On June 6, 1944, the Allied powers invaded five Normandy beachheads: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword, in an operation code-named Overlord, eventually liberating France from Nazi control and changing the course of World War II.

Following a three-gun salute, the sonorous notes of a bugler playing taps rang out across an endless sea of crosses that mark the graves of more than 9,300 fallen soldiers.

Torrence, a Vietnam veteran from Atlanta, said it’s a moment he will never forget.

“As I turned back from helping to lay the wreath, I looked up and saw all the white crosses gleaming in the sun, and I got choked up,” Torrence said. “The price of freedom was paid with the blood of our fallen.”

Gathered around a towering bronze statue called “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves,” a group of Americans observed a moment of silence, some tearfully remembering their own military family members who had served in WWII or one of the many conflicts since.

This wreath-laying ceremony was a somber moment in an otherwise festive eight-day Viking river cruise that sailed round trip from Paris along the Seine. The Paris & the Heart of Normandy itinerary takes passengers through the picturesque Norman countryside on the Viking Radgrid longship, stopping at La Roche-Guyon, Vernon and Rouen before arriving at the Normandy beaches. For many Americans, it would be unthinkable to visit this part of the world without paying their respects.

Retired Army Sgt. Maj. Dwayne Riden from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was among them.

“I was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division,” Riden said, referring to his early days in the army in the 1980s. “As most people know, the 82nd Airborne Division participated in the Normandy invasion (at Utah Beach), so it was near and dear to me to be able to see the beaches where so many lost their lives for the freedom that we have and for the French.”

After a short bus ride past quaint half-timbered houses and verdant meadows, the group arrived at Omaha Beach. It’s hard to fathom that this tranquil site framed by majestic windswept bluffs was the bloodiest of the five landing sites on the Normandy coast.

On D-Day the beach was a cacophony of machine gun fire and shouting soldiers as they attempted to breach Hitler’s Atlantic Wall, an extensive system of coastal defenses. Monstrous military landing craft jammed the shore, and the normally fresh sea air was thick with the acrid smell of explosives, participants were told during the tour.

The bodies of U.S. service members floated in the water, the result of 27 amphibious Sherman tanks sinking in the turbulent waves of the English Channel. Others lay on the beach, shot down by German gunners as they raced through a deadly obstacle course of barbed wire, concrete fortifications and mines trying to reach a modicum of protection at the base of the cliffs.

There were 2,400 American casualties on June 6, but by the end of the day, 34,000 reinforcements had landed. The Germans had taken a big hit and had no reserves arriving to help continue the fight. Despite a disastrous start, the Omaha operation was successful in the end, and historians often refer to D-Day as the beginning of the end of World War II. The Allied victory in Europe came less than a year later in May 1945.

Les Braves, a stainless steel sculpture, stands in the middle of Omaha Beach to honor the soldiers who endangered or sacrificed their lives to free the French from the tyranny of Nazi Germany.

On this spring day, a former soldier faced the crashing waves and gave a solemn salute.

The next stop in this pilgrimage through WWII history was the city of Caen, home to Le Memorial de Caen. This war museum built atop a German bunker chronicles history from 1918 to present day, with a special emphasis on World War II and D-Day.

Before the self-guided tour, guests view “The Battle of Normandy,” a 19-minute film that provides an unblinking account of the devastation of the region.

Multimedia presentations combine newsreel coverage of the era with military paraphernalia and disturbing civilian stories to add context to historic events.

On view is a uniform worn by a French female resistance fighter deported to Germany’s Ravensbrück concentration camp to build aircraft engines for the Third Reich.

Unlike the Allies, Germany didn’t have abundant manpower and resources, so it depended heavily on unpaid forced labor. The brutal exploitation of Jews helped fuel the wartime economy, but other groups, including hundreds of thousands of non-Jewish French civilians, were deported and compelled to work for Germany.

