Cedar Key, FL

[htmb]

On one of my flights back to North Central Florida from Washington, DC a few weeks ago I sat next to a gentleman from Cedar Key, Florida. He seemed like a nice, good old Florida country boy who loved his home town and his family. He told me that jobs were hard to come by in Cedar Key, and he had been out of work for six months before finding a job out of state. He'd been away from home for three months and was on his way back for a short visit with his wife and kids.

I got to thinking about Cedar Key, and how I hadn't been there since the 1970's when I was in college. There was a restaurant that use to be the place for boys to take girls they really wanted to impress. Other than that, I really didn't know much about Cedar Key at all. Since I had a three day weekend coming up I decided to drive on over to the coast. Inspired by fmt's bicycle tour reports, I also loaded up my bike for island transportation.

Cedar Key is only an hour and fifteen minutes from my home, but most of the road goes through a very isolated area full of deer who seem to have a death wish in the fall. Remembering this, I made sure to leave early enough in the day so as not to be on the road during prime "grazing along the roadside" time in the late afternoon.

If your idea of great Florida entertainment is Mickey, wild rollercoaster rides, white sandy beaches, sun-bronzed fabulous bodies in skimpy bathing suits, and super crazy night life then Cedar Key is not for you. Cedar Key, which is actually spread out over several islands ("keys"), is a sleepy little fishing town along what's now called "Florida's Nature Coast." It's located on the Gulf of Mexico just before the coast begins to take a curve to the west, and in the 2010 census a whopping 702 people were counted as permanent residents. Also, there's not a high-rise in sight!

[bixaorellana]

BOY, does this make me nostalgic for Florida! It really reminds me of how Florida was back in the early 70s, with its own low-key, unself-conscious charm, with delights to be discovered at every turn.

Is that the Gulf at the end of the street in the picture with the bicycle?

*sigh* I can almost smell that wonderful soft salt air.

Can't wait for more.

[htmb]

This is my kind of place (much of that due to the time of year): beautiful weather, no crowds, great places to explore, and lots of photographic scenery.
































































Though cars are certainly allowed on the islands, many people choose the option of driving electric golf carts.

[mossie]

Cedar Key looks like a very relaxed kind of place, just as one imagines rural America should be.
Strange you remember only one particular restaurant. I picture you as the college belle, who spent all her time there ;D

[bjd]

It looks very nice but really quiet. I can understand that people would have to leave to find work. Are there a lot of tourists at certain times of the year?

[htmb]

I remember coming over very late in the afternoon in time to watch the sun set over the water while we ate our first course of heart of palm salad (which was a very unique salad ingredient back then).

Yes, bjd, there are at least two festivals that draw throngs of people here and many recreational fisherman use it regularly as a launch point which you'll see in later photos. From what i understand, this is a slow time and more visitors will actually start to come in after the holidays.

There were actually a few people around on downtown main street, but as most were camera shy they didn't get included in my photos.

In 1994, voters in the state of Florida approved a constitutional ban on net fishing, which put many residents of Cedar Key out of business as they knew it. With help from the state, some have been able to become successful clam farmers. "A 2007 study determined that the 135 clammers who leased at least two acres on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico produced 135 million clams, resulting in a $45 million annual impact on the city."

Source (the whole article is worth a read)

[htmb]

About two and a half miles from my lodgings was the Cedar Key Museum State Park and I enjoyed a leisurely bike ride there on a gorgeous North Florida morning.

The museum was nice, though a bit disappointing. There just wasn't much there.
it was staffed by a very knowledgeable ranger who cheerfully answered all my questions.









Cedar Key was a major seaport in the 19th century when a railroad was built linking the town to Fernandina on the north east coast of Florida. Several later factors, including a hurricane, new railroad line to Tampa, and the deepening of the port at Tampa Bay, dramatically changed Cedar Key's economy forever and shifted growth to the south.
















Outside the museum there were a few treasures to be found. The next photo is of a Confederate Army salt kettle, used to boil ocean water leaving only the salt which was then used to keep pork, beef and fish from spoiling. According to a museum placard, "This kettle was one of 60 that produced 150 bushels of salt per day at the Cedar Key Confederate salt works which was destroyed by a raiding Union party in 1862."

