Yes, yes, yes, finally sat down to finish the SGI trip.  Writing about it means acknowledging the trip was over – which it is.  But………………there was a great ending.  Yep, you’ve got to wait until you reach the bottom of this post.

Earlier during the trip, I mentioned we had rainy weather, which gave us the opportunity to drive into Apalach.  Another day it was really windy (and I mean really windy) and not the best to get on the water.  You can’t be on the island without throwing out a line.  Rich threw some casts from our dock.

Rich fished while I sat on their wooden swing on their dock – loved that swing.  Several days I napped out here in the afternoon.  I want a swing……..

So you think, wait, that water looks calm, what’s the deal.  Our rental was near the back of a finger canal and we had plenty of protection from the gusts.  Hence the deceptive calm waters – not so much out in the bay.

The wind seemed to lessen late afternoon (at least enough for 2 brave souls).  Rich and Connor took a chance and fished from the protection of the SGI bridge island.  The ride back was something that I would have not wanted.  If I had been on the boat, that ride could have possibly been my last.  At least it had some payoff……..Gaft-top Sail cats, delicious but lots and lots of ‘snot’ along the outside for protection.  Another (very) appropriate name………..snot cats.

You’ve got to be careful with handling these fish, before and after you get them to the boat.  They have barbs on their fins which are poisonous and you need to be careful with any subsequent cuts on your hands when handling them.

 

I felt it was only fair to include a photo of Rich fileting his catch.  On an earlier post he was in the background-looking on-while Eric did the work.

Let me jump to a new topic and share info about our neighbor.  One side there was an empty lot, no house but plenty of parking and a nice dock with two boats.  Turned out it was a local fishing captain’s meeting spot.  Our first day she walked over to introduce herself.  Yes, that is not a typo – Captain Krista.

As you can read in the photo above, she is a 5th generation fisherman.  She has at least 20 boat captains working for her to handle all of her booked fishing tours.  She has a great website (stgeorgeislandcharters.com).  Definitely check it out!  Her family has fished these waters since the 1800s and she continues her honoring Creek Indian heritage of living off the land.

I also want to give a shout-out to a new brewery we (and by that I really mean me) found – Eastpoint Beer Company. We drove right past it to get to SGI, but somehow missed the sign.

It has a great open-air location along US98 and out the back garage door, is the intercoastal waterway.  Eventually they will have boat dockage at a back pier.  There is lots of potential here.  With Oyster City Brewing being relatively near, we were told that several Tallahassee Beer Bus Tours have stopped by, which is always good for the brewing business.

They had good beers………………..

……and these really cool containers for their beer flights, resembling an oyster boat.

Jumping again……….close to our rental, I came across some interesting ‘yard art’.  Karen and I stopped to snap a few photos.  Trust me, they had waaaaaay more art.

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Another morning, Rich and I walked along the beach.  Sounds like a good plan and looks like it should be a good plan.

Nope.  Notice that storm in the background in the photo below?  We thought this guy was crazy for fishing when we first walked past him, until the storm got to us and we were soaked before getting to the car.  I don’t mean wet, I mean soaked, like you could ring water out of our clothes.  Guess the joke was on us.  But I did get a nice photo of the boardwalk over the sand dunes when we got to the car.

Friday morning we made one last trip on the water.  Fishing was tough, but I caught what turned out to be the biggest fish of the week.  Wait for it………… wait for it………yep, you’ve got to wait for the photo.  The photo below was our last group fishing photo.  Notice all of that safety protection: hats, fishing shades, rashguard/shirts and buffs.  ‘Safe-D’ begins with us.  Sorry – inside joke.  🙂

We finally got everyone to the beach our last night on the island.

While its sad to leave, everyone gathered on the dock around the swing for one last group photo (my favorite spot again) signaling our final morning together at the rental.

Okay, the time has come to share my photo. Yep, that fish is big.  We estimated this seatrout was 24″in length.