Another exhibit remembers the White Rose, a resistance movement founded by German siblings Sophie and Hans Scholl at the University of Munich. The student-led group distributed pamphlets denouncing the genocide of Jews and called for the sabotage of Hitler’s war machine.

Even after she was arrested by the Gestapo and sentenced to death for treason, Sophie Scholl remained courageous and defiant saying, “I am now, as before, of the opinion that I did the best I could do for my nation. I do not therefore regret my conduct and will bear the consequences of my conduct.”

In Germany today, many schools, streets and plazas are named after the Scholls, who were executed by guillotine.

A collection of British wartime posters encouraging unity and personal sacrifice captures the zeitgeist of the era. A recruitment poster for the Women’s Land Army, an organization that trained women to work on farms to boost food production, depicts a smiling young woman holding a pitchfork in the middle of a harvested field.

German Gen. Wilhelm Richter’s former command post, the bunker beneath the museum, was built to defend the Normandy coast from an Allied invasion. Refurbished to look much as it did during WWII, it has a radio transmission center with equipment from the period.

Back aboard the Viking Radgrid, the mood lightened. Everyone was ready to put the horrors of war aside and partake of the more pleasant aspects of Normandy, such as the regional cuisine.

The Taste of Normandy is a special dinner that starts with an aperitif of Calvados, an apple brandy produced exclusively in the region, and a selection of cheeses named after the Norman villages where they are produced. Creamy Camembert, known for its pungent aroma, is the most iconic.

Normandy’s cuisine is seafood-centric, so the bounty of offerings ranged from rustic fish stew to fresh oysters to sole meuniere.

The rest of the cruise was a whirlwind of art, architecture and history. In Auvers-sur-Oise, a small town where Van Gogh lived at the end of his life in 1890, passengers admired the subject of one of the Dutch post-impressionist painter’s most influential works, “The Church at Auvers,” before visiting his grave.

In Rouen, the Norman capital known as “the town of 100 spires,” the Rouen Cathedral reached heavenward in all its Gothic glory. The architectural masterpiece was painted by impressionist Claude Monet more than 30 times.

But for some Americans, Normandy’s numerous cultural offerings will always be secondary to its place in WWII history. The Normandy beaches are hallowed ground, and eight decades after the D-Day landings, they’re a reminder that threats to democracy around the world still loom large and that freedom can never be taken for granted.

Tracey Teo is a freelancer.

That was the first of many history-making moments that have transpired in the past 150 years at this venerated racetrack, home to what is called “the most exciting two minutes in sports.”

The derby’s sesquicentennial celebrates the oldest continuously held sporting event in the United States. And whether you attend the race or plan your visit when the ponies aren’t running, a Louisville getaway will inspire reverence for the Bluegrass State’s thoroughbred racing industry and the generations of equestrians, especially the overlooked African American participants, who shaped its most famous event.

You can kick things off with the 69th annual Kentucky Derby Festival, held during the two weeks preceding the May 4 race. It features more than 70 events around Louisville, including the Thunder Over Louisville fireworks display.  

The derby itself is more than just the country’s most prestigious horse race. You’ll see its magic emanate from the pageantry that plays out in the shadow of the track’s regal twin spires. The enduring legacy of the derby includes everything from the fashionable crowd singing “My Old Kentucky Home” to the red-coated bugler playing “Call to the Post” to the winning horse being blanketed with red roses.

The Churchill Downs venue, a National Historic Landmark, has many long-standing traditions, but it’s not frozen in time. The biggest change in decades will be unveiled at this year’s Run for the Roses: a $200 million redesign to the saddling paddock, where the feisty 3-year-old thoroughbreds are held before the race, that has been underway for more than a year. It’s like a locker room for horses because this is where the equestrian athletes get their game face on before the biggest race of their career. Now, it will be one of the first things fans see when they pass through the gate.

This area of the track will more than double in size, expanding from 5,000 to 12,000 square feet. The stalls will be moved beneath the twin spires for what will likely become an iconic view.

