Today we pulled anchor and left for the ICW to Apalachicola Florida. We have never stopped here before and I am excited to get to this place as all the loopers and boaters talk about stopping here. I loved the new scenery on the way. The first stop was shell island and since I was under the weather Steve, Barry, and Andrea dinghied over to the island to check it out! Steve brought back some cool shells for me. We then headed out under sail to the inlet to the intercoastel waterway to Apalachicola. The sail was a little foggy then clearing as we came upon the inlet to the ICW. It was interesting to see all the old boats and docks the hurricanes had destroyed that had not been repaired. Sad to see sailboats just sinking or rotting away and it made me realize how wasteful people are. The system is made up in such a way that it would rather see objects rot and waste away rather than give to people or auction them off to someone who needs them. Two huge boats that were used for scuba diving in the bahamas were just sitting on the side of this canal to waste away! It was an inclusive boat that the divers lived on while on their diving vacation. All the equipment needed for diving and the boat itself had diving platforms, so you didnt have to do anything just eat sleep and dive on this boat. I got to watch two dolphins off my bow (mother and calf) swimming along with us for several minutes then approached by another big dolphin that swam with them then turned his head to the mom and she looked like she was replying by turning her head toward him. They then dived and we lost sight of them. Almost as if the big dolphin was telling them it was time to go. Plenty of shrimp boats on the side of the canal and then buildings falling into the water. Plenty of bald eagles sitting in the trees watching us as we go by like sentries watching over their territory. The foliage was beautiful to see as the trail wound around like a vine up a tree. Then we came upon a wide water area where a swing bridge sat in the middle of it. It looked so cool and I was sad to see it was no longer in use. But so cool to see… Coming up on Apalachicola we found a cool place to anchor in front of the old docks. There was actually no place to really dock your dinghy at the defunct docks looking as if they had not been tended for years and the one marina on our side of the bridge would not let us dock unless we were at the marina. I understand that but wanting to charge us so much to tie up was not good. We dinghied back down to an abandoned dock that was easily accessible to the town. It was at the back of an unused restaurant that was fenced up. Great place to tie up if you anchor on the north side of the bridge. We walked to a restaurant that looked like an old gas station(called the station)it was actually an old garage turned into a restaurant and a great one at that! We found the best ice cream soda fountain ever! And some of the cutest shops to browse in. From homeade soaps to cool hats and stuff with cool sayings. It was a town I would love to have spent another day in. Maybe on the way back home. Stay tuned and smooth sailing.