There’s no immediate trip on our horizon or a calendar date to return, but we can’t stay away for long.  We’ll be planning something soon.  This was a Great trip with great friends.

Ginny

 

And you would expect the story to end there.  Trust me, I wish it had.  We’re within 30 miles of home, still on the turnpike  and Eric says  ‘We have a problem with the boat/trailer.  The tire on the trailer is coming apart’.  Aaaarrrrggghhh.

We seem to have a history with fishing trips and boat/trailer incidents.  On a SGI trip last year, our boat trailer broke an axel within sight of a marina – pretty darn lucky.  This situaiton occurred  within a mile of a turnpike reststop – more luck.  We were able to pull off and find a decent place to swap tires with our spare – safe and shady!

He got the  new tire on, walked to wash his hands and who do we come across?  A boy scout troupe.  Eric joked with them and asked if they have a badge for changing tires.  The troupe master said yes.  They would have helped us and gotten a badge for ‘Auto Repair’.  Wish they had pulled in 20 minutes earlier.  Now, that’s the end of our SGI story.  🙂

 

 

 

 

 

My last post mentioned cooking while on vacation.  Most would think that is a chore, but not my husband!  Cooking is his hobby and a way to relax – crazy I know.  But for him, the cooking is a key part of the entire week’s experience. Let’s just say when we’re looking for a place to rent (anywhere) the kitchen is the first photo he brings up.  Enough of that, let’s start where my last post left off – crabs.

He’s in the process of picking out the meat from the cooked crabs.  He was giving lessons to our friends.  Well, maybe not so much lessons, as advice.  It got very quiet in the kitchen while this was happening.  Can you feel the intense concentration just from the photo?

The steps being:

• Pull off legs & claws.
• Remove top shell from caripace
• Pull out/discard lungs and digestive tract.
• Break in half and begin picking out the crab meat.
• Pick meat off claws – some consider that the best and sweetest meat of all, hopefully it goes into the container, but just as often, it gets eaten now.

Those leftover pieces & parts…………………utilized to make a stock, adding in ‘aromatics’ such as onions, shallots and celery.  Now would be a great time to pour in some leftover white wine – just saying.  Why are we making stock……crab bisque!

The stock was an integral part of this.  The bisque being comprised of the ‘homemade stock’ and a blonde roux (flour & butter), seasoned to taste.    The crab meat was placed into the bowls with the bisque poured over it.

I’m not the biggest fan of bisque, unless I dunk some bread into the broth – oops, that’s my bread in the above photo..  🙂

We also used the crab meat to make crab cakes – much more my style.  Man – look at all of that meat!!!

Early in the week, we caught some mackerel.  Those fish were grilled before served, Mediterran style with olive oil, lemons, salt & pepper.  Love their platter – just saying.

The seatrout caught throughout the week, was served three different ways.  Initially it was panfried, then served over arugula, topped with almonds.

Another night it was served with a lemon butter sauce topped with capers.

But I got to tell you…………for many years and years and years, it was always served fried.  That’s hard to beat!  Yes, yes, the photo below is fried shrimp, but the fish nuggets were fried afterwards, I promise.

Let’s now talk shrimp.  While we occasionally fry the shrimp, truly the best way I like the shrimp is poached, then de-veined with the shell removed.  Rich does an awesome job with that task.

One evening all the guys were involved with our meal.  Connor was in charge of the cubic fried potatoes, while the other two cooked the fish.

What did the girls do?  Primarily the clean-up, which is no easy feat where my husband is concerned.  Just ask Karen.  I’m used to it, but he sure does use a lot of pans!  But, I also got a chance to sneak in this photo.

Oh yeah, that watermelon we picked up during our drive here – very tasty.

