This Weekend in Gulf and Franklin
It’s going to be a busy weekend in Gulf and Franklin Counties. Which one of these local events will you be attending?
Cinco de Mayo celebrations
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo at several local venues this Friday:
- Quatro Locos Tacos and Cantina in Port St. Joe will have live music and dancing performances from 11 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT.
- Pepper’s Mexican Grill and Cantina in Port St. Joe will be hosting festivities on Friday.
Student Art Show
A reception for the Port St Joe and Wewahitchka Annual High School Student Art Exhibition will be held Friday, May 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. EDT at the Joe Center for the Arts in Port St. Joe. The public is invited to attend this celebration of art achievement as the weeklong exhibition comes to an end. Meet the young artists and see firsthand their expressions of creativity and craft in a variety of media. Admission is free and refreshments will be served.
Estuaries Day Friday at ANERR
This Friday, May 5 from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve will celebrate National Estuaries Day. This free, fun and educational event features stations for kids and adults including marine animal touch tanks and nature-themed games. The first 600 visitors will receive a free t-shirt. For more info call (850) 670-7708.
First Friday Sip and Shop
May 5, join the merchants on Reid Ave for First Friday Sip & Shop, from 5 to 7 p.m. EDT. Enjoy adult beverages and light hors d’oeuvres while finding great deals and good times on Reid Avenue at participating businesses.
Full Moon Climb on Friday
The May Sunset and Full Moon Climbs will be at the lighthouses on St. George Island and in Carrabelle this Friday, May 5, beginning at 8 p.m. and running until 10 p.m.
At the Cape St. George Lighthouse, no advanced reservations will be taken; purchase tickets in the gift shop beginning at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $10 per climber for the general public and $7 for members of the St. George Lighthouse Association. For more information, please contact the Lighthouse Gift Shop at 850-927-7745.
At the Crooked River Lighthouse, the climb to the top of the lighthouse rewards is $8 for adults and $3 for kids. For more information, contact the gift shop at 850-697-2732.
Salt Air Farmers Market
Shop local farmers and artisans. Let your family enjoy art pieces and the amazing flavors of fresh veggies, sweet Tupelo Honey and vine-ripened fruit. The Salt Air Farmers Market is open the first and third Saturdays of the month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT in downtown Port St. Joe.
Apalachicola’s Home and Garden Tour Saturday
Apalachicola’s annual Home and Garden Tour will be Saturday, May 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Seven homes are featured on tour day, along with an open-to-all silent auction and sale on the grounds at Trinity Episcopal Church. An Evensong service at Trinity begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 5, followed by a reception in Gorrie Square.
Visit apalachicolahometour.org for more information and to purchase tickets. Advance tickets are $30; day-of-tour tickets may be purchased for $35 on the church grounds beginning at 9 a.m.
Instrument Petting Zoo
Get up close and personal with musical instruments at the Corrine Costin Gibson Memorial Public Library in Port St. Joe this Saturday.
From 10 a.m. to noon, students from the PSJHS marching band will teach participants about the different instruments they play and the sounds they make. The event is free to the public and is geared towards children.
‘Talking house’ tour starts Saturday
The Apalachicola Area Historical Society’s third annual self-guided home tour, “If This House Could Talk”will be held May 6 through 20 in Apalachicola and will feature the histories of 32 locations on storyboards in front of the houses.
Maps showing the locations are available at the Raney House at 128 Market Street, the Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce at 73 Avenue E, Downtown Books at 67 Commerce Street, and online at Apalachicolahistoricalsociety.org and at the AAHS Facebook page.
Sea Urchin Round-up
Help collect live urchins from St. Joseph Bay in a roundup beginning at 8 a.m. EDT on Saturday, May 6.
The collected urchins – which destroy seagrasses by overgrazing – will be relocated to deeper water by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Volunteers must register at the Frank Pate City Boat Ramp, located in the heart of Port St. Joe at the intersection of U.S. highways 98 and 71, on the day of the roundup. They must also provide their own boat and snorkeling gear. Event organizers will provide buckets and gloves.
Bayou Bash Fishing Tournament
Bayou Bash 2023 is an inshore fishing tournament sponsored by the Swivel Sisters Women’s Fishing Club of Port Saint Joe.
The payout categories are Red Fish, Spotted Trout, Flounder and the ever-popular Inshore Slam.
The tournament will kick off this year on Friday night with the Captain’s Dinner. This event is open to the public. Anglers may also register for the tournament at the event. Registered anglers may drop their lines in the water at first light on Saturday, May 6. Weigh-in opens at 3 p.m. EDT and participants must be in line by 6 p.m. to weigh-in.
For more information please visit their Facebook page.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.