[htmb]

A trail from the museum building led out to the salt marshes.










Coming across the vine covered area in the next picture led me to think of  kerouac's comment regarding what European settlers must have thought upon landing in Florida. I'd hate to hack a pathway through this thick mess.




It was high tide, so the salt marshes were full of water.




The red mangrove is critical to the marsh environment.




The light green mangrove seed pods literally covered the ground along the shore of the marsh.



















I found this seaside sparrow hiding up in the trees. He's really very tiny, so I enlarged the photo to make him easier to see. I just wish my zoon had picked up more detail.

[mossie]

Another good series of pics, with some nature study thrown in. Saw Palmetto is another natural cure pushed for prostate problems.

[htmb]

In 1991, the Whitman home was moved from Goose Cove to the museum property and restored to demonstrate how some Cedar Key residents lived during the first half of the 20th century. The house was built in 1890, and Mr. Whitman lived there from 1920 until his death in 1959.

[mossie]

A proper sewing machine, pity the treadle is not connected, but I suppose the kids would have too much fun with it. Also the proper old oil lamps, do you remember the smell?.

[mossie]

And a real wireless, I'd forgotten that ;D

[htmb]

I find shore birds to be endlessly fascinating photographic subjects, though I don't know the names for many of the little guys. I've also decided some of the pelicans have learned how to pose in the hope of getting a food reward.

[htmb]

The next four photos illustrate a direct example of how detrimental our bad habits can be for animals. This pelican was perching on the end of a dock overlooking a salt marsh. I waited until he flew off before I walked to the end of the dock.



Meanwhile, the pelican flew down to the shore.



Where he found a long piece of some type of plastic coated with gunk. Two couples who were standing nearby tried to retrieve the plastic.



But the pelican stubbornly refused to give it up and flew across the channel out of reach. When I left he was still trying to chomp on the plastic, and I just hope he didn't try to swallow the thing.

[htmb]

Nov 10, 2012 14:56:46 GMT mossie said:

A proper sewing machine, pity the treadle is not connected, but I suppose the kids would have too much fun with it. Also the proper old oil lamps, do you remember the smell?.

I remember my great-grandmother having a sewing machine like that, mossie, and I absolutely coveted it. The cabinet wasn't as elaborate as this one, but I thought it was so clever how the machine folded away into the top. My mother inherited it, but somewhere along the way she got rid of the cabinet and machine before I could stake my claim.

[htmb]

While staying on the west coast of Florida, one would think the view of the Gulf of Mexico would be towards the west. However, as Cedar Key is an island, the view off my balcony actually faced the south east. Here's the sunrise looking off my balcony.



The island off in the distance is Atsena Otie Key. More on that, later.







Concrete pilings below are the remains of an old sea wall.







Sunsets made for a very pretty sky, too.

[htmb]

Nov 10, 2012 5:29:41 GMT bixaorellana said:

BOY, does this make me nostalgic for Florida! It really reminds me of how Florida was back in the early 70s, with its own low-key, unself-conscious charm, with delights to be discovered at every turn.

Is that the Gulf at the end of the street in the picture with the bicycle?

Bixa, it reminds me a lot of old Florida towns in the 70's, too.

No, that's the sky you are seeing. The gulf is a couple of streets over to the right of my bike.

[tod2]

htmb - I have thoroughly enjoyed this superb photo-essay and am knocked out by the beautiful sunsets, those pelicans!!, the way the sunlight caught the seagull? while it scrounged around in the water.
The buildings first off reminded me of somewhere else....then I remembered. It kinda looks like some places in Oz, around Cairns and Townsville way.
That croc skull looks huge - they are selling little baby croc ( or teenage croc) skulls in the tourist shops in Kruger. I was tempted to buy one and put it on my front gate to ward off burglars! People here are very superstitious!

Thanks again!

