Play in Apalachicola Bay

"Play is the highest form of research"
 -Albert Einstein




Apalachicola

November 1986, Apalachicola, Florida Panhandle


If you have never been to the Apalachicola region of Florida you should go. The area is called the Forgotten Coast and it kind of is, at least when I was last there in the late 1980's. There was no theme park and the Apalachicola harbour area was all about Oyster men and Shrimp boats. It was, and probably still is, an authentic place with a historic core and some classic southern architecture. The nearby coastal beaches on St George island are a beautiful powdery white and generally you can find solitude there.
I was on St George standing waist deep in the Gulf of Mexico in November and getting cold. I kept having to leave the water and sit on the sun heated sand in order to warm up. The Gulf surface was calm with just the occasional swell. Schools of small Bluefish were travelling westward along the coast and they were responding to my casts.
While wading I kept hearing a "plop" sound behind me. I looked back but saw nothing. Then I heard it again, and again. Eventually I stopped fishing and turned around. There was a small six inch stick floating behind me in my wake. It just bobbed there. Then all of a sudden a minnow jumped over it and I heard the "plop" noise. It was the source of the sound I had been hearing.
After thirty seconds or so it jumped over the stick again. Then there was a pause, then another leap. This went on and on. The minnow was like a kid jumping a fence or creek. And I swear the minnow looked like it was enjoying itself! It made me smile.
I came to the conclusion, right or wrong, that it was jumping the stick because it discovered it could...it was playing. People play; dogs and cats play; I've seen birds play; and fish play!
This experience happened a fairly long time ago but I think I pegged the date accurately as on the trip I remember playing a Bruce Hornsby tape that had a hit song called, "Valley Road" and "The Way it Is". I believe his album went to the top of the charts. Check it out. And check out Apalachicola or as the locals call it, "Apalach".