a place. My hotel, which actually just opened earlier in the week (and still needs time to find its feet, even if the staff is sweeter than candy), sits cheek by jowl with a seafood processor, on the Apalachicola River.
The view up top is a snap of sunrise as observed from my living room. The guest rooms are actually fully-stocked, very expensively furnished apartments (and are for sale). I’d love to arm myself with some good seafood recipes and come down here with a few friends to cook for a couple of days.
There’s not much to do but relax, though there are a few historic points of note, a handful of shops, and a really cool old cemetery that just screams Old Florida. Definitely worth the trek.