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Post by mossie on Feb 18, 2013 9:04:29 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Feb 18, 2013 9:22:16 GMT
That was a fantastic photo essay htmb! I've looked through it 4 times now and a thought just passed through my head.......would I have passed through Cedar Key on the way to Key West? It is such a long time ago now - around 1980 so I remember very little except stopping at one of the Keys for lunch and having yellow snapper which was gorgeous The Keys seem to have a magic all of their own.
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Post by bjd on Feb 18, 2013 12:51:56 GMT
Looks like I have to revise my ideas about Florida, htmb. This looks so nice and peaceful.
I really like the video of the little airplane coming in too.
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Post by htmb on Feb 18, 2013 13:23:35 GMT
That was a fantastic photo essay htmb! I've looked through it 4 times now and a thought just passed through my head.......would I have passed through Cedar Key on the way to Key West? It is such a long time ago now - around 1980 so I remember very little except stopping at one of the Keys for lunch and having yellow snapper which was gorgeous The Keys seem to have a magic all of their own. No, tod, I doubt you would have passed through Cedar Key. It's actually located 530mi/852.95km north of Key West. A key is just a small island and the keys that make up Cedar Key(s) are located on the northwest coast of Florida, just south of where the coastline takes a curve to the west. I'm glad you my report. Thanks bjd and Mossie.
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Post by htmb on Feb 18, 2013 13:56:03 GMT
Looks like I have to revise my ideas about Florida, htmb. This looks so nice and peaceful. I really like the video of the little airplane coming in too. Cedar Key is a fairly peaceful place, bjd, and very slow paced. Something about your comment made me think. I suppose some folks' ideas about Florida - thinking it is like Miami or Disneyworld everywhere - could be compared with the way others think that all of France is just like Paris. It just isn't so!
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Post by bjd on Feb 18, 2013 14:38:26 GMT
htmb -- I'm afraid my ideas about Florida are mostly based on Canadians going south during the winter + the Everglades and alligators + Miami and Little Havana.
Right now my sister is in Clearwater for about 6 weeks, and when I looked it up on Google Earth, I thought there is no way I would spend that amount of time in a place like that. But then again,my boredom threshold is quite low and I don't like just lazing around in the sun.
Your pictures definitely make it all look nicer.
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Post by htmb on Feb 18, 2013 17:42:17 GMT
Bjd, you probably know that Clearwater is about an hour and a half drive south of Cedar Key, but the two places are extremely different. I grew up in the Tampa Bay area and spent many summers at Clearwater Beach as a child. Clearwater is part of a larger metropolitan area with nice, white, sandy beaches, and tons of shopping, movie theaters, people and traffic; while Cedar Key is a quiet, sleepy little town with locals who are struggling to make a living and a few quiet-minded visitors. There's no beach and the nearest decent grocery store is an hour away. I don't think I'd wish to stay in either place for long unless I had something "productive" to do. But then I feel the same about most places I visit. I can't stand to sit around for long either. Cedar Key is a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of crowds. It's perfect for bike riding, hiking, fishing, boating, and birding; all fairly quiet and solitary pursuits. It's also a little over an hour from my house. I did have family with me for part of the time, but not the little kids. Without a beach to tire them out it would have taken too much effort to keep them busy. I forgot you grew up in Canada. Does your sister live there? It was really interesting to see how visitors in Cedar Key seemed to be surprised about our frigid blast of weather this weekend. People in Cedar Key were walking around in shock yesterday and everyone we encountered had something to say about the weather. I will bet your sister wasn't lying on the beach this weekend!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2013 17:59:44 GMT
My parents received the St. Petersburg Times every day, and I always enjoyed the fact that during the winter, the paper devotes an entire page to Canadian news. And I also thought it was interesting that both the Winn-Dixie and Publix supermarket chains had an aisle devoted to Canadian products.
Htmb, your nature photos look exactly like the coastal views near where my parents lived whenever we would drive to Bayport, Hernando Beach, Aripeka or Pine Island. It really makes me regret that I did not take more pictures there.
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Post by htmb on Feb 18, 2013 18:07:35 GMT
Well, Kerouac, it's never too late to visit those areas again the next time you make it to the U.S. I would imagine you'd find the area your parents lived in more crowded now. The last time I traveled up US 19 from Clearwater to the town of Red Level, near the power plant, the traffic was absolute hell until way north of Crystal River.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2013 18:12:58 GMT
Traffic on US 19 is always hell.
There used to be a local bumper sticker that said something along the lines of "I live dangerously. I drive on 19."
