Eastpoint, Apalachicola and Indian Pass
April 7-13, 2022
Photos below…click a photo to open the photo gallery.
Indian Pass is named for both the Native Americans that used to inhabit its shores and the pass at the end of the peninsula where the Apalachicola Bay meets the gulf. The peninsula of Indian Pass or the “Pass” as the locals call it, is an AWESOME place.
When we’re in the Pass we can feel the history of the once uninhabited islands. The night sky is still dark with shining bright stars, and the white sand beaches are still covered in shells from long ago. St Vincent Island, the barrier island across from the Pass in St. Vincent Sound, has been preserved as a National Wildlife refuge only accessible by boat (or canoe). We stay at the Indian Pass campground looking across at St. Vincent Island, which is less than a 1/2 mile across from our beach.
Note: Last year I read a book of short stories, ”My Life in North Florida,” written by Kermit Brown, a man who grew up in the Pass in the 1940’s. His stories bring you to a place and time where folks lived in a simple way, in small communities, where it was safe for kids to be on their own. Encounters with gators and snakes were commonplace, as was hunting, fishing, and kids just bein’ kids. Kermit had his own small boat and gun for shooting squirrels (which he brought home and his mother cooked), by the age of six. His stories include Kermit and his buddies at the age of 9, attempting to capture the massive shark that always came through the Pass to feed on incoming fish. Their plan was for Kermit to swim half way across the pass as the tide changed, Kermit swam bait attached to a large hook on a line, out to the center of the Pass (the other end tied to an old junk car on the shore that they weren’t sure would start) and swam back as fast as he could. The shark took the bait while Kermit swam for his life toward the shore yelling for his friends to start driving the car. The engine in the car struggled, but pulled in the 12’ shark, and Kermit made it back just in time!
This year, Cary and I are reading another book by Kermit, “Stories from North Florida.” Reading these stories while we are here in the Pass, brings Kermit’s experiences to life. One of my favorite lines in the book, “It was a good atmosphere for a young person to learn to take responsibility for their actions and gain life skills. For that, I thank my parents who did not put as much into raising me as they did into teaching me how to live.”
Introduction:
Apalachicola oysters are plump, delicious and may be world famous but the Indian Pass Lagoon Oysters are some of the best you’ll ever taste. The historic Apalachicola is a quaint small southern town with a strong maritime culture, an eclectic group of locally owned shops and galleries, restaurants, great bars and restored B & B’s and hotels, just big enough that it has the only traffic light we’ve seen, and it’s only a blinking yellow light.
One night we boondocked in “Apalach”. We parked by the waterfront in town. Early in the morning there was a knock on the door. It was a police officer. He explained there is no overnight camping allowed in town and asked us to move before his boss sees us and he gets in trouble. The beauty of this is that #1, he was so super friendly and #2, they do not allow overnight camping. In other words, the reason there are no homeless people or homeless encampments is because non-woke liberals do not exist anywhere on the Forgotten Coast and laws are enforced to protect the citizens and not the criminals!
We love the Oyster City Brewery. Their beers are our favorite and its a super cool place that put benches and high tops up and down the sidewalk and on the sidewalks across the street. People sit around outside, shoot the breeze and enjoy their beers. We also love the High Five Dive Bar in Apalach. There’s always great local bands. The night we were there we saw “Scratch 2020” perform. They kicked ass! We were sitting up close at the bar when all of a sudden the lead vocal jumped up on the bar. She sang and danced.I think Cary really liked it! 😉
Eastpoint is kind of the halfway point between Carrabelle and Apalachicola. There’s really not much there, but 2 restaurants and a brewery, Eastpoint Brewery, They have live local bands a couple of nights a week (the beers aren’t really very good). Lynn’s Quality Oysters is a hole in the wall restaurant /seafood store that hasn’t changed or updated in probably 30 years. We always sit at the 8-seat counter with the locals that are always hanging out and just like everywhere else on the Forgotten Coast, include us in the conversation just like we’ve been friends forever. The Red Pirate is the only other restaurant and it’s also just a local place to hang out.
Favorites: The friendly people, of course! Oyster City brewery in Apalachicola. Hole in the Wall seafood restaurant in Apalach has great oysters, seats about 20 people, is family-owned and even has the loud, smart-alecky waitress that makes it fun! Indian Pass still feels like old-time florida. Great fishing along outer reefs and barrier islands of Indian Pass and huge, fresh oysters at Indian Pass Oyster bar.
Fish we caught: Triple Tail, Flounder, Redfish, Trout, Gaff topsail catfish, whiting