[Deleted]

That is an absolutely beautiful report, htmb. Obviously, much it looks very familiar to me after spending 20 years visiting my parents a bit south of there. But every time I came, we always drove out to the tiny coastal towns like Aripeka or Homosassa. I know that my father always had a fantasy of a waterfront home with its own fishing pier, but he also was extremely reasonable and had a very useful fear of hurricanes.

[htmb]

Thank you very much, tod and Kerouac.

I can understand the concern over owning a place along the shore. I owned a beach house for many years down where the beaches were white sand and beautiful. There were a lot of issues for sure, but storms were only part of the problem. As much as I love salt water, it takes a tremendous toll on buildings. Just the wear and tear on the outside airconditioning units alone was enough to make me occasionally want to pull my hair out. And trust me, air conditioning was not something you would wish to do without in the middle of the summer. I rented the house out to visitors and air conditioning was a must.

Kerouac, I have never heard of Aripeka. Is it near Homosassa?

Lots more to come.

[htmb]

Something I forgot to show in the Whitman house was this collection of cigar boxes. My father was a cigar smoker and, though I didn't like the smoke, I absolutely loved the boxes. I would hound him to finish a box when I needed needed one for a collection of some sort. I still have a few of his boxes around the house with stored "treasures" inside. The Tampa Nugget, Cuesta Rey, and Hav-a-Tampa were my favorites, and I would have turned my nose up at the Swisher Sweets boxes.






Across from the museum was this gorgeous sunflower bush in full bloom. I just love the bright yellow color. I saw several of these on my recent trip to the Ft. White and High Springs areas, too.




On my way back from the museum I passed by the Cedar Key Cemetery, founded in 1886.




Some of the grave sites have very nice views of the nearby salt marsh.







Along the side of the cemetery there is a recently built boardwalk called Cemetery Point Park that parallels the marsh and is a wonderful spot for photographing birds, as well as other interesting sights.



















Cedar Key has its own school, which has burned and been rebuilt twice. Here's the latest building.

[htmb]

A slightly different view, with a clearer sky, and the nuclear power plant at Crystal River reminds us that Florida has changed a bit in recent times.

[htmb]

Cedar Key has its own small airport.

[htmb]

Cedar Key is a fisherman's paradise.













Here's what happens if the only parking place you can find for your truck and trailer is under a tree.

[bixaorellana]

This is a remarkable and remarkably beautiful and fascinating thread, Htmb. I am completely knocked out by your photos. Each & every one not only imparts information, but is beautiful to boot.

Those cigar boxes gave me a heavy rush of nostalgia. My grandfather & uncle had a general store & there were always cigar boxes around -- enough for us kids to have some for our treasures. That's how they'd bring the money from the house to the store every night, in a cigar box with a rubber band around it. ;D

[htmb]

Oh, bixa. I'm glad to hear of that memory. Weren't cigar boxes just great little inventions. Thanks for sharing that and for your very kind remarks about my thread. It's been fun to work on and has reminded me what a central role the gulf coastline has played during much of my life.

A bit more to come soon...

[htmb]

It's my assumption these men are clam farming.






















I'd been hoping to spot an osprey all weekend and I finally sighted this beauty near the pier.




This horseshoe crab didn't make it.

[htmb]

Malaria?



Nicely detailed map of Cedar Key

[bixaorellana]

Much as I love mountains, your pictures forcefully reminded me of the endless, ever-changing beauty of salt marshes. You have captured that perfectly. The photo right before the osprey, with the blue water alternately calm and ruffled, the subtle undulations & textures of bits of land, and the line of birds in flight is just IT.

Congratulations on the osprey! Noble & magnificent as he is, the horseshoe crab photos equally convey Florida Gulf beach -- nice pics!

Never knew that about Muir & Florida. Lovely quotes.

And I don't know if I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating anyway ~~ your bird pictures are WOW.

[Deleted]

Nov 10, 2012 17:16:02 GMT htmb said:

Kerouac, I have never heard of Aripeka. Is it near Homosassa?

Aripeka is a few miles south of Homosassa. Here is everything you need to know about it pending any photos that I might dig up.

SPOILER: Click to show