What’s Your Greatest Asset?

In the world I live in, time truly flies. Years ago, one of my first bosses asked me, “What is your greatest asset?” I am sure I gave him some stupid answer like a car or house. I just remember him looking at me and saying “time, time is your greatest asset.”

I really didn’t understand it then, but twenty five years later, I certainly do now. This is why when planning my most recent get away, I wanted to do something a little different. I really wanted to find a place to go with my family that we could just slow down a bit and enjoy our time together. So many of our planned vacations over the years have seemed to have some sort of an itinerary that kept us moving from one thing to the next so we didn’t miss out on anything. We would joke when we returned home that we needed a vacation from our vacation. Not this time, I wanted to do just the opposite.

In 2010 we spent some time working in the Panhandle, the Destin area, AKA the Emerald Coast. It is a beautiful place indeed. However, while there, I kept hearing about the Forgotten Coast and how quaint and low key it is. Specifically, the area around Apalachicola and Saint George Island. One of the guys I worked with in Destin was from Apalachicola and he would have oysters shipped up from time to time, they were so delicious. I told my wife we needed to check it out but moved back to Central Florida before we making the trip. Many years later, we finally made the trip out there — and we wouldn’t have rather spent our week of spring break anywhere else.

Vacationing Where Time Slows Down

Apalachicola, which is where we stayed, is located in Franklin County on the shore of Apalachicola Bay and inlet to the Gulf of Mexico. It has such a rich fishing history. At one point in time, Apalachicola provided almost 90% of all oysters sold in Florida. So, “When in Rome,” we just had to sample the local cuisine and I must say it didn’t disappoint! Fresh shrimp and oysters worked their way onto our menu each night. During our visit we stayed at the Waterfront Inn which allowed us to walk anywhere we wanted to explore in downtown Apalachicola. There is plenty to see and do, including the riverfront seafood markets, ice cream parlor, restaurants and our personal favorite, the Oyster City Brewing Company. It just so happens I may have found my new favorite beer. They brew a Mangrove Pale Ale which is super tasty and at 8%, a couple pints and you are in business!

Great beer aside, I can say without a doubt that the highlight of our vacation was spending a half day fishing with Capitan Junior Holland. Junior is a lifelong resident that knows the area like the back of his hand. As with most of my fishing trips, it seems like Mother Nature just knows when I want to go and thinks it’s funny to throw a wrinkle into the day. We were projected to have a calm cool day but a small front pushed in the evening before, so we awoke to a frigid 50 degrees and lashing winds. Captain Junior conveniently picked us up right from the hotel marina, which was great. We literally walked out of our room and onto his boat. I think he had a good laugh when we all showed up in shorts and flops. Needless to say, we thought it would be warmer.

Fishing Apalachicola Bay with Capt. Junior

The original plan was to target trout and redfish about 20 miles across the bay but it was too choppy to make that run so we switched to plan B which was setting up shop at the mouth of Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico right out front of Saint Vincent Island. You can always tell you are with a good captain when they can adjust on the fly. Capitan Junior is a kindred spirit full of laughs. Raising three sons of his own, he took an interest in my two boys and really made the day fun for all of us. He joked that being born and raised in Apalachicola, he remembers when the population was 300 people and everybody knew everybody. I think one of the greatest things fishing with Junior is he has a wealth of knowledge about the area. He shared so many fun stories throughout the day about places he fished and hunted over the years, people he has met and genuinely showed his love of living and guiding on the waters of Apalachicola Bay. We caught fish consistently throughout the trip bringing back plenty for a couple nice dinners. However, the highlight of the day was Junior putting my oldest son Zach on a trophy redfish. He was smiling ear to ear and shining like a new penny! All in all it was a great day fishing with a seasoned captain. I would highly recommend visiting Apalachicola and while there you need to get out fishing with Captain Junior Holland, it will be a great time!