Guided tours of Churchill Downs showcase the new paddock and more. A 90-minute Superstars and Spires Tour provides a peek at areas of the racetrack that are inaccessible to most visitors. Millionaires Row, a prime vantage point overlooking the finish line, is where celebs and dignitaries in extravagant hats sip mint juleps. It’s where Queen Elizabeth II, a lifelong equestrian, watched the race when she attended the derby in 2007.

On the second floor of the clubhouse are the eye-catching Peb murals, named for Pierre Peb Bellocq, the cartoonist who created them.

A 36-foot mural features humorous caricatures of every derby-winning jockey from 1875 to 2004, including the late Bill Shoemaker, a 4-foot-11-inch force of nature who won the derby four times and is widely regarded as one of the greatest jockeys of the 20th century. The weight limit for Kentucky Derby jockeys is 126 pounds, and that includes the saddle. Shoemaker weighed in at only 98 pounds.

After the tour, you can check out the adjacent Kentucky Derby Museum; admission is included with the Churchill Downs ticket. The museum’s “Black Heritage in Racing” exhibit documents the legacy of Kentucky’s Black equestrians who dominated the sport in the latter half of the 19th century. When Lewis won the first Kentucky Derby, he was one of 12 Black jockeys on the 15-strong field. In the race’s first 28 runnings, African Americans won 15 times.

The rise of Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in the Post-Reconstruction South forced them off the track, and for decades, their contributions to the sport were forgotten.

There are few Black equestrians remaining in the American horse racing industry today, but Greg Harbut is a noteworthy one. The owner of Harbut Bloodstock racehorse management company in nearby Lexington is a leader in the equine business.

Harbut is tremendously proud of an exhibit at the museum that tells the story of three generations of his family’s horsemen: Greg; his grandfather Tom, who was denied entry to the 1962 derby despite being co-owner of a horse in the race; and his great-grandfather Will, groom to Man o’ War, one of the greatest racehorses of all time.

“The Kentucky Derby started with the direct contributions of African American horsemen,” said Greg Harbut, who appears in interviews that can be viewed on interactive screens.

Artifacts include the purse that held celebrity jockey Isaac Burns Murphy’s 1891 derby winnings. Murphy, the son of a former slave, was the first jockey to win the derby three times.

Next, head upstairs to peruse the museum’s newest permanent exhibit that highlights one of the greatest moments in racing history. “Secretariat: America’s Horse” chronicles the racing career of the powerful colt nicknamed “Big Red” because of the color of his coat.

On May 5, 1973, the legendary thoroughbred became the first to run the 1.25-mile race in under two minutes, the first victory in his Triple Crown sweep.

The Triple Crown is a series of horse races that includes the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, in that order, and is the ultimate prize in horse racing.

Each of the Triple Crown races Secretariat won are shown on a 10-foot screen, allowing fans to time travel back more than 50 years to cheer on the fastest racehorse in history. At the Belmont Stakes in New York, Secretariat won by a phenomenal 31 lengths, the pinnacle of his record-breaking career. Watching his videos is thrilling even though you know the outcome, making a visit to the museum a sure bet.

If you go

The Kentucky Derby: Admission to the infield starts at $115. Reserved seats, sold as a two-day package for the Derby and Kentucky Oaks, start at $650. kentuckyderby.com

Churchill Downs: Superstars and Spires Tour starts at $20. 700 Central Ave., Louisville, 502-637-1111, churchilldowns.com

Kentucky Derby Museum: 704 Central Ave., Louisville, 502-637-1111, derbymuseum.org

The Kentucky Derby Festival: Ticket prices vary by event. kdf.org

Tracey Teo is a freelancer.

This isn’t the sexy diva Jennifer Lopez who recorded the pop hit more than two decades ago, but the ship’s resident drag queen who strutted around in sequined dance shoes, a cotton candy wig and eyelashes that looked as though they would fly off her heavily made-up face.