One more SGI post is coming.  I got a bit behind when Eric unexpectedly left town and work at home consumed my time.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It began with kayaks…………graduated to a boat……………..and now all this extra stuff!  I couldn’t not have guessed in 2001 that going with Eric to Haulover Canal, while borrowing a friend’s kayak would have turned into this.  There are still people at work that upon meeting me can’t believe this part of my life, especially when I show them the epic fish I caught our last day at SGI.  Okay, maybe ‘epic’ is a bit of a stretch, but it was big.  Yes, this is a teaser for a post to come (3rd wave of SGI fishing).  But before that gets posted, the items in the title have become a common and daily occurrance on these SGI trips.

 

A key aspect of fishing is the bait – no surprise there.  When I first started fishing, it was all about hard baits with treble hooks, then we moved up to soft plastics.  Lately, we seem to be primarily using live bait when we can and that takes extra work – hence pinfish traps.

They don’t come with those ‘bars’.  That is an adaptation that Eric added – bars of rebar to stabilize the traps.  One of the first times we used the traps, there was a storm.  The next morning we had a (very) difficult time locating the traps since the waves rolled them from our ‘X’ on the Garmin screen.  One of our godsons had eagle eyes and found the small, brown float we first used, but not any longer.  Notice above, that first float has turned into a larger, white float – much easier to see.

If you’re lucky, this is what you find inside the traps – a pinfish.

It is a process.  After you select your trap, the next step it to find a location to place it.  Generally you look for thick grass, with a slight current 4-12 feet in depth.  Areas near bridge pilings, structures or boat docks are choice.  You can see our buoy along the right side of the photo (it’s that white dot!).

Next step is baiting.  Number 1 choice is raw fish, 2-5 lbs of dead bait.  Fish carcasses are great or if bait is bought, menhaden is a good bet since it is cheap and smelly.  Fish have a strong sense of smell, so the smellier the better – who knew?

Now, you’re ready to deploy your trap.  Hang on, this is exciting.

Put the long part in the direction of the current flow, making it easy for the bait to swim inside.  Don’t (!) check the trap every few hours – 12 to 24 is preferred.  When enough time has elapsed, check your trap.  Eric used a gaff to grab the buoy and trap while our friend Dennis checked out what was caught.

Pretty much we checked the traps in the morning as we were heading out, gathering the pinfish into the livewell.  We baited the traps at the end of the day with our fish carcasses – provided we caught something.  Next up, another bait.

A bait we occasionally use is shrimp.  These we don’t trap, but drive down to the local bait store and pick up (several) dozens.  We put them into another livewell and use them throughout the morning, until we run out.  😦  Oops, sometimes we don’t buy enough.

Speaking of shrimp………………..Gulp Baits are very popular and we used them throughout the week.  Brown (new penny), natural and nuclear chicken being the color of choice.  ‘What has brown done for you?”  is a catchy slogan on TV and yes, we used it thoughout the week.  Brown seemed to be a favorite color our caught fish enjoyed.

Of course, now this made my curious, what are Gulp Baits?  While there is waaaaay too much info on the internet, I boiled it down to a few factoids.

• Company started in 1945 by Berkley Bedell, who had been making flies since 1937, when he was 16 years old in Iowa.
• The company’s first breakthrough was the innovative Trilene in 1959.
• He started making soft plastic baits in the 1980s with his first ‘scented’ bait product in 1985.  Actually the soft baits are not truly plastic, but a water-based resin, mostly biodegradable.
• While the ‘scent’ is a trade secret, the company’s scientists analyzed the chemical make of what fish like to munch and integrated that into the resin formula.

That’s a pretty simple explanation for a highly technical process.  One key thing their website mentions is their continued commitment to research and development.

The last thing mentioned in my title……..Crab traps.  We brought two and the rental has one at the dock.  Our target crab is the Blue crab – considered by many to be the sweetest and best tasting of all.

Crab traps are a bit different than our pinfish traps – square versus round is the obvious difference.  Both require being baited for the targeted species.  A crab trap has the bait (fish carcasses) placed in the center.  Crabs walk around the cage, searching for ways to get to the bait, find the ‘secret’ entranceway and don’t (usually) get out.

