Florida: Conclusion

Travel writing should be done while you're having the experience. So much is lost as time passes. I keep observances in a journal and find that words bring back my memories so much better than with a photo, but there is always the belief that you'll remember every feeling, every impression and nuance. Sadly, that just isn't true.

I remember being pleasantly surprised by the beauty of Cedar Key in spite of the community's modest nature. Houses were being built on stilts, in the current hurricane-survival style but, while the results weren't particularly attractive, the houses were  strong and I think the view is probably nice from up there.

I loved sound of the water as the wind drove it against the pilings and the land. I would keep an eye on what color the water was because it was so changeable. The sky, wind, tides and reflections all kept the water's beauty in a constant state of flux.

We signed up to go out with Captain Doug and his Tidewater Tour on Wednesday but it was so freezing cold that nobody else signed up. We decided to go out on Thursday instead, hoping for a bit less wind. From the dock, we went to the Manatee Springs State Park on the Suwannee River. The river is bigger than I imagined. There was a Cypress swamp, hundreds and hundreds of vultures, cardinals, jumping mullets, the the famous Manatee Springs, and manatees! Manatees are big, blobby animals with a lovely tail fin. One moved enough to eat a couple of weeds, but the rest just hung around in the spring water and dozed.

The literature stated that the spring "produces an average of 100 million gallons of clear, cool water daily". The spring creates a clear stream that flows through the hardwood wetlands into the Suwannee River. Something I will never see is a cave that is 90 feet below the ground where divers go to visit a place called the catfish hotel. If you ever go, please let me know what it was like.

One of the surprising highlights of the trip was watching the black vultures who spend winter in the park. It was bath time so we watched them take turns washing in the stream then flying to a perch to preen or stand guard over the other bathing vultures. Alligators live in the park and probably snatch a vulture every now and then.

That night, we ate at the Island Hotel. It's supposedly haunted and well-populated with ghosts from the Civil War time. Not surprisingly, it's been featured on several television shows about ghosts. We ate very well. There was crab bisque, spinach salad with a wonderful homemade dressing, stuffed grouper, and some kind of specially prepared oysters. I was sorry we only had one more day left, but I was also starting to fantasize about being warm someplace besides inside the car.

On the last day, I bought gifts. We took the boat tour despite the wind, but Captain Doug's daughter provided some much-needed heavy wool blankets to wrap up in. Saw loons and an eagle's nest with fledglings inside. Returned to Annie's Cafe for lunch, then went to Robinson's Fish Market for our final purchase of fresh shrimp. The last stop was a produce stand where we bought beets and two wonderful sugar cookies a lady was selling to raise money for her church. I had to go back to the condo to box up the gift so I could mail them home.

I would return to Cedar Key happily anytime. I would wish for warmer weather but not the infamous mosquito season. I'd also like to venture out into the Gulf to have a look around. It's a nature lover's paradise with so much more to see than we had time for. And I think it would be very conducive to writing.

Freezing in Florida: Part Six

Tuesday

I heard about a shop that also sold lattes but it wasn't open when we arrived. It would have been nice to sit and have a hot coffee. Hungry, we walked down the road to Annie's Cafe. It's a funky little place with a nice outdoor dining area except for one thing...it's freezing cold inside and out. Our waitress said they were unused to such bitter cold and didn't have the equipment to warm the place up. All of the diners, and it was packed, were wearing coats. The food was very good. I hope to return at a warmer time of year.

The shop that was closed earlier was now open. They said they operate on island time. They had an espresso machine but were new at using it so the results were so-so. It was an art gallery/gift shop, so I bought a nice print set in the night-time, of a pelican. It now hangs in my granddaughter's room.

Our next stop was Shell Mound Park in the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. It's located on the edge of the Gulf and is supposed to be a kayaking paradise. The trails and the boardwalk took us through beautiful areas. It was slightly warmer when we were in the woods. The park was part of an area where the salt marshes dominate before the mangroves begin south of Cedar Key.

You can walk around a shell mound created by the prehistoric inhabitants. The mound is comprised of oyster shells, five-acres worth, and 28 feet tall. The archaeologists believe it took the people 3,500 years to shuck that many oysters. The park was a lovely area where the salt marshes dominate before the mangroves begin south of Cedar Key.

The drive through the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge was lovely. There are usually a lot of alligators there, but not when it is so cold. The swamps were surprisingly beautiful. I finally saw cypress trees there. They are able to tolerate the flooded conditions by growing "knees" that grow out of the base and into the air. 

Pelicans

Part Four: Honoring Big Ed

These are my two photos of Big Ed's grave in the Cedar Key Cemetery. Big Ed was obviously well-loved by his family and still missed. The photo they chose for his headstone fascinated me with its honesty. Big Ed is posing with a wild boar (hog?) and is flipping off the camera.

Cedar Key is an awesome place for the person who loves water and wildlife.

Florida: Part Four

So why did we visit Florida in the middle of winter? First of all, I didn't expect it to be colder than Colorado. I also didn't expect it to last. People who live in Florida kept telling me it gets very cold in Florida in the winter, but it rarely lasts for long. Even they were disgruntled by the length of this record-breaking cold snap. It snowed in some areas but we got rain and more rain. I would have preferred the snow just for some variety.

Cedar Key is very affordable compared to most of the tourist areas.  It's full of things to do, particularly if you're not the Orlando type. (No offense intended to amusement park aficionados. It's just not my style.) There are excellent restaurants, some shops, multiple places to drink, boat rentals, hiking, and bird watching. There's an airstrip and, the next time I visit, I'm going to ride in an airboat. I would have loved to have gone kayaking or on the birding tour up the Suwannee River.