When she sang “I Will Survive,” Gloria Gaynor’s disco hit that is now an unofficial anthem for the LGBTQ community, I rocked out in my seat and sang the familiar, feel-good lyrics with the crowd.

It’s all part of “Around the World in 80 Minutes With The Diva,” the cruise line’s popular drag show.

Anyone desiring a permanent souvenir of The Diva’s stellar performance can have her likeness tattooed on the body part of their choice at Squid Ink, the only tattoo parlor at sea.

If you haven’t caught on yet, Virgin Voyages isn’t your grandparents’ cruise line.

In this case, young means 18 and older because this adults-only cruise line believes standing behind a squealing toddler at the buffet — there are no buffets, but there are more than 20 eateries — or listening to endless rounds of Marco Polo at the pool isn’t conducive to the vacation of your dreams.

The vacation of my dreams included the thermal suite at Redemption Spa, a palace of relaxation that features the de rigueur sauna and steam room, but also houses a mud room with detoxifying skin treatments and a Himalayan salt room that flushes toxins from the body.

After a long day of trekking up and down the seriously steep streets of Monte Carlo, the hydrotherapy pool was calling my name. Unfortunately, I forgot my swimsuit. Lucky for me, I had a big pair of Bridget Jones-style granny panties that would cover far more than the teeny-weeny bits of string passing as swimwear for the TikTok girls at the main pool, so I paired them with a T-shirt and waded in. Nobody blinked at this middle-aged woman.

As the water swirled, I closed my eyes and relived my day in French-speaking Monte Carlo, the unofficial capital of Monaco, known for gleaming mega-yachts in the sun-drenched harbor and grand villas built into the cliffs. Measuring less than a square mile, Monaco is one of the smallest countries in the world — only the Vatican is smaller — but it’s big on glamour and has served as a seaside playground for celebs and royalty for more than a century.

The Casino de Monte-Carlo, where three James Bond movies were filmed, is chic and sophisticated. But this Beaux-Arts architectural wonder isn’t just for suave high rollers. Despite the parade of Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Rolls-Royces, you don’t have to have deep pockets to stroll through and admire the gilded interior that boasts a marble-paved atrium ringed by onyx columns. Have a drink at Cafe de la Rotonde and watch the filthy rich world go by.

You don’t have to be a movie star or a secret agent to be a rock star on Virgin Voyages. Just book a spacious rock star suite and you’ll have your own “agent,” a concierge of sorts who is at your service to assist with dinner reservations, shore excursions and more. Best of all, rock stars have access to Richard’s Rooftop, an exclusive outdoor space where all the hippest sunset parties go down.

Actual rock stars love Cannes; just ask Elton John, who has owned a luxury villa in the region for years. The city is best known for hosting the Cannes International film festival in May, which draws celebs from around the globe, but there’s another side to this French Riviera hotspot.

Just beyond the city lies a hub for outdoor adventure seekers. The Maritime Alps that sprawl along the border of France and Italy are interspersed with more than 200 canyons, and that attracts thrill seekers eager to test their limits.

A guided canyoning expedition involves rappelling down a vertical rock face, then zipping down natural water slides before plunging several feet into a glistening pool. It’s like a water park for grown-ups, but this one was created by Mother Nature.

If that’s not your jam, there are more leisurely shore excursions that showcase the region’s unspoiled beauty.

Hop aboard a sailboat and glide along the Calanques Coast, a natural wonder of white limestone cliffs and coves that stretch between Marseilles, the second largest city in France, and Cassis, a charming Provencal fishing village. Dramatic rock formations loom like the ruins of an ancient castle, jagged “turrets” reflected in the cobalt blue water.

After a full day of sightseeing, I was looking forward to tucking in to Korean barbecue at Gunbae, one of the most popular restaurants on the ship. If you’re in search of a quiet dinner with romantic vibes, go anywhere but here.

