Our first get-a-way was to be Cedar Key Florida. The web site was full of information and pictures. We had never been there and was looking forward to a relaxing time on the sandy beaches, walking at leisure up and down as the sinking sun's rays of yellow and auburn streaks filled the evening sky. Like two silly lovers with pants rolled up and skirt held high, holding hands and burst's of laughter echoing as the surf breaks over our feet, rushing forward and then back again. That gentle sucking feeling as the sand moves from under your feet and the tug of the tides flow. A quiet walk of children at play with no stress or worry's. A time of freedom and no sense of anyone or anything about us. The write up made it sound like paradise. Have lunch on main street, step right onto the beach. There was camping sites right at the waters edge. Sit in your lawn chair and enjoy the Island's night life.
Having lived in Florida for a number of years I was familiar with the east coast part of the state. The coarse brown grains of sand mixed with shells, the gray and dingy color of the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. I had lived several place in the state over the many years of my working career. Starting out at Hallandale in 1969 and my final exit was from St. Augustine in 2002. During the years that spanned between those dates, I lived, worked and vacationed in many different locations within the state. My knowledge of the beaches, were the ones on the eastern shore.
I picked up the Vaca House from the storage lot and brought it home, parking it in the driveway. For several days we packed our gear and made ready for the trip. The route was mapped out, using MapQuest. It was almost 500 miles away and 10 hours of driving. I figured it would be no less than eleven hours with fuel stops and rest breaks. Usually we don't drive and tow that many hours in a single days travel. I like to keep it to around 300 miles and no more than 6 hours. The distance and hours at the wheel was no big deal, I had worked many a year as a tractor trailer driver. Now that I'm older and retired, a slower pace is more enjoyable. We were eager as we awaited the day of our departure. The weather was improving and the day finaly arrived. It was early May and we were all smiles as we towed the Vaca House out of our GA home driveway. Next stop Cedar Key and the warm weather of the Florida west coast.
It was an early Saturday morning, 5:30 am and the sun not yet breaking thru the dawns pre darkness. We wanted to beat the traffic around Atlanta's 285 bypass. Depending on the day and time, it can be a nightmare of traffic congestion trying to get around Atlanta. We figured we would be ok if we hit it by 7 am on a Saturday. I was in hopes not a lot of folks would be out, staying home and enjoying a day off. Our plan seemed to be the right move, traffic was light and soon we were past Atlanta and headed south on I-75. It was a very pleasant tow, good roads and light traffic. Next stop was for fuel around the GA/FL state line.
We did make a stop at the FL Welcome Center, picking up a state map. The big Atlas doesn't show a lot of the smaller roads and towns within a chosen state. I noticed we'd be going thru Rosewood on our way to Cedar Key.
There was a movie made about the town of Rosewood and how it was destroyed during a Racial Riot in 1923. Now a ghost town, I figured there would be a history museum. I was going to stop and see what information there was about the town and it's destruction. What I found was nothing when I drove down Hwy 24 where the town of Rosewood once stood. The landscape was empty and void of any signs, that a town was once there. Just a small green sign standing alongside of the highway with the name Rosewood.
I have posted a short portion of the story of Rosewood below. Take a minute to read of the tragedy, the fault of one person's lie and fears.
Fannie Taylor's story[edit]
You can learn more about Rosewood on the web and by watching the movie of the same name.
After leaving the Florida Welcome Center we started to notice the black snow, at least it looked like that to me. It was the dreaded Florida Love Bug. Those insects were like a snow flurry, they were coming at us in a massive assault on our windshield. They were a greasy mess as the wipers wiped them from side to side. Once I hit Hwy 24 in Gainesville and started west for Cedar Key I made a fuel and bug stop, washing off the windshield. The entire front of the truck and the front of the Vaca House was covered in those mating insects. Washing them from our rig would have to wait.
It was about 2 PM when I pulled into the RV Resort. We were still a few miles east of Cedar Key. We had decided to not stay in the city limits. There would be other attractions that were accessible from our campsite. Cedar Key was literally right at the end of the road. The highway ended at Cedar Key. By staying outside the city limits, backtracking to other events wouldn't be necessary. Maybe it was the combat veteran in me that didn't want to be trapped and have no escape, ha ha. Regardless we were a few miles away and the RV Resort was a nice place to stay. Nothing around it but a Dollar General Store, a mile east. Actually there was nothing of interest around or close to the Resort, across the street was another Campground. If we needed or wanted to go shopping it would be 38 miles away. Where we were offered nothing except the town of Cedar Key and there we had yet visited. For now we'd get settled in and scout out all the amenities of the Resort. It was a very nice and clean campground, the sites were spacious and well laid out. Look them up on their web at www.cedarkeyrvresort.com . The park manager and his assistant worked daily to keep the park at a high standard. There wasn't a lot of out of town guest this time of year. Florida is a busy place during the winter months. The resort was a combination of spaces for rent and those owned. You could buy your own camping site and the Resort would rent it out for you when you weren't using it. We had no desire to own, it was just a weeks vacation for us.
