27-29DEC07 - Panama City, FL

On Thursday, 27DEC, we arrived at the Family Camp run by Tyndall AFB in Panama City, FL. Upon arrival we immediately noted that everyone seemed to know everyone else and had been coming here for years. And full calendar of activities was already scheduled by the many “volunteers”. In fact we were informed that tonight was penny bingo and Friday was fish fry potluck dinner. We passed on the bingo but signed up for the fish fry. We also noted one of the largest wood piles we had ever seen. Turns out that there is a structure enclosed with vinyl sheeting that has a fire pit in the middle that pretty much burns all day and night. Apparently it takes the place of the office water cooler for spreading rumors. It is the only fire pit structure we have ever seen with window air conditioners?

http://www.tyndall.af.mil/

The next morning we took the toad and back tracked on the route we had driven in on, to explore the town of Apalachicola. Apalachicola was one of the top five seaports within the USA prior to the Civil War. Although it never regained prominence as a seaport, Apalachicola was number one in natural sponges before that market went bust. Today the town is known for its fresh seafood, especially oysters. We wandered around the town to build up our appetites before tackling the famous Apalachicola Oysters. At noon time it was off to Boss Oysters for lunch. Of course we had to start with half dozen raw oysters. Corrie then went with the oyster po-boy that was definitely overloaded with fried oysters. Dan went with a dish supposedly “invented” in Charleston, cheese grits with shrimp; very good, but not heart healthy!

After some more exploring of Apalachicola, it was off to a state museum devoted to John Gorrie who is credited as the inventor of the ice machine. As with most inventors Gorrie built his machine for one purpose, at which it failed, and others saw the potential and made fortunes off it. Gorrie designed his machine to cool the rooms of TB patients in Apalachicola. He reasoned that since TB was more prevalent in warm climates, that if he lowered the temperature of their rooms, those afflicted with TB would get better. Obviously it didn’t work. But others took his patents and perfected the first ice machines. Anyway the entire museum was smaller than our RV and only cost one dollar.

http://www.floridastateparks.org/johngorriemuseum/

After returning to the Family Camp spent the afternoon washing half of the RV. Then it was off to the fish fry potluck we had signed up for at the community center. Everyone, including us, brought one small dish to share. The fried fish was Grouper, which the local waters of the Gulf of Mexico are famous for. Very enjoyable evening.

The next morning we finished off the other half of washing the RV. Of course rain is forecasted for the afternoon. That evening we headed over to our friends, Brad and Debbie Black. Brad and Dan were classmates at the Coast Guard Academy, but ran in different circles. But the last three years of their CG careers (2001 to 2004) they worked and socialized together at the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans. Anyway, after CG retirement Brad started a second career in Panama City. Turns out Brad has become an accomplished raiser of Koi in pond he has constructed in his backyard. For those that don’t know Koi are very large brightly colored fish that are members of the carp family (ie they are not large goldfish like many people think). Debbie prepared an excellent meal and we spent hours talking about the various CG couples we had known and where were they now? The evening was far too short and we promise to return.