I shared a table with a young, fun-loving bunch that knew how to party and was immediately served an unrequested shot of soju, a grain-based spirit that is Korea’s national drink. I got swept up into a competitive Korean drinking game big on shouting and clapping, the kind of shenanigans I thought I left behind with my college days. For dinner, I switched my beverage to something called K-pop Disco Water, a sweet and sour mix of grapefruit and watermelon juices mixed with Pop Rocks candy and served in a disco ball-shaped glass.

The main attraction is the grill in the center of the table, where seafood and thin strips of beef and chicken are grilled to perfection and served with tangy dipping sauces.

After-dinner entertainment is in the Red Room, the ship’s main stage. Virgin Voyages eschews the Broadway-style shows staged on many cruise ships in favor of edgier, outside-the-box productions. “Duel Reality,” a reimagined “Romeo and Juliet,” is a fast-paced, in-your-face show featuring dare devil aerialists contorting their lithe bodies into positions that would send the average person to the chiropractor, if not the ER.

That wrapped up my evening, but the 20-somethings were just getting started. On the way to breakfast the next day, a young woman in a sequined miniskirt and 4-inch heels was headed to her stateroom after rocking it all night in The Manor, the ship’s signature nightclub. No doubt she would be going ashore in Ibiza, a Spanish party mecca with countless cool nightclubs.

I initially had reservations about this cruise because it’s heavy on Gen Z and millennial hedonism, but I don’t regret a party-filled moment. Where else can a middle-aged woman hang with a drag queen, play drinking games and go unnoticed in the spa in her granny panties?

Tracey Teo is a freelancer.

So far, fading country music queen Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton) is standing by her man, who, thanks to her scheming father, is now the mayor of Nashville. But it’s clear she would rather be in the arms of her former guitar player, Deacon Claybourne (Charles Esten).

To further complicate things, sexy pop tart Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), has been wooing Deacon away from Rayna, persuading him to join her in the recording studio and, occasionally, the bedroom.

Behind their Southern belle smiles the two women hate each other, but they are forced to tour together to save their careers.

Love triangles and power struggles are part of everyday life on the show – situations just waiting to become country music songs, and they do in every episode.

-Ryman Auditorium

It was on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium, the “Mother Church of Country Music,” that Rayna outshone her young nemesis, Juliette, proving to the world she was ripe for a comeback.

The National Historic Landmark was home to the Grand Ole Opry, the world’s longest running live radio program, from 1943-1974, when it moved to its current location near the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.

During those 31 years, plenty of real dramas played out onstage and behind the scenes. It was here that country music legend Hank Williams was called back for a record six encores after performing “Lovesick Blues,” Patsy Cline mesmerized the audience with her chart-topping hit, “Crazy” and Johnny Cash fell in love with his future wife, June Carter.

Costumes from iconic Opry performers are on exhibit, including glamorous, floor-length gowns worn by Loretta Lynn, the First Lady of Country Music, and the gingham dress worn by the late Sarah Cannon when she played Minnie Pearl, a backward but lovable country girl who had a price tag eternally dangling from her straw hat.

A self-guided tour reveals that decades before it became famous for country music, the Ryman was a venue for classical theater and some of the world’s most renowned ballet and opera companies. Nashville’s old guard cherished the city’s reputation as the “Athens of the South” and resented the lowbrow “hillbilly” music that began broadcasting on WSM-AM (650) from the National Life Building in 1925. When the show moved to the beloved Ryman, it was the last straw.

Complaints were made, but country music was here to stay.

Today the Ryman hosts bands representing a broad spectrum of musical genres.

-Bluebird Café

“Nashville” fans know sultry songwriter Scarlet O’Connor (Clare Bowen) waits tables at the Bluebird Café, an intimate music venue that seats only 100 listeners. An impromptu duet with music partner Gunnar Scott (Sam Palladio) caught the ear of a record producer in the audience, giving the pair the break they needed. Now they have a songwriting gig at a publishing house on Music Row, the heart of Nashville’s vast music infrastructure. They continue to struggle as they navigate their way through the complex politics of Nashville’s music scene, but it looks like Scarlett may be able to quit her day job soon.

