Day 188 Apalachicola

Not quite as cold in the morning, but enough to have ice on the floating dock. Jack always leaves an impression, but it's usually on people - not in the frost. Looked at the weather windows to cross from here to Dog Island then to Steinhatchee and there's just not a two day one for about a week so we are staying here for at least 5 days. Not a bad place to be. Oysters were stupendous last night. John and I had 2 dozen between us. They were huge and fresh. Walked to town with Serenity. Strolled around the Botanical Gardens which were pretty dormant at this time of year. They have a Vietnam Vet Memorial - one of two like this in the country. The original is in Washington DC. The house in the background is the Orman House built in 1838. Kathy and I broused the shops in the morning. One of the shops had this crazy looking sponge man out front. I did not realize that Apalachicola had a sponge industry similar to Tarpon Springs.  Bought some fresh-off-the-boat shrimp, cleaned and cooked them for an early dinner. Delicious! In the afternoon, the ladies from Serenity, Beach House, TaTa and I went downtown again to buy play tickets to the local theater. Dixie Theater is an 1800's historical building where locals now do live performances. Ended the day with boat-tales on Serenity trading Loop tales and trying to figure out when we can cross the gulf. More exploring tomorrow.