Cedar Key is about an hours drive southwest of Gainesville, or 2 hours North from Tampa, Florida. Cedar Key is a cluster of islands on the Gulf of Mexico. Its named after the eastern red cedar. The population is only about 700 and probably about the same number of tourists on motorcycles. Other than tourism, farm raised clams and oysters are thriving and is a multimillion dollar industry. Exploring the town and restaurants is easy to do on foot or bicycle.
Cedar Key
The area was known for its cedar mills. The lumbar was transported by train to the north to make pencils. Many of the eastern red cedar trees that originally attracted the pencil company, and for which the community was named, are gone.
Cedar Key was an important source of salt for the Confederacy during the early part of the war. In October 1862 a Union raid destroyed sixty kettles on Salt Key capable of producing 150 bushels of salt a day. Salt water was boiled in each kettle until there was only the salt left. There was no refrigeration at the time, so pork, fish, and beef were packed in salt to prevent spoiling. There are old salt kettles on display.
Early in his career as a naturalist, John Muir walked 1,000 miles from Louisville, Kentucky to Cedar Key in just two months in 1867. Muir contracted malaria while working in a sawmill in Cedar Key, and recovered in the house of the mill’s superintendent. Muir recovered enough to sail from Cedar Key to Cuba in January 1868. He recorded his impressions of Cedar Key in his memoir, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf.
Sandy wanted to do some shopping. We enjoyed the t-shirts promoting the atmosphere of Cedar Key.
Low-Key Hideaway
This is a 3 RV site and 5 room motel at Cedar Key. It is very eclectic with all sorts of interesting items placed throughout the property. Mo and Frank bought it about a year and half ago. They are extremely personable, and want everyone to enjoy their time. Unfortunately, they were hit with a hurricane, 11 foot tidal surge, and mud into every motel room in September 2016. They had quite the clean up. But its back in operation.
They only have 3 RV sites. They are trying to get permits to add 6 more sites over the next year.
The property is an eclectic, artistic, bohemian, random but organized collection of bicycles, glass bottles, flip flops, and nautical artifacts. Probably best explained with photos.
Lo-Key is known for its sunsets and rustic bar. There is a steady stream of patrons from the early afternoon to sunset. Frequently musicians stop by and play for fun.
There is another RV park about a 100 yards away that we checked out. They have a cafe that serves breakfast. Everyone we met there were extremely friendly (many go to the Low-Key Tiki bar at night). We would have considered staying at Sunset, but they won’t let us face the RV towards the water view like at Lo-Key. It also seems alittle tight, slides almost touching the neighbors.
Osprey
There is a healthy population here. Just before sunrise, an Osprey caught a mullet and had breakfast in front of the RV.
They were frequently overhead soaring.
Birding
Shell Mound Archaeological Site
This is the largest remaining shell mound on the central Gulf Coast. Covering 5 acres and rising 28 feet above sea level, its elevation provided a summer breeze and refuge from storm surges. The site was built with remains of countless meals of oysters, whelks, fish, turtle, and deer bones along with household debris. It stands today as a monument to the fruitful bounty for these estuarine waters at the Suwannee River delta. Shell Mound, nearly 6,000 years old, was constructed over a 3,500 year period (2500 B.C.-A.D. 1000) and served as a base for several early unnamed shell cultures. It must of smelled awful if there was no breeze, but the views are amazing.
Low tide at Low-Key. Jake watching a Great Egret.
