Return to Cedar Key, FL

Sunset Isle (retro) Campground

We returned to Cedar Key on the Gulf side and decided to stay at Sunset Isle RV Park.  It's a small park sporting a small cafe with great food.  The 50's trailer painted  bright colors is indicative of the atmosphere here.   A retro RV park.  Actually, my parents owned a trailer similar to this one in size before I was born... not those same colors though.  The photo below is a picture of their trailer parked at the entrance to the Grand Canyon.  The RV travel bug must be in my blood.

Late 40's Trip to Grand Canyon... Pre-Pam

We don't have direct access to the Gulf, but there are boat ramps everywhere.  We put the dory in at Shell Mound which is an estuary at the lower Suwanee River.  What that really means is at low tide, the water gets really "skinny."  In some areas it turns to mud.  The first day we put in an hour after low tide.  Going out was a challenge, but coming in was great.  The second day we put in a couple hours before low tide.  We were dragging bottom on the way in, but no matter. Paddles work well as pole pushers.  This day Jerry caught a sea trout just long enough to keep and eat.  The day before when we put in a guy who was just coming in had bags of fresh oysters, and we bought some from him.  Trout, oysters, and pan fried onions and potatoes.  So good.

We continue to meet interesting people from all over the country , and their stories are as varied as their home locations.  Catherine and Bill from New Jersey are our neighbors right now.  Not only do they travel in their RV, they have a trawler in Florida that they will take back to New Jersey in a month or so.  Their beach house got hit hard and flooded during Hurricane Sandy, and it is being renovated now.  Jerry and I agreed that keeping track of the Whale and one small boat was enough for us.

Shell Mound Estuary of the lower Suwanee River

We had several days of wind and rain while in Cedar Key which meant we both got a lot of "inside" work done.  Maci love those days because she doesn't get stuck alone in the Whale while we go boating.  As you can see from the picture below, Maci has a corner on the rainy day power nap.

Our last day at Cedar Key, Tuesday, was sunny and very windy until late afternoon.  We made one last run into town for ice cream and a walk on the public pier.  We were treated to a show of dolphins who appeared to be playing as they traveled past the end of the pier.  Jerry and I were tempted to put the dory in at the public landing and go out with the dolphins, but we were packed to leave early the next morning.  Reluctantly, we passed.
 
Next stop, Three Rivers State Park near Snead, FL in the north central panhandle of Florida.

Crystal River State Park and Anthropological Preserve

Replica Skiff / Crystal River State Park

We woke up to grey skies and high humidity on our last day in Bushnell. Rather than sit, we decided to explore the Crystal River area about 30 miles from Bushnell.  The Crystal River State Park does not have camp sites.  It as an area for hiking and fishing.  We always check out new places for boat ramps, and as we were looking at a spot to put the dory in the river, a man by the name of Bill Wayland stopped us to admire our " Guideboat."  When not in use, our dory is strapped to the roof of the Jeep, and it tends to be a conversation starter wherever we a.  it's not unusual to be in a Walmart parking lot and have someone want to know about the boat.  Now this conversation was unusual because he's only one of two since we bought the boat who knew it was not a canoe.  We discovered Bill moved to Florida from Dayton, Ohio ten years ago.  He used to build guideboats and knew quite a bit about boats in general. His current project was with a group who build, by hand, boats that were used during the Civil War era - boats of all sizes.  The one he was working on this day was a sailing scow replica.  When fully constructed, the mast will stand 36 feet tall and wii fit in the tabernacle (the white ladder- like construction) on top of the deck.  The plan is to complete construction by late August.  Why all that hard work to build a replica?  The boat builders are working with the Crystal River Anthropological Preserve to study the construction and durability of the Civil War era boats.  They plan to use it as a teaching tool along with the other smaller boats, such as the skiff pictured below.  Bill told us they have considered sailing the scow to Cuba...  Not sure if he was kidding.  As is often true when we talk to local residents, we find out about what we are missing by not staying in one location.  The following week-end, the park was hosting a small boat gathering where people who own boats like our dory gather and talk about, well, boats.  Food, music, tent camping, and good fellowship with people who like small boats.  Unfortunately, we had to move on.

    

Sailing Scow w/ Historical Documentation

Replica Sailing Scow w/o mast

                                                                                           





















Our next stop was at the Crystal River Anthropological Preserve just a few miles from the state park.  The area had been donated to the State of Florida by three private citizens.  Dating back to 450 BC, Native American ceremonial and burial mounds were constructed along the Crystal River.  According to archeologists, the tribes that existed in this area at that time cannot be traced to any tribes in existence today.  The ceremonial and burial mounds were used until about 550 AD.  Now I will admit to an over active imagination at times, but this 14 acre area had an amazing "sense" to  it.  First, it's almost impossible to wrap my head around the time period.  As we walked the paths in the preserve that wind around and the burial and ceremonial mounds, I tired to imagine the people and artifacts they used at that time.  Some ideas have been reconstructed by archeologists - much like what the boat builders are trying to do with the Civil War era boats. 