My novel is set in Florida on the Gulf Coast so it seemed reasonable and prudent to visit the area, and the town didn't disappoint. I love being near water and Cedar Key is all about water. However, they have mosquitoes and humidity in cruel abundance when the weather is hot, say... in August. One woman told me they rival Alaska for the number of mosquitoes, and she said it proudly.

Sunday was Valentine's Day. We took side roads to Gainesville to get an idea of what the greater area looks like. Gainesville was okay but the parts we saw weren't very interesting. While in Gainesville, we went to Starbuck's to read the Sunday New York Times, visited Walmart, Target, a grocery store, and McDonald's. The Walmart and Target stores had absolutely no warm clothing left to sell. No jackets, sweaters, coats, or thermal underwear. We would have to continue to shiver.

We were returning to Cedar Key by way of Bronson when we saw a large, strange headstone. There was a bright red, rectangular guitar on the front.We stopped and walked into the cemetery to see it up close. He was a native son of Bronson, and died on June 2nd, 2008. I would love to know who designed his headstone.

Saw a lot of birds on Valentine's Day: A summer tanager, bald eagle, tern, grackles, seagulls, egrets, and a lovely yellow-crested night heron.

Went walking around the town again that afternoon. Someone was giving inexpensive plane rides above the town, but we got back too late to take a spin. It would have been awesome if we'd had any idea something special was about to happen. The town was full of people who hadn't been there when we left that morning. Now we know Valentine's Day is a popular occasion there.

Florida:2010-Part Three

Friday: We went to Tony's for a late lunch that first day. As promised, Tony's had the best clam chowder I've ever tasted. We walked down Dock Street and explored the town a little bit. There is a nice fishing pier built to withstand any future hurricanes, and there were children playing in the park by our condo. We stayed in that evening and cooked chicken thighs and brocolli while watching O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Saturday: Lovely sunrise when it appeared between two sets of clouds. A golden path ran between the sun and us. It seemed to cross the water from Crystal River to arrive at our balcony. The tide was out so the mud flats looked lovely.

I've never been able to get a mental handle on tides. I know about tide tables but there seem to be so many variables. The tides ebb and flow, the birds that eat according to water levels, and the winding channels through the waterways for boats were all fascinating and easily observable from our lodging.

 Started the day with breakfast at the Rusty Rim. Nice view and we were inside and warm. An older man set out in a kayak from the land near the restaurant. He seemed to be trying to get to the large key opposite the town, but the wind was driving him away from it. I don't know if he didn't know how to compensate, or if he just wasn't strong enough but he kept trying.

We walked for hours, finding the cemetery and a boardwalk next to it that led to another side of the key that holds a lot of the town. The bitter cold wind didn't start until around noon.

The Old Curmudgeon Bookstore had a good selection of books and computers you could rent by the half hour. The owner was indeed a curmudgeon and, since I'd already looked at his website, I knew not to talk politics with him. Tony's was just across the street so we had clam chowder and key lime pie for lunch. This small town had a lot of good food in it.

Cedar Key is a leader in shellfish aquaculture, meaning clam farms. After federal regulations  destroyed the traditional fishing industry with a fishing ban, they turned to raising clams. They grow over 175 million freshwater clams a year.

I saw kayakers and wind surfers out in the wind-whipped waters. I wanted to kayak but knew I didn't have the strength or the warm clothing to go out on the water. I kept hoping the weather would calm down. Surely it wouldn't be bad for the entire ten days.

After doing laundry and taking a nap, we went to Robinson's, a restaurant out on Highway 24. Very good place. We had mullet for the first time. Not an easy fish to eat with millions of tiny bones, but very tasty. It turns out that the silver fish we frequently see leaping out of the water, are mullets. And, we were informed by our waitress, nobody knows why they jump.

Forida 2010: Part Two

I wanted to see the sunrise over the Atlantic before we left, so we went to the beachfront Starbuck's an got hot coffee before going to stand near the water's edge. The sky was a solid mass of dark grey with a little break on the horizon. I can't remember if it was raining but an icy wind was blowing. I never drank a coffee so fast.

The sun appeared for maybe 10 or 20 seconds before disappearing in the clouds. Anticlimactic. We climbed back into the car and headed west in the early morning funk of gloominess.

We worked our way northwest.  There were many strange sights as we entered the family entertainment culture of Orlando.

 Some serious rain began as we headed toward Ocala. Once we were in Ocala, it was only 30 minutes to the Marjorie Rawlins Historical Site in Cross Creek. She was a writer in the 1930's who wrote The Yearling, Cross Creek, The Sojourner, and more.

We found the park but a note on the door said the volunteer guide would be back in two hours. A flock of chickens raced through the rain to greet me. I guessed that they hadn't been fed yet that day. We peeked through the window and I was a little jealous of Marjorie's life.

Continuing on, the drive to Gainesville was dangerous with all the standing water on the roads. The drive from Gainesville to Cedar Key takes about an hour as you drive through pine barrens to get to the Gulf of Mexico. The scenery along the road is pretty monotonous, but the Cedar Key more than makes up for the drive.

While in the Gainesville area, we stopped at an IGA market to buy food, having been told there was only one small market in Cedar Key. The IGA sold quails in a 12-pack, rabbit meat, and goat meat, but they didn't carry Kleenex.

The town has about 800 inhabitants. It would be the perfect place to have a writing retreat or to write that novel if it had a good coffee place, and if it wasn't so hard to get to. There are excellent restaurants, a little library, kayaks, boat tours, birds and fish, and I could go on. The walking was great.

We had a reservation at a condo place located on the water. The photos on the website must have been old because the buildings were a little run down, but the location was perfect. Our first condo had no heat and, with the record-breaking cold, we moved to another unit. I was a bit disconcerted when I realized our balcony had a view of the nuclear power plant in Crystal River but I got used to it. Sort of.

Still raining.