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Apalachicola/St George Island

crabandy

Well Known Member
My wife mentioned something about wanting just one day on the beach without the kiddos, I couldn't think of a better way to spend a day with my wife. I made all the arrangements so my somewhat reluctant wife couldn't say no. She's still adjusting to riding in the RV and this will be her longest ride by far.

Since the RV has been flying the only thing on my Christmas/Birthday wish list has been Avgas, it's been several years and I almost forgot about the stash this bank held for our trips together. I pulled out all $320, divided by $3.75/gallon = 85.33 gallons of avgas for a little over 10 hours of flying at my 8 GPH average.

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A little Red Carpet treatment for my lady, we both decided a preflight Dramamine would be a good idea for her comfort.

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3 hours later we topped off with some cheap gas and free Hot Dogs/Popcorn/Fruit/Drinks at KMEI. My wife only had a few bites, turbulence and wooziness is her greatest deterrent from riding in the RV.

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I was really looking forward to flying along the coast, I took the special flight rules course for the airspace around Eglin/Destin:

https://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/course_content.aspx?cID=47&sID=279&preview=true

Seems the MOA'S and restricted areas weren't open on Sunday and we were able to fly right through them with flight following. We let the high rise condos of Destin and Panama City slide beneath our wings.

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St Joesph Bay just before our final destination KAAF, too much going on for pics during our arrival at Apalachicola.

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The guys at KAAF couldn't have been better. No commercial rental cars, but get in touch with Charlie at Whites auto and he'll leave one of his cars from his used car lot as a rental. We drove to St George Island which is a 15 minute drive from the airport and had dinner on the beach. My first time having oysters, both raw and cooked followed by dusk on the beach.

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We spent most of the next day on the beach in the State Park on St George Island.

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The State Park is a large Estuary for birds and we spent some time next to this guy.

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We were beached out by late afternoon and since the beachfront hotel we stayed at on the island left a lot to be desired we headed into Apalachicola. We booked a room at The Historic Gibson Inn, it was walking distance to everything downtown.

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The wife took a nap and after rocking on the front porch for a while I walked down to the docks and found 13 mile seafood and a couple boats.
http://www.13mileseafood.com

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Of course I had to stop in the local brewery, I sampled 5 types of beer and settled on the Mango Pale Ale. I also visited the beer return...

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We finished the night eating fresh seafood at the Owl Cafe.

http://owlcafeflorida.com
 
We left earlier than planned today in order to have more time to deal with weather on the way home. I still can't believe I'm able to deviate for weather across entire states with on board weather in a panel built just how I wanted it and cross half the country before dinner in this homebuilt plane.

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A couple hours of some VFR/IFR and an unplanned potty stop at KEUF we parked next to the Loves citation at KTHA.

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We had lunch in Lynchburg and then picked up a special bottle of Jack Daniels from the distillery!

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Lots of layers, light rain and swirling winds on the way home made for some pretty cool scenery. I still can't believe the 40-50 degree temps at 6000 in February.

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800ish OVC on our approach into KPOF, I really like shooting approaches behind this panel!

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We were greeted with sunshine and mid 60's back home.

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Its not a "Posh" destination, more of a friendly down home atmosphere for some out of the way beaches and seafood.
 
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Red carpet

Is a nice touch! Great trip report, one of the few places left on the coast that are still 'old Florida'.
 
Sooooooooooo Cool

Thanks for that.. i gotta get bangin this rivets.

Beautiful report and great that you lady goes with you.
 
Great trip report! Next trip to Apalachicola be sure to check out Boss Oyster which is just down the dock from 13 Mile, great food. Mexico Beach over to Apalachicola and on to St George Island are not the big entertainment meccas that many look for, but they are the true "old Florida" beaches and fishing towns, and is known to us locals as the Forgotten Coast.
 
Lukcy Man

You sir are a lucky man indeed. You are in the company of two beautiful ladies. As said above I need to set more rivets!
 
Thanks everyone! We really enjoyed the "old Florida," kinda like a mix of small town Kansas with a little Colorado mountain town mixed in with a large dose of southern flair and a beach.

Pete, That's my favorite pic from the flight back. I bet I snapped 50 pics to get that one!

I did smile inside and out as the wife brushed off my help with the seat belts with an "I got it" and helped pushing the airplane around etc. It may be a while but I'm hoping the next step is airplane camping!
 
come back for SnF

to ease her into camping. air conditioned facilities and plenty of entertainment make for an easy overnighter or two. plenty of options if you decide you need to bail out of the tent and grab a room.
 
Great trip.

On my list to do. We drove there in 2015, would love to fly though from the west coast of British Columbia.
 
Welcome to the neighborhood

I'm glad you enjoyed our area of the forgotten coast. Quincy, FL (2J9) has good prices on fuel and has 6-8 RV's on the field. Let us know when you make your next trip down.
 
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