The red wire (above photo) seen in the middle is where you stick the bait (fish carcasses).  You want crabs  to get inside the trap to reach the bait and not be able to snack on it from the outside or……………..no crabs!  This guy took the bait.

After you’ve massed enough for a crab boil, you assemble the essential items.  Eric is a fan of Zatarain’s, but there are others.

And yes, you have to have more ‘stuff’ such as this cooker.  I will say that cooking the crabs outside is an excellent decision.  When cooking in the kitchen, the spices get into the air and can get caught in your throat.  Now this means you have to ensure your propane tank is full…………..another oops, sorry guys, now the world knows.

After the water is boiling the crabs go into the pot.  If you don’t want to watch the video, skip past it – sorry Karen.

After a certain amount of time, they are dumped out and ready for the ‘picking of the meat’.

This is one (possible) end result – very tasty!

Next up, cooking and smoking our catches.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We fished pretty hard the beginning of the week since mid-week the weather is turning against us.  There’s prep work getting the rods ready……….

And hopefully finding some pinfish in the traps………..

We went back to our favorite spots:  marsh island, youth camp and pelican reef.  We brought home a decent haul of fish.  🙂  on this trip.

The top fish is a different species – a bluefish, very tasty when smoked.

We didn’t get home any too soon.  I got a shot of the guys fileting the fish while it was raining.

We took advantage of the down time and drove to the Piggly Wiggly for a few more necessities.  Man – what a wine selection for a small town!

Sometimes there’s a lot of action on the boat, sometimes there’s not.

Sometimes we catch keepers and other times we don’t.

Connor is my buddy and we usually end up sitting on the cooler & cushion in front of the console.  Yep, we’ve got our life vests on.   Safety first!

However, if the ride back is too rough, I head for the seats in the back and hold on.  Sorry Connor.

Eric cropped one of the photos and while I gave him a lot of grief, it’s a really good photo.  Here are ‘The Guys from SGI”.

 

While this post is fairly short, there’s one more wave of fishing coming AND a few other SGI posts.  Patience.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow!  It rains and EVERYBODY drives to Apalachicola!  It was a bear to park and we took two vehicles – guys & girls- which only added to the parking mess.

I’m going to start with one of my favorite shops (which came back after an absence of years) Betsy’s Sunflower.  Karen and I were shopping  at her original location 20+ years ago.  Then one visit, they were gone. 😦  I found out later that she moved to Maine and has only recently come back to Apalachicola.  I LOVE this store.

We actually ran into Betsy while we were shopping and she shared that last year’s hurricane (Michael) did $50K damage to her first store and they moved to this location in the High Cotton Marketplace building – which stayed dry during the hurricane.  Its a bit smaller than her other store, but she still has some interesting things – at least for me.

Yep, I made some purchases.  Something I did every time I walked into her store, at her first location and once she came back!

Another favorite is Riverlily.  Eric doesn’t love the place since one focus is lotions & soaps and yes, as soon as you open the door it assails your senses.  For years, I always purchased earrings here – that was before Karen and I made them.

Grady Market is a fun place.  I typically found (newer style) t-shirts from Life is Good.  This time I refrained.  There are a number of small vendors that have clusters of merchandise inside the building – some waaaay too expensive for my wallet.

They have some cute garden features out back (sorry Karen I couldn’t resist).

There are a several streets that have storefronts with a variety of merchandise.  Today we didn’t add to their economy, but we have in the past.

Peddlers Alley is a fun place to shop.  They have lots of garden items that add a touch of whimsey.  There are so many nooks and crannies that you could come back again and find something you missed earlier.

Go Fish is a place fun to shop and look, but very seldom have I purchased items.  They have some interesting clothing, but too casual for my work.

There was one cool place we stopped The Tin Shed.  It had lots of nautical items that could be incorporated into a beach-side décor.  Past purchases are sitting in our Florida room at home.

While we were shopping, the guys stopped at Oyster City Brewing Conpany.  Loved their sign out front.

Before we left town, we ate at a new restaurant.  Good food, but the kitchen is still finding their way.  Unfortunately we had been there an hour before the gumbo arrived.

