Sunset Isle in Carrabelle

Sailboat with 85' mast and Jacuzzi featured in Playboy magazine in the 80s

Carrabelle is such a fishing village. T-shirts say Annabelle is a drinking village with a fishing problem.  

Sunset Isle RV & Yacht is a best kept secret.  The market dropped out of this real estate development  in 2008

after they had spent millions on cobblestone roads, curb & gutter, water and sewer, power, pier, swimming pool with water features,

Original townhouse lots sold for $400,000 (sold 2) 
before market dropped.  The original developer went bankrupt.  It was bought later by two businessmen, one a local boy, now a banker in TX. They converted half of it into rv lots with pier boat slip.   The other half closer to the pier will be townhouses with their own pool.  RV lots now selling for $59,000 but rent for $34/night or $204/week.  In Panama City and west to Pensacola lots on the beach start at $900,000, so this doesn't look out of line. The only drawback, when you have an RV, not to many are also pulling a boat. 

We like it cuz it's roomy and we get to explore sailboats nearby,. 

Some "Fix Me Uppers"

In the dock warehouse down the block when I was doing my walk, I found some fix me uppers. There was a sailboat at the end of the pier by our campground that was free, Mike was told.  You'd need at least $20,000 to make it functional.  Not even tempted and no one here is either.

My favorite boat name there was "Frayed Knot"

I wonder who will get Ken Kubesh's boat.  It will take some time and money to get that cleaned up after the around the world cruise about 10 years ago.

Oyster processing by Leavins Seafood

Darren, the foreman,decided to educate us ignorant northerners about oyster fishing since we were so fascinated by the shells piling up   outside of the warehouse from the auger

It's illegal to dredge for oysters unless you own the land under the river.  Leavins Seafood owns some but in Louisiana it's permissible to dredge so they get 100# bags of oysters that were in LA yesterday.  He said BP ruined the workforce after Katrina cuz it made millionaires out of people so they don't have to work.

First the oysters are power washed outside on the dock to remove sand and mud.
Shucking is done by hand.  Here's the shuckers above.  34 people work here. They get paid $9/gallon and they can do $1-2 gallons an hour and make $800-$1000/week.  The shells drop down under their work station and a conveyor belt  augers them outside in a pile.  Shells will become gravel,more than likely.

Once out of the shell,they are power washed in the stainless steel trays and he sorts into the stainless steel pan which are then dumped into huge vats of water.  We didn't see what the next step was (how packaged) for oysters out of the shell,but they are shipped out to restaurants by the next day.  Darren invited us to see the flash frozen oysters on the half shell process.across the street but it was lunchtime.

Usually after butchering chickens, you can't eat one for a week.  This process didn't bother Mike at all as we went directly to the Boss Oyster restaurant for lunch.

Oysters and Shrimpin in Apalachicola

Oysters on the half shell..gone

Ate lunch at Boss Oyster on the Apalachicola River.  Had a doz raw oysters ($11.95) and oyster tacos ($16/2 tacos).  The boat across the street  says "shut up and shuck."  Tourist town-Here's lobster bouys from Maine and sea treasures like the rod iron fence with anchors.  Mermaid $295.

Shrimping boat -the Donna J.

Shut up and shuck says the Boss Oyster boat.
Crushed oysters are gravel.

Exploring Panama City

While Mike and Ed went golfing  Saturday, Connie and I went at Seaside and Dustin, starting with a farmers market and ending with outlet mall.  We then went out for Mexican as I couldn't find the keys to the pickup.  After dinner we used Mike's spare key to find the key in the consul of the pickup. Hooray.

Panama City Beach Emerald Coast

We stayed at Emerald Coast RV park that boasts it's the #1 r park in the country at the insistance of Ken who we met two years ago in Nashville.  It's all man-made.

Shopcat checking out the goose who moved in from the zoo next door.

view from front window.

Personally I prefer God's artistry.   There's basketball hoop, catch and release fishing in the pond.  Heated pool I didn't have time for = all for $98/night.  3 x the going rate.
People friendly -Elmer in his maroon Prevost from Michigan and Dave, a mechanic on a research boat taking samples from the bottom of lake Michigan that might lead to a cure for Alzheimers.

Pinecones and Shells

I never thought these two go together but pine cones are scattered on the beaches along with seashells here as pine trees grow right down to the water.  Timber is a renewable resource in FL and are planted in rows .  It takes 35 years for a pine to grow and people can subcontract with a logging company.  5 acres will yield $25,000, plus you can sell bales of pine straw as landscaping mulch.

The shells at Carrabelle are mostly Oyster.