In addition, when you put some thought to the religious import of this place to so many generations of people, it is humbling.  We are such a small part of the historical flow.

We left the preserve area to return to Bushnell and finish our packing to move on to Cedar Key and Sunset Isle RV Park.

Sarasota to Sumpter Oaks, Bushnell, FL

Our time in Sarasota was meant to be uneventful with time spent re-organizing the belly of the Whale, and chat sessions with two of my three on-line classes.  It's always best to be in an area where Internet signal is strong for those times.  We did not plan to have much to talk about while there, but interestingly enough life doesn't aways happen that way.  After an appointment on Friday morning, we went to a quirky little breakfast place called, "The Breakfast Place."  The restaurant was in a small house with an outdoor garden for additional seating.  Since it had been raining, the outdoor garden was closed.  The line was long even at 10:30 a.m.  Long lines are actually a positive sign of a good restaurant.  In fact we rarely go to a restaurant that has few cars in the parking lot.  We settled in to wait and enjoy what was turning out to be a great day.  The hostess told us if we were willing to share a table with another couple, she could seat us all at once.  Of course she asked this in front of the other couple.  We all looked at each other, shrugged shoulders and said "sure."  It's always interesting to me to think about initial reactions when these kind of things happen.  Breakfast with total strangers... uncomfortable and not really excited about breaking the breakfast routine, but we didn't want to be rude, and clearly we were all hungry.  We settled at a table for four with introductions, coffee and our orders taken.  That was the beginning of the most pleasant hour and a half we've had with total strangers.  Joan and Marshall are from Washington D.C and have a condo in Sarasota which they visit a couple times a year.  They have two daughters and four grandkids.  All live close to them in D.C.  We talked a great deal about grandkids, our travels, mother guilt, boats, motors and how good the food is at The Breakfast Place.  At first glance, this is not a rocking good time.  To me it's interesting though from a couple of perspectives...  first, we could have just as easily declined to share a table with strangers and missed a delightful hour and a half of conversation.  Second, I was reminded that staying open to possibilities is a key to what we are doing - no matter how large or small the event.  Just a slice in time.

Friday evening we returned to a "restaurant" we first discovered 4 years ago when Jerry was staying in Sarasota for medical reasons.  This night we were celebrating good health.  The Cattleman's Packing House Cafe used to be a packing house years ago.  Wood floors, old artifacts from the packing house, and an alligator head with a beer can in its mouth above the wine bottle case - all top the decor.  It's small, crowded (remember that's a good sign), loud and fun.  We got there shortly after six, and the place was packed.  That night the Florida Mountain Boys was the featured music group.  Since the group consisted of guitar, mandolin, banjo, and fiddle, you can guess the music was some great blue grass with a touch of Jimmy Buffet.  The food is your standard great burger or wings with an occasional specialty dish, but the atmosphere and music is just foot stomping fun.

Florida Mountain Boys
Cattleman's Packing House Cafe

Saturday was spent packing up, cleaning, and generally getting ready to move to Sumpter Oaks Campground in Bushnell, Fl.  Sumpter Oaks is an Escapee campground.  Escapees is an RV group with a number of campgrounds throughout the U.S.   In some, RVer's can purchase lots and rent them out when vacant.  Others are campgrounds where lots can just be rented.  If you belong to Escapees, the price per night is extremely reasonable.  We were able to stay at Sumpter Oaks for 8 days / nights for just $100.  Full hook-up.

Home Sweet Home at Sumpter Oaks

The Escapees volunteers who manage the parks are welcoming and more than helpful when getting acclimated to the area, as are the the other campers.  Our focus this week was to find water to float the dory.  Our first trip was to Withlacoochee River which runs through the Withlacoochee State Park.  It also runs south to north unlike all the other rivers in FL that run north to south.  We put the dory in a channel that runs off the river.  We tied a red line to a bush just past the opening of the channel in order to find our way back.  It's kind of the river version of bread crumbs.  By the time we rounded 3 or 4 bends in the river, we saw 7 or 8 alligators - large alligators - and Jerry had not caught a fish.  He caught a lot of sticks though.  This narrow river and large alligators were just a bit too up close and personal.  We turned back after about an hour.  Jerry tried to tell me the alligators were more scared of us than we of them.  I explained to him that I seriously doubted that!

