BLAME IT ON THE SUWANNEE!

A series of essays.....

CEDAR KEY, FLORIDA: TAKEN FROM GULF BLVD.
LOOKING AT INLET THAT FLOWS OUT TO GOOSE COVE

.....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E. Hughes

Imagine being the actor who, willingly, thrusts his hand into a glass box swarming with active mosquitoes? Now imagine two people who, voluntarily, begin an innocent trek up a dirt path in the Florida woods in search of the Shell Mound reportedly located along the gently rippling waters of the Suwannee Sound within the boundaries of the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge.

Allow your imagination to go wild and you might even be able to feel their pain. Sans repellent, they continued on until nearly physically lifted above the ground by large clouds of thirsty mosquitoes...... A bit of an exaggeration. Maybe. You would had to have been there to understand their discomfort!

CEDAR KEY NATIONAL
 WILDLIFE REFUGE

LOOKING OUT TO THE
SUWANNEE SOUND

What on earth were we thinking?!? But, hey, I did manage to take several brilliant photos of this beautiful place inhabited eighteen hundred years ago by Native Cultures before running like an insane woman back to our Kia. Swatting the little vampires inside the car was truly a cardiac exertion and lasted until we hit the main road leading out of Cedar Key once again. I'm not sure if our tears represented pure pain or the laughter that swept over us as we traveled up the sun-dappled SR 24 that Sunday afternoon.

Heading east, we eventually picked-up Old Highway 27 and, taking it south towards Orlando, found ourselves driving through the town of Ocala. Our surprise find of the day (besides the hungry, malaria carrying mosquitoes) was an operable Drive-In Theatre now showing "Wonder Woman" and "Pirates of the Caribbean!" Who knew?

OCALA, FLORIDA ~ JUNE 2017

BRINGS BACK MANY
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

As Dan and I approach 'short timer' status within our adopted home of Florida and prepare ourselves for the next phase of our life, we've decided to go on a mission based on access and opportunity. We hope to explore as much of Florida as possible, as long as we still can call it our home, and utilize it as our home base for many future satellite trips around the state. And we say, "Damn the mosquitoes, full speed ahead.....!" Time is short and there's still so much to discover around here.

One coastal area of Florida we'd been neglecting for almost twenty-one years happens to be located near the Suwannee River that flows into the Gulf of Mexico around sixty miles west of Gainesville, Florida. This famous river begins its long, wild journey at its origins in the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia. Having many questions about this swampy and wild area along Florida's northwestern coastline, we decided to make this our first 'off-the-beaten-path' tour of the state with, hopefully, many more to follow.

Just before Memorial Day, Dan suggested a two-night stay in the small, rustic town of Cedar Key. We had heard that this quaint village played a huge part in the early development of Florida's international commerce by having the first train route that stretched across the state from Fernandina Beach north of Jacksonville to the Gulf of Mexico. How had it retained its quiet charm having had such a rich history? 

After packing a small suitcase and filling the car with gas, we were heading along the two-lane back roads to Cedar Key one week later.

We weren't sure what to expect considering this was a last minute trip, not researched (totally not my modus operandi, at all!), and we would be arriving there late having left after Dan got out of work on Friday. I will admit, I was more than a little dubious about everything upon our arrival with its 'rough and tumble' vibe and a genuine feeling of claustrophobia considering that Cedar Key only has one main road in and out.

WALKING ALONG DOCK STREET

ISLAND HOTEL & RESTAURANT

Nanna's Room awaited us at the Cedar Key Bed & Breakfast owned and operated by Alice Phillips-Oakley and her caring staff. Eventually, we snuggled in like two kittens in front of a crackling fire, but not before making our way to the restaurants on Dock Street, known as 'the heartbeat of Cedar Key" and suspended over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Backtracking to 2nd Street, we settled on a delicious steak dinner at the historic Island Hotel & Restaurant built in 1859 by then Mayor John Parsons. We discovered later that the current  mayor of the town, Heath Davis, and his extended family, was dining at the table in front of ours.

VIEW DOWN 2ND STREET
AFTER DINNER AT THE HOTEL

Walking hand-in-hand back to our room, we were looking forward to a comfortable night's sleep while dreaming about the hearty breakfast to be served on the veranda in the morning. 

PEEKING IN THROUGH THE
GARDEN GATE

DAN IN THE GARDEN AT
CEDAR KEY BED & BREAKFAST

Our informative host, Alice, dropped by our breakfast table and made so many great suggestions for things to do.....including a kayak excursion around several of the Keys. We knew that we couldn't possibly address all of them during our weekend visit. 

Our discussion turned to Ireland having met her dog, Guinness, who shared our space and showered us with wet kisses and love. We were told that because they already had three dogs at home when she wished to acquire this handsome guy, she had to sell the idea to her husband, George. Because of his Irish heritage and love for a pint of Guinness, she felt that George was more apt to accept this fourth, furry child if she were to poke at George's soft spot. Naming him Guinness seemed to soften his heart and George welcomed him with, more or less, open arms.

By the time George arrived at the B&B a short time later, Alice introduced us and knew that our common thread of conversation would be about our travels to Ireland. She was partially correct. The thread seemed to encompass even more as we discovered that George was a graduate of Michigan State University. As you can well imagine, our hearts bled Green and White together as we reminisced about campus life. The entire time we talked, Guinness was eyeing all three of us as if to say, "Let's take this outside and go play fetch, okay?"

ARTISTIC STREET SIGN AND
DIRECTION POST

THE GARDENS OF 'ISLAND ARTS'

Many artists live on Cedar Key today and exhibit their talent in pieces that are for sale in the arts and craft stores dotting 2nd Street. This place is so laid-back and calming that I'm sure many writers come here as a 'retreat' of sorts. I was introduced to the writings of New York Times Bestselling Author of the Cedar Key Series, Terri DuLong, who has been a long time resident of Cedar Key and now resides in Ormond Beach and working on her Ormond Beach novels.

The Historical Museum proved its weight in gold and enlightened us as to the local history of our Native Americans, the Timucuan Indians (eventually known as the Seminole tribe), with a substantial amount of their artifacts on display, and told how they fought to keep their land during a series of Seminole Wars (known as the 'Florida Wars' of which there were three) which began in 1816 and ended in 1858. Fighting the white man who brought his own slaves into Florida and desired the fertile Indian land, they remained proud people who had occupied these keys for at least a thousand years while thriving on the seemingly endless bounty of the land and waters.

We fell in love with Marcy, a docent who offered a 'personal touch' to all of the stories about local industry that helped to place Cedar Key on the map. Do you remember the small whisk broom your Mom may have used? They were made exclusively by Donax Broom Manufacturing from local palmetto fiber, young cabbage palm plants that dotted the many keys. The depletion of the Eastern Red Cedar tree, the namesake of the Cedar Keys, was brought about by the German entrepreneur, J. Eberhard Faber, in the late 1800's. The Cedar Keys were home to the mills of the Faber and Eagle pencil companies (Who hasn't used the trusty No.2?) who exported, via the new Florida Railroad, much of the wood back to Faber's native German and New York City pencil plants.

VARIETY OF WHISK BROOMS  ON DISPLAY
AT THE HISTORY MUSEUM IN TOWN

CEDAR KEY MUSEUM STATE PARK
LOCATED AT THE NORTHERN PART OF THE KEY

The railroad line, a major contributor to the early growth of Cedar Key, was abandoned and removed in 1932 when the locals decided to keep their population small and avoid the major growth that the line would have, inevitably, brought to the ecologically fragile Keys. The railroad was diverted to the Tampa area where it helped spawn the growth of Tampa's shipping trade and population as we see it today.

Quick note: Marcy and her late husband had met on the campus of Michigan State University and were married shortly after graduation. Yes, in case you were wondering, we swapped stories, as well.

Clams! Clams everywhere! Nutritious! Delicious! (So they tell me! Never really a fan!) There's a 'new farmer' in town these days and among them they raise over ninety-five percent of farm-raised clams in the United States. Locally grown and harvested in the clean waters of Cedar Keys by the newest generation of clam farmers, the locals have utilized the rich sediment that winds through swamps, limestone outcroppings, and salt marshes for hundreds of miles flowing from Georgia and into the Gulf of Mexico.

TONY'S FAMOUS
CLAM CHOWDER

A SEAFOOD PO-BOY WITH
THE BEST COLESLAW ~ EVER!

We were soon to discover how proud the locals are of their clean clam farming distinction and reputation. Our waitress at Tony's Restaurant, known worldwide for their award winning clam chowder, told us that oyster farming is becoming as popular and profitable these days in the waters surrounding Cedar Keys. 

Blame it on the Suwannee River! The continuous accumulation of rich silt flowing from the mouth of the river in Georgia and into the Gulf of Mexico has attributed to the shallow, darker water of this coastal area and has become an extension of the southern Georgian swamps themselves. Marcy told us that the coastal waters are darker because of the silt-bottom, shallow depths and the line of distinction between them and the deeper, more colorful waters of the Gulf is quite apparent as you travel south to Tampa. 

Well, with the burning question niggling at me for years finally answered, Dan and I are contemplating our next adventure in Florida. Even though we visited Key West twenty years ago with our youngest daughter, Corinne....it has been way too long since we've enjoyed this colorful, magical spot. And, I'm always happy to have the influence of a beloved author, Ernest Hemingway, rub off on me.

Until then.....!

  

CEDAR KEY SUNSET

CAPPING OFF A WONDERFUL
SATURDAY ON CEDAR KEY

Copyright © 2017 by Jacqueline E. Hughes

All rights reserved

All Photos Copyright © 2017 by Jacqueline E. Hughes

All rights reserved