The characters are fictional, but the scenario is not. Many music careers have been launched at the Bluebird.

Back when Garth Brooks was just a wannabe with a dream, he sang at the Bluebird’s Monday open mic nights and tried out new songs at Sunday songwriters shows. When a representative from Capital records heard him perform, Brooks landed a record deal and went from struggling songwriter to superstar almost overnight.

Walt Aldridge has been an established songwriter for decades, penning hits for artists like Travis Tritt and Tim McGraw, but he still likes to play the Bluebird. He says he’s seen lots of new faces in the audience lately.

“It’s really interesting, the proliferation of new people drawn into the Bluebird Café because of the show, ‘Nashville,'” says Aldridge. “I usually ask for a show of hands about how many people have never been here, and there’s an increasing number of new folks.” Newcomers should know this is no rowdy honky tonk. “Shhh” is the slogan on the wall and everyone takes it seriously. When performers take the stage, patrons are so quiet you would think they were in church.

“Nashville” scenes that take place at the Bluebird are shot on a Nashville sound stage that perfectly replicates the famous listening room.

-Nashville neighborhoods

After checking out Nashville’s iconic music venues, get off the tourist track and explore a couple of neighborhoods featured on the show. Edgehill Village, just a block off of Music Row, is a trendy urban neighborhood with loft apartments, chic boutiques, and casual restaurants.

“Nashville” recently shot a scene outside Legato Gelato, an Edgehill gelato shop that serves unexpected flavors like pineapple basil. Remember a gelato-licking Gunnar breaking up with jealous girlfriend Hailey (Chloe Bennet) after she tried to persuade his songwriting partner to abandon songwriting and join a band? Next, head to East Nashville, a recently gentrified neighborhood with a fun, funky vibe. It’s home to edgy hipsters like Scarlett and her former boyfriend Avery Barkley (Jonathan Jackson). Among its cool clubs is The 5 Spot, where ambitious Avery used to rock out with his band mates before he threw them under the bus to go solo.

It’s impossible to know what’s going to happen next on “Nashville,” and the same could be said for the city itself. While Nashville is steeped in tradition, it’s also on the cutting edge – a fascinating paradox that gives Music City its magic.

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IF YOU GO:

WHERE TO STAY: Hutton Hotel, 1808 West End Ave., 1-615-340-9333, http://www.huttonhotel.com

WHERE TO EAT:

The 1808 Grill is a white tablecloth restaurant inside the Hutton Hotel. Dinner entrees include steak and seafood served in an elegant atmosphere. The wine list is impressive. 1-615-340-0012, http://www.1808grille.com

Legato Gelato, 1200 Villa Place, No. 13, Nashville, 1-615-530-3190, http://www.legatogelato.com

ATTRACTIONS:

Ryman Auditorium, 116 Fifth Ave. North, Nashville, 1-615-889-3060, http://www.ryman.com. Tickets for self-guided tour are $14 adults, $9 children 4-11.

Bluebird Café, 4104 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, 1-615-383-1461, http://www.bluebirdcafe.com. There is no cover for early shows, but there is a $7 minimum order per person. Cover charge for late shows varies. ($8-$20)

The Five Spot, 1006 Forest Ave., Nashville, 1-615-650-9333. Cover charge varies, but is minimal.

Most oysters are farmed, but Apalachicola, or “Apalach” as the locals call it, is home to miles of wild oyster beds that supply 90 percent of Florida’s oysters. Apalachicola River and Bay converge with the Gulf of Mexico to form the ideal oyster incubator.

At Up the Creek Raw Bar, which overlooks Scipio Creek and the Apalachicola River, a small crowd gathers around a chalk board to check out the specials.

A delicate, pan-fried flounder cake served atop a mountain of house-made gnocchi drizzled with a light white wine cream sauce is a big hit. Chef Brett Gormley, an Apalachicola native, is known for his culinary creativity, and he has a special talent for marrying fresh local seafood with globally inspired flavors.