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Post by htmb on Feb 18, 2013 21:31:00 GMT
Traffic is so sparse on the four lane highway section of US 19 where SR 24 crosses on the way to Cedar Key, there isn't even a stop light.
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Post by htmb on Mar 1, 2013 4:39:38 GMT
This week the sea water was so high it compromised the fresh water system and residents of Cedar Key were given bottled water to drink. There was also a very severe storm with damaging winds of 95 miles per hour.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Mar 1, 2013 19:41:24 GMT
oooh htmb these images make me long to visit Cedar Key..what a glorious place...it looks so peaceful.
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Post by htmb on Mar 1, 2013 20:33:31 GMT
Thank you, cheery.
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Post by htmb on Jun 7, 2013 16:27:39 GMT
While many of the streets were flooded during Tropical Storm Andrea, the town of Cedar Key sustained minimal damage. The heaviest part of the storm crossed the state to the north of town.
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Post by lola on Jun 8, 2013 1:11:11 GMT
Glad things are okay in that bird-rich, water-rich, sky-rich town.
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Post by htmb on Jun 8, 2013 1:17:06 GMT
Gosh, why didn't I think of doing something like this
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Post by lugg on Jun 8, 2013 6:08:59 GMT
Nuts. I suppose the up-side is he knows what the weather is going to be like when he takes a trip.
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Post by htmb on Aug 31, 2013 1:08:29 GMT
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Post by htmb on Aug 31, 2013 16:52:00 GMT
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Post by mossie on Aug 31, 2013 18:47:26 GMT
Some more super nature study shots. The well decorated shoulder of the kayaker stands out, not you by any chance ;D ;D
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Post by htmb on Aug 31, 2013 18:57:36 GMT
Nope.
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Post by lugg on Aug 31, 2013 19:36:51 GMT
So glad you have found time to go back to such a lovely place for some R&R.
Great photos, as always. I particularly enjoy this thread as it gives me the opportunity to see this beautiful place at different times of year.
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Post by htmb on Aug 31, 2013 19:58:23 GMT
Thank you, Lugg. I had planned the trip a couple of weeks ago since we have a long holiday weekend, but it was even better now to get out of the house for a few days.
It's still really hot in Cedar Key and there hasn't been much of a breeze. I went for a bike ride late yesterday afternoon and felt like I was riding in a sauna. However, the view over the salt marsh and mangroves from my balcony is outstanding.
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Post by htmb on Aug 31, 2013 21:42:49 GMT
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Post by fumobici on Sept 1, 2013 0:02:39 GMT
Those sunrise photos are powerful!
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Post by htmb on Sept 1, 2013 18:59:56 GMT
I think the light in Cedar Key is really unique. Even the colors on my iPad seem to have a redder tinge to them that I notice every time I visit. Since Monday is a national holiday in the U.S. - Labor Day - there are a lot of people in Cedar Key this weekend. Several were picnicking in the park, or just taking leisurely walks. The marina parking lot was full. And lots of folks could be seen out on the water. Here's a form of transportation I hadn't witnessed here on recent trips. For some, every day is a work day.
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Post by htmb on Sept 1, 2013 19:35:17 GMT
Here's a map of the area, courtesy of the local tourist magazine. Cedar Key is the group of islands at the very end of Hwy 24. The highway runs directly into Gainesville, passing just north of Paynes Prairie, before it crosses to the other side of the state. The drive from Cedar Key to Gainesville takes a little over an hour, and one could be on the east coast of Florida approximately an hour and a half after passing through Gainesville. The areas in green on the larger map below are all state owned, wildlife conservation areas. To the north of Cedar Key is the mouth of the Suwannee River. A committed paddler could travel up the Suwannee, paddle into the Santa Fe, and eventually enter the Ichetucknee, though it'd be much easier to start at the other end. Cedar Key, and areas directly to the north and south, is a wonderful place for people who love to fish, kayak, bird watch, and get out and enjoy nature. Its geographic location in the "arm pit" of Florida prevents the buildup of sand through wave action so that the coastline is made up of mudflats and mangroves. It is tiny, quiet, and a beautiful place for those who appreciate getting out into a relatively unspoiled part of "old" Florida, but not the spot for those looking for white sandy beaches and great night life.
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Post by htmb on Sept 1, 2013 20:48:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2013 21:48:49 GMT
The birds really seem to put up with a lot from those silly humans.
When a storm whips of waves like that on a backwater, it means that it must have really been blowing!
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