7-4-19 Talahassee and St. George Island, FL

Mr. Pelican cooling his pits

Chloe the Snowy

Wildlife report:  The fish that are leaping out of the water are redfish and cobia, to the best of my knowledge.  Pelicans like to fly in formation.  Two fishermen on the pier told us that they saw a group of dolphins swim by this morning.  One fellow spotted a shark which may explain why there is no one (who’s smart) on the adjacent beach or in the water.  So far, no alligators.  (I never heard of cobia but we’re having it for dinner tonight.)

Tallahassee, the capital of Florida, is a pleasant one-hour drive from here.  When we arrived, there was a protest taking place.  One person was dressed up like a caricature of an angry Trump.  They were carrying signs, “Remember when caged babies shocked you?” and “Fox + Trump = Death Camp.”  Seriously?  Rob whispered to me, “I remember when live birth abortion shocked me:  it was today.”  (I left my Trump 2020 hat in the car.  Freedom of speech doesn’t apply to my hat.)

Tallahassee capitol building
built in 1845

The original capitol building no longer functions as a government building but a museum.  It was built in 1845, the year that Florida became a state with a population of 65,000, 5,000 more than was required.  To shield against the intense sun, the windows are festooned with red and white candy-striped awnings as they have been since the 1890s.  In 1902, the building was expanded and upgraded and additional wings were added. 

Original Supreme Court

The subdome is a geometric design made of stained glass.  On the first floor, the furnishings in the Governor’s Office and the Supreme Court are original, from 1902.  The second floor housed the 2 Legislative branches but the current furnishings are not original.  In the 1970s, modern man decided this lovely, historic setting was old and antiquated and the building should be razed.  Concerned citizens managed to reverse that decision but the three aft wings of the building were demolished and an ugly 22-story square skyscraper was built to house the current government offices.  This building looks like a ventilation shaft.  Not the ugliest capitol building we’ve seen but it’s up there, rivaling Lincoln, NE.  This is the 44^th capitol we have visited.  We’re definitely on final, now!

Pretty subdome stained glass

Is this the ugliest capitol
building or what?!

Typical "float" in the St. George
Island 4th of July parade

The 4^th of July is upon us.  We learned that there is a small parade on St. George Island and Nancy, the kind lady at the Visitor Center, invited us to view the parade from their front porch.  That was special all by itself being only a few feet away from the St. George Lighthouse.  The parade was small lasting an hour and consisted of nothing but golf carts and trucks pulling trailers and boats, all decorated with a few flags and streamers.  The crowd and the people in the parade vehicles spent the hour shooting water at each other with Super Soakers.  No presentation of the colors, no marching bands, no military or bagpipes, no horses, no floats.  Boring.  Rob got into the fray for a little while but I was OK on the porch out of range of the water guns.  It was basically a one-hour drench fest and considering the 90+% humidity here, I am plenty drenched.

The good news is that we found a wonderful place for lunch, The Station in Apalachicola.  (That’s fun to say 3 times fast!)  The Station is an old 1950s gas station and auto repair garage that some clever innovator turned into a raw bar restaurant.  The workers were beyond gracious and friendly and I’m no expert but I will say that in my experience, these were the best, freshest oysters I have ever had!  They were shucking the oysters right there at the bar and serving them right across to us, ice cold!  Couple this with the fun atmosphere and it turned into a great experience.  What a find!

Shucking oysters!

Happy oyster eaters!

The Station Raw Bar

"More oysters, please!"

I don't think Hurricane Michael
gave a shit if this house was
up on stilts!

We were told that vicious Hurricane Michael decimated the oyster business in this area.  Some others say that the oysters were on their way out long before that.  Either way, we’ve gotten our share, averaging about a dozen per day.  Farmed oysters are now sent here from nearby Panacea.  Wild oysters are flown in from other gulf regions in Texas and Louisiana.  So hats off to the miracles of ice and jet aircraft for making this one fine 4^th of July!  Happy Independence Day to all!

Beautiful Old Glory