So
where does one stay when visiting Apalachicola?
There is only 1 chain motel/hotel, a Best Western on the edge of
town. The choices are limited to a group
of B and B’s, rental houseboats, a couple of inns, rental cottages, the Rancho
Inn (motel) or the Water Street Hotel and Marina.
We
decided to stay at an historic Inn…
That
large 3-story building in the center of the photo with the cupola/widow’s walk on
top is the Gibson Inn. It was built as a
hotel in 1907 and it was renovated in 1985.
It was the cornerstone of the sweeping renovation efforts that has made Apalachicola
special in Florida…a state that is packed with tourist destinations.
Laurie
is standing in the lobby of the Gibson Inn.
This is one of the few inns on the National Register of Historic Places
that is still operating as a full service hotel.
The
Gibson Inn was originally named The Franklin Hotel. For a time it was the only hotel between Jacksonville
and Panama City Florida with steam heat.
The original owner and builder used native heart pine and black cypress
for the structure, topping it off with a tin roof.
As
mentioned before, like in many coastal towns, cats rule! This is Salem, the Gibson Inn’s ‘house
cat’. He ‘owns the place’ and he sleeps
pretty much wherever he wants.
The
Hotel’s name was changed to The Gibson Inn in 1923 when 2 former managers of
the property, Annie and Mary Ella Gibson, bought the property. They operated the Inn until 1942 at the onset
of WWII when it was commandeered by the US Army for an officer’s club and
billets/sleeping quarters for officers stationed in town.
Gormley’s
at the Gibson provides a well-regarded upscale dining experience. This unique old world style dining room is
quite elegant with a menu that offers both classic French and modern cuisine. Chef Brett Gormley has been featured with
Emeril Lagasse, Food Arts Magazine and New York Times. At the time that I wrote this posting, in
TripAdvisor.com, Gormley’s had 115 excellent/very good reviews vs. only 5
poor/terrible ones, a very positive ratio indeed.
Of
course the Gibson Inn also has a bar… There are happy hour bargains to be had
and you can also order some food in the bar.
The food of course comes from Gormley’s…the aforementioned
restaurant. We had a couple of drinks in
the bar but as we had fond memories of another restaurant in town, we never
partook of Gormley’s fare. Maybe next
time...
After
World War II several owners ran this building as a hotel, a boarding house and
a saloon. All of the original antique
furniture was sold off right on the front lawn of the hotel. The upper floors were leased to local
businesses.
This is
the landing on the second floor of the Inn.
That armoire at the end of the hall is the only piece of the original
furniture that has been returned to the Gibson Inn.
Our
room was on the 3rd floor.
There are no elevators in the building and we don’t travel light! I can tell you that going downstairs with our
luggage was a lot easier than going upstairs…and we had some help going
upstairs!
This
was our room at the Gibson Inn, complete with our very own 4-poster bed. It was fairly comfortable too. Our large ensuite bathroom is at the left of
the photo.
Three
new owners bought The Gibson Inn in 1983 and they spent $2,000,000 on an
extensive renovation. They reopened the
Inn in 1985. There are 30 rooms with a
porch all around the building on the 1st and 2nd
floors. All rooms are furnished with a
wrought iron or 4-poster bed as well as other antique furniture. The building is air conditioned and it has
cable TV and free Wi-Fi.
This
was one of our views from our room at the Inn.
The bay and the river can be seen in the distance. From this photo you can see just how laid
back this town can be in the off season!
I
really like this night-time photo of the Gibson Inn. It shows an old time romantic feeling. Despite its age, the Inn was quite
comfortable. We did enjoy our stay and
would recommend it to other travelers.
There are a couple other well regarded historic inns or bed and
breakfast operations in Apalachicola that are also worth considering.
The
Gibson Inn is located at 51 Avenue C in Apalachicola Florida. Phone: 850-653-2191. Website: www.gibsoninn.com.
Just
click on any of the photos to enlarge them…
Thanks
for stopping by for a visit!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
Looks like they did a fine job restoring the inn.
ReplyDeleteIt looks lovely, Dave! And Salem is precious! I enjoyed your photos and the history you are sharing here. Thank you so much for sharing.
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