But first and foremost, this is a raw bar, and Gormley can shuck an oyster faster than you can say, “Pass the hot sauce.” That’s not something he learned in culinary school. Like many locals, he’s been doing it since he was a kid.

When it comes to raw oysters, Gormley says less is more.

“I treat them delicately and add as little to them as possible,” says Gormley. You want to enhance the oyster’s actual flavor, not cover it with other flavors.” Gormley knows not every oyster lover is a purist, content to eat them raw on the half shell, so he’s happy to prepare customer favorites like oysters Moscow, raw oysters topped with horseradish-infused sour cream and a sprinkle of sustainable American caviar.

Gormley also prides himself on his oysters mignonette. He makes a mean mignonette sauce, putting his own spin on this French classic by adding fiery habanero peppers fresh from his garden instead of the milder white or black ground pepper.

The Blue Parrot Oceanfront Cafe is one of the few restaurants on St. George Island. In fact, it’s one of the few businesses, and it’s as close as anything comes to being a “happening place” on this 28-mile barrier island that can only be reached by crossing a four-mile bridge that spans St. George Sound.

City dwellers come to the island to decelerate because nothing more stressful than losing their favorite flip-flops while chasing their pooch in the waves ever happens here.

Rows of pastel-colored beach houses with names like “Amazing Sunrise” and the tongue-in-cheek, “All Daddy’s Money” are hideaways for those who want nothing to come between them and endless stretches of exquisitely white sand.

There’s not much here, and that’s the attraction. No fast-food restaurants are here either, so for a quick but delicious meal, sun worshippers head to the Blue Parrot for a basket of crunchy, deep-fried conch fritters, peel ‘n’ eat shrimp or a plate of raw oysters.

Oyster enthusiasts can be assured they will get the very best the bay has to offer. That’s because owner Steven Rash also owns the Water Street Seafood Company in Apalachicola, so only the cream of the oyster crop makes it to the Blue Parrot’s umbrella-covered tables.

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IF YOU GO:

WHERE TO STAY: Collins Vacation Rentals rents beach houses on St. George Island. 60 E. Gulf Beach Drive, St. George Island, 877-875-9062, http://www.collinsvacationrentals.com.

The Coombs Inn is a luxurious bed and breakfast housed in a Victorian mansion in downtown Apalachicola. It’s close to shopping and locally owned restaurants. The beaches on St. George Island are a 15-minute drive. 80 Sixth St., Apalachicola, 888-244-8320, http://www.coombshouseinn.com.

WHERE TO EAT: Up the Creek Raw Bar serves not only raw oysters, but many elegant seafood dishes with an international flare. Open for lunch and dinner. Entrees $6.99-$15.99. (Prices on specials vary) 313 Water St., Apalachicola, 850-653-2525,

http://www.upthecreekrawbar.com

The Blue Parrot Oceanfront Cafe serves a variety of seafood entrees including local grouper, Gulf shrimp and fried or raw Apalachicola oysters. Open for lunch and dinner. Entrees $10.99-$24.99. 68 W. Gorrie Drive, St. George Island, 850-927-2987, http://www.blueparrotsgi.com.

ALSO VISIT: St. George Island State Park is home to miles of undeveloped beach. It’s a popular destination for canoeing, hiking, kayaking, fishing and camping. 1900 E. Gulf Beach Drive, St. George Island, 850-927-2111, http://www.floridastateparks.com/stgeorgeisland.

ACTIVITIES: Journeys of St. George Island provides a number of guided kayak tours for wildlife viewing, fishing or snorkeling. Prices vary depending on tour. 240 E. Third St., St. George Island, 850-927-3529, http://www.sgislandjourneys.com.

SHOPPING: Grady Market, located in a refurbished ship’s chandlery, is home to shops selling antiques, handmade gifts, clothing and more. 76 Water St., Apalachicola, 850-653-4099,

gradymarket@gtcom.net

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