A day in the quaint river town of Apalachicola, Florida

Before Sweetums and I took a trip to Florida earlier this month, my big brother Doofus recommended we stop in Apalachicola, which he described as a quaint little village with cute shops and restaurant (although it is unlikely he used the word “cute.”) We spent the day there and loved it. Located on the banks of the Apalachicola River, the town of about 2,300 residents had lots of boutiques and eateries, as well as a picturesque waterfront with shrimp boats and pelicans.

Mostly, this post is made up of photos from our day there but I did gather a little information about the town:

VisitFlorida.com describes it as “a charming fishing town, maybe a little more Cape Cod than Deep South.” The site says it offers “terrific seafood, lovely waterfront parks, enchanting inns and the opportunity to glimpse the Florida Panhandle’s timber and fishing industry from ground level.”

We were traveling with a small dog for the first time and we found the town to be quite dog friendly. Many establishments offered outdoor eating space where dogs were welcome to sit beside the tables and some boutiques allowed dogs inside. Those places were typically marked with signs on the front doors.

We thought the historic Customs House and Post Office was picturesque, with its Spanish tiled roof, although we didn’t go inside. It was built in 1922. The city’s website says, “In the early 1900s there were several federal agencies with offices in Apalachicola. The customs office, post office, and inspector of steamships were spread throughout town but had long been established in Apalachicola. It was in 1822 that the first customs official was appointed here, when Apalachicola was still a small trading post known as Cottonton in territory newly acquired from Spain.” 

Two other interesting facts about the town: It was the home of physician John Gorrie, the man credited with building an ice machine in 1850 that led to the invention of the air conditioner. Apalachicola is proud of him (there is a museum, memorial bridge and historic marker) and rightly so! Thanks, John Gorrie, for making menopause bearable!

Apalachicola is also home to one of the nation’s earliest prefabricated buildings, shipped by schooner from New York. According to the church website, “Begun in 1837 and completed in 1838, the present church was built as a cut-to-order building in White Plains, New York. It was brought down and around the tip of Florida and assembled like a puzzle on its present site. Trinity was organized in 1836 in the then-territory of Florida, an inhospitable wilderness of swamps and forests where indigenous and enslaved people found haven, and outlaws roamed. It rose from that rough beginning to its status on the National Register of Historic Places and holds the distinction of being the sixth oldest church in Florida and the second oldest continuously serving church.”

This small town is definitely worth a stop when you’re in the area.