This is near the place that held our boat in storage last year when the boat trailer was getting refabricated.

Eric started with a cup (literally) of gumbo followed by a  (whole) fried flounder and I ordered chicken strips (yep, tired of seafood).

So ends a day of shopping and eating at Apalachicola when rain thwarts fishing plans.

Ginny  

 

 

 

 

 

 

We left Karen (in peace and quiet) while heading east to fish the bay.

We’re motoring to known fishing spots that we’ve all been in the past, usually on kayaks, then beyond those areas.  I’ve heard about Pelican Reef, Marsh Island,  pilot harbor,  East End, Goose Island, Youth Camp oyster bars and the ‘highway of life’ for many years.  Dennis fished them while he lived in Tallahassee.  Eric fished them when visiting Dennis.  Myself and Rich fished some of these points when we joined the ‘kayak fishing  club’.  But it starts with getting onto the island.  This bridge brings us to SGI.

We’re fishing with (1) live bait and (2) soft plastic artificial lures – more on that in a future post.  We have 11 rods between the five of us (trust me, that’s not hardly enough).  Eighty pounds of ice between the drink cooler and the fish cooler.

As in life, nothing is guaranteed and that’s more with fishing that one would hope.  However………………….this first trip we were successful!  Others had put fish in the cooler before me, but this is my first keeper seatrout.

Eric caught this shark………..and released him.

Eventually we were chased off the water by this.

And this, which kind of surprised us as it came from the coastline.  Let me tell you, rain hurts on the boat!  Not the boat – but when those rain drops hit you and you’re going 42 mph, droplets pack quite a punch.

This was a nice Father’s day photo with Rich and Connor.

But overall, this excursion netted us 10 fish and we all put keeper fish in the cooler.  Fish count was 5 seatrout and 5 mackerel.

There’s another key step involved with catching fish……….cleaning and filleting the fish.  Eric is the master (sorry guys, I’m married to him).  His filet competition is Audrey, but she’s not here.  😦  Nor is her brother, Warner.  Not sure if Connor was aware he photo-bombed this shot.

Eric drew a crowd – of the feathered kind.  As he was cleaning the fish, these pelicans (and some seagulls) waited for the fish guts.

Later that day, three of us went back out on the water.  The weather looked dicey later in the week and we want to rack up as many hours fishing while the weather was good. We had another good trip.  That flat fish seen at the bottom of the photo……..It’s a flounder.  We could thank Connor for that one!  It’s my favorite and an elusive fish since we don’t specifically target them.

Swimming in the morning, dinner that night.  That’s the goal for any fish we catch.  The mackerel turned into sushi.

The seatrout turned into Trout Almondine.  Since Eric couldn’t find the slivered almonds he packed, we used  marcona almonds.  OMG!  Those were Italian almonds and I don’t think we can go back to using anything else.

While we didn’t catch these shrimp ourselves, they were locally caught – and very delicious I might add.  Having homemade remoualade and cocktail enhanced their flavor – thanks hon. Love the platter and bowl!

While I can’t take credit for this sunset photo (thanks Karen!) it’s a fitting way to end this post.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah!!!  We headed to St. George Island for a week of fun, fishing, eating, shopping and exploring.

Pulling the boat, we try to stay off the interstates as much as possible. The little bit we did was crazy!  Too many cars and semis were on the road.  I assume they were all heading up North after a week at Disney and/or the beach.

We had a goal for a roadside watermelon stand and once off the interstate our chances were definitely going to increase.  But what is important to us is that we get one that is seeded.  Success!

Why, you may ask……………..they taste better! While the seedless ones have been the rage for a number of years,  I would rather do without then eat one of those.

But before going on, I’m sharing a few watermelon factoids:

• Florida has a great climate for growing watermelons and is a leading producer for the state (North Florida).
• While considered a summer fruit, growers in Florida can plant it as a winter crop.
• Florida is the only state in the