Every Mile a Memory

January 4, 2016

Cedar Key RV Resort, Sumner, FL – Beautiful campground with concrete pads and picnic table. The campground has full hookups, paved roads, free wifi, basic cable tv and a heated pool.

Arrived around 2pm and set up camp (put the slides out and hooked up water, sewer, electric, cable). Had a quick lunch of Publix sandwiches that we brought along and then explored the campground. It’s a small campground with only 100 sites, nicely spaced, with some trees and bushes for privacy. We were in site 14. The nicest site is site 100.

We decided to go to Tony’s Seafood Restaurant on Cedar Key since we’d read good reviews about the place. The reviews weren’t wrong. Tony has won 3 world champion titles for his clam chowder. And it was delicious!! So was everything else we ordered!

Went back to the campground and found a dark area to gaze at the sky. The stars and Milky Way were amazing! Haven’t seen a sky this speckled with stars since Key West!! Awesome!! Dave went out later and was able to see the Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 million light years away.

Our Forza is in the center of this pic behind the little tree.

Our pad (#14 Pine Street)

Wendy looking toward Atsena Otie Key

Shops and restaurants on the wharf. We sat on the deck of the far left restaurant to watch the sunset on our last night in Cedar Key.

Tony's World Famous Clam Chowder!! Yum!!!

Delicious Seafood at Tony's

January 5, 2016

Did some typical tourist stuff today…walked around downtown Cedar Key and the marina. Very chilly near the water…wore my winter coat, hat and gloves. Then went to the Cedar Key Historical Museum and learned that the red cedar was indigenous and prolific and heavily harvested to make pencils. Did not see any cedar except for a few along a back road. Also manufactured in Cedar Key were Donax Whisk brushes made from the Sabal Palm (Florida’s state tree).

After the museum, we went for a 3 mile hike at the Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve. The trails were tilled sand…kind of like walking on a beach, a very soft beach. Quite a workout! And lots of animal tracks, mostly deer and bobcat.

3 miles of loose sand at Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve

Bobcat tracks in the sand

January 6, 2016

Chilly (~50 degrees) and windy (15mph) morning. Decided to drive to Manatee Springs State Park near Chiefland, Florida (about 30 minutes from our campground). Paid the $6 entry fee and headed for the hiking path that would take us to Manatee Spring and the Suwannee River. It was only ¼ mile hike through the woods from where we parked to get to the spring and then another ¼ mile on a boardwalk path that followed the spring to the river. At the end of the boardwalk there was a viewing dock where we saw at least 30 wintering manatees. Some were huge with barnacles on their backs and there were a few suckling babies.

After watching the manatees for a while, we headed to the Catfish Hotel Sinkhole. So named for the large congregation of catfish 90 feet down on the floor of the sink. It looked pretty slimy and I wouldn’t want to dive into that muck.

Then we did more hiking through the woods taking the Loop Trail and Scenic Trail. Saw lots of birds…and thankfully no snakes. The trails reminded us of hiking in NJ in the fall….cool crisp air and lots of leaves underfoot.