Indian Pass Raw Bar and the Blast on the Bay…

Once we retrieved my misplaced glasses we stopped to fill up with gas and bought some groceries before returning to our campsite at Mexico Beach. Since it was still early enough to attend the shindig our neighbor told us about, we decided to head on over to the happening at a local restaurant/tavern about 20 miles away. It was a pleasant drive along the coastline as we passed through the town of Port St. Joe and by an Air Force Base. As the GPS notified us that we were getting closer we suddenly saw a long line of cars parked on both sides of the road with still a quarter of a mile to go…

We drove on down to the Indian Pass Raw Bar where the music was taking place. The music was part of a larger event called the Blast on the Bay. The Blast on the Bay is annual songwriters festival held on the forgotten coast of Florida. The festival features a group of songwriters/musicians mostly from  Nashville.These artists have written hit songs for artists such as Faith Hill, George Strait and Garth Brooks.  Best of all this festival was absolutely free!!!

As it turned out we were attending the final event held at the well known Indian Pass Raw Bar, an institution in this part of the world. What started as a sundry store for a turpentine company in 1903, it became general store in 1929 when the McNeill family bought the place. After the store was swamped by Hurricane Kate in 1985, the family decided to make it the raw bar it is today.

What makes this place so well known is the food and the low key charm of the forgotten coast. it has a simple menu of oysters raw, baked or steamed, shrimp a few different ways, seafood gumbo and hot dogs. Nothing fancy and nothing is fried… Also unique about it is its 'honor system method of paying your ticket. You serve yourself  beer or wine from the stocked coolers lining the back wall or pour your own draft beer by the glass or pitcher. You keep your own drink tab  and at checkout you are asked what you had and you pay your tab!

As we made our way to the bar we could see this place was packed with people and we could hear some singer/songwriters on the front porch playing their tunes… People had encircled the porch sitting in their folding chairs with the rest of the crowd standing behind spilling out onto the front roadway. We strolled past the people into the establishment and straight to the back wall. I got us a couple of draft beers, self served, and today they were running a special on all drafts at $2.00 each. So I took our two Land Shark drafts outside where we listened to some really talented singers and songwriters. We had an absolutely great time at the Indian Pass Raw Bar…

When it was time for us to leave we drove slowly the 20 miles back to the RV park as it was right about sunset time and we wanted to stop several times just to ooohh and ahhhh at the sun setting over the waters in the bay. Stunning… and a great ending to a great day…