Withlachoochee River Trip

The next day we put the boat in Silver Lake.  If we took an aerial view of the river and lake, Silver lake would look like a ballooned section in that particular leg of the Withlachoochee River.  We could have put in where we did the day before and traveled the river to the lake, but given the reptile convention in that section of the river, we chose to put in the lake directly.  The weather was warm, breezy and the lake was good sized - about a mile long and three quarters of mile wide.  Of course the first wildlife we saw when we came into the lake was an alligator on the shore.  This is Florida after all.

The lake looked as if Jerry would catch lots of fish.  All around the shore there were areas of Lilly pads, weeds and areas of rocks.  When we got back after about three hours of boating / no fish, a fisherman on shore told us the fish had lock jaw that day.  You might have noticed that my mention of fishing does not include me.  Jerry fishes, I drive the boat.  It's a match made in heaven.

Our last days at Sumpter Oaks will be spent being lazy some and working some before we pack up to return to Cedar Key.  I described Cedar Key in a much earlier post when we first came into Florida.  When we make this return trip, we will be staying at Sunset Isle right on the Gulf.  It looks like a spot straight out of the 60's with a small dock to put the dory in the water and leave it there for the 9 day stay.  We're looking forward to a return to this old fishing village, great clam chowder at Tony's, and more time on the water.

Maci enjoying time to just be a dog.

Two Weeks in Tavernier

Our stay at the Elks in Tavernier stretched into two weeks.  The campground at Elks Lodge 1872 has room for 12 units.  Most of the folks there have returned to the location several years in a row for the month of March.  We were fortunate to secure a spot.  The sites are right on the Gulf.  Once we took the dory from the roof of the Jeep, we could just lock it to a palm tree and easily drag it in the water when we wanted to take it out. 

As I said in an earlier post, Tavernier is a very different location than Flamingo.  Literally the difference is between a wilderness setting and a highly populated one.  Not only did we have easy access to the Gulf in Tavernier, we also had easy access to restaurants and shopping... never a good combination for us.  The daily event, like a ritual, was the gathering of campers by the water to watch the sunset.  I took tons of pictures of sunset after sunset, and I was just sure while I was shooting them that each would show the incredible variety we saw each evening.  Unfortunately, when I look at them now, they look so much the same in the pictures.  I guess that brings meaning to the statement, "I guess you had to be there."  I will say it is humbling to watch the sun, a huge fire ball, drop into the Gulf totally unblocked by clouds - knowing that "our" sunset is someone else's sunrise.  Also, as is true in so many locations in the Keys, you could walk "cross country" to the Atlantic side in the morning to watch the sunrise and walk to the Gulf side in the evening to watch the sunset.

Sunset in the Keys... A Daily Event

While in Tavernier, we were able to put the boat in the Gulf several times.  Jerry even got the opportunity to fish - no keepers, several Baracuda, and one huge fish that got away.  I don't fish; I drive which suits me just fine.  I also provide enthusiastic encouragement.  Much like a cooking show, I'd rather watch than do it.

We continue to learn what the the dory can and can't do.  High wind and large chop are a no-brainer / a no-go.  We did have a couple of days when the wind was down and the water was flat.  The new electric motor with a new prop pushes the dory through the water with no problem, but we do always have oars or paddles with us... just in case.  On the windier days, we could duck between mangroves to get out of the wind.

Green Marker 31

As is true of most places, we are enjoying the other campers.  Tavernier was no exception.  We enjoyed getting to know Donna and Russ from Massachusetts and Kathy and Bernie from Michigan.  I did have an interesting insight the night before we left the Keys.  All the other campers were also leaving either Sunday or Monday - to go back somewhere.  All the others were returning to a home in a variety of locations.  Most were returning to states where the snow was still falling.  We, on the other hand, were not "returning" anywhere.  With the exception of getting to our son Christopher's house in early summer, to our daughter Sara's wedding in mid-October,  and visit with brother Ted and many friends in Elkhart, we don't "have to be" anywhere.  We only have to be where we want to be.  It was a novel realization, and one I really liked.

Since we have, as of March 15th,  marked one full year living in the RV full time, we spent time discussing the pros - too many to mention, and the cons- too few to put much thought to.  All in all, this adventure we are on is our best so far.

Our next destination - Sarasota.  We arrived here late Sunday afternoon.  We decided to stay at Sun and Fun, a huge RV park, for the week so I could spend time taking care of business with my on-line Ball State classes I teach and not have to be concerned with Internet connection.  The park has 1,500 sites, an indoor and outdoor pool, a huge fitness center, tons of play space for kids, day spa, post office, dog runs, dog spa, and it's amazingly quiet with all that activity. 

From Sarasota, we will travel to Bushnell, FL.  Then we will spend time again in Cedar Key before we have to head back to Tampa for maintenance on the RV.   The front furnace needs work, two leaks in the rear must be stopped, and a few other small items addressed.  Hmmmm... sounds like owning a home.