Guest at the resort could enjoy the large pool. Sit in the lounge chair and be kissed by the golden rays of the Florida sun. There was a large shaded pavilion with snack machines and comfortable chairs, board games were available as well.
The large indoor community room was an oasis of cool comfort, gathering place to sit in luxury and visit with other guests or friends. Table tennis or just relax with a good book. A TV with all the latest movies or listen to music.
There was a large clean bath house and a full array of laundry machines, just bring your fabric softener and favorite detergent.
The park wasn't crowded, plenty of sites empty. Some of those with units parked on them, were empty at the time of our visit. Most likely sites that were owned by full timers. With over 100 sites it was a well laid out park. It was pet friendly, with a pet walking area fenced off. Lots of birds called the area home and seemed to go undisturbed by our presents.
We had no more got set up and the sky opened and it poured. That's pretty much normal for Florida. The locals have a saying.... If you don't like the weather just wait five minutes. After the rain we went downtown to take in some of the local cuisine. We found out that it wasn't hard to find our way around. It was the A, B and C method of street names and numbers. Example 5th street and C avenue. D avenue was also Hwy 24, the main road into and out of Cedar Key.
The entire town only had about a dozen streets. The last street by the waters edge, was where the majority of all the local shops and restaurants were located. That was about the size of two blocks. There was a large pier, loaded with locals fishing. We noticed a small restaurant on the corner of 2nd street & D avenue. It would turn our to be the location of Tony's World Famous Clam Chowder, at least it was for 2009,10,11. Who would have thought, as this was a very small place. The main dinning room looked to seat about 28 and there was a back room of about the same capacity. Kathie and I aren't big Clam Chowder coinsurers. I did try it and it was good. But if it was the best in the world, well I'm no judge of that. Since it wasn't the winner for 2012 and 13, I guess I'm off the hook. If you'd like to try Tony's World Famous Clam Chowder, it's sold in most supper markets in FL. Everyone has a relative living in Florida, lol.
Our first night out on the town and it was closing time, they were rolling up the sidewalks. We would soon learn that most of the towns 702 residents were always on Island Time. More about that later. We walked around and got a lay of things. It wasn't a big area as we soon discovered. That sandy beach in the web photos of Cedar Key was a 50' by 100' area, referred to as the City Park. They were doing dredge work at that location and the entire area looked so small and dirty with lots of drift and sea weeds all over the sand. I sure wouldn't call that area a beach. I bet Cedar Key is the only coastal town in Florida without a beach shoreline. What little beach that was there must have been hauled in by dump trucks. I did notice the same with the Motels that were lined up against the shore line. Not the sort of large sandy beach and dunes I was expecting. Second thought, I'm not sure Cedar Key could be called a costal town. It is a chain of small islands, with other islands all around it.
Since the shops were all closed, we headed back to the RV Resort. We would discover that Island Time was the schedule most of the merchants were on. That simply means they open when they want to. Don't be an early riser and expect to find shops open and don't be in a hurry to get into town. Most didn't come to work until late afternoon and closed early. A lot of the time they didn't even open at all. We went to the Chamber of Commerce every day. Regardless of what time the sign on the door read, it was closed. We did manage to buy from a couple of the shops. Kathie bought some clothes and I bought a tin wall plaque. I bought cigars from The Black Dog, the only bar in town. It was mid afternoon and the place was empty. We ate at all restaurants, during our days spent there, all five of them. They were never crowded and in most cases no more than half a dozen or less in the entire place. It was funny that they seemed to run out of a lot of items on their menu. A lot of their beer was stale from being old and out of date. We tried to take the Island Cruise a couple of times, the boat never left the dock. I guess there wasn't enough interest or tickets sold to make it pay!
All the buildings over Kathie's left shoulder is built out over the bay. The picture below shows the concrete piers supporting the structures.
The locals use oyster shells for a lot of different applications. Here a wall was fashioned to give that beach appeal. Later I will show you how and where they were used for other methods.
We soon discovered that Cedar Key didn't offer much. Not as much as we thought for sure! I did hear they have record crowds during two big events yearly, April and October. So we struck out for other attractions, driving a few hours in other directions. A lot of our time was just spent at the Resort. It was a very quite and restful time. I got around to washing off those Love Bugs. That was a harder job that I was prepared for. I tried everything known to man, nothing I used worked. Kathie looked it up on the web, hot water and Dawn dish soap. That with a soft scrub pad worked with a lot of elbow grease. After a couple of hours the vaca house and truck was bug free. Tonight we'd be dinning at the Vaca House Inn. Chef Dutch was grilling young chicken breast in an island sauce. Reservations required, ha ha.
Kathie was lovely in her new sun dress and fresh reddish shoulders, Fl sunburn, and matching neck line :)
More about our vacation when, "What's to see at Cedar Key Continues," Coming soon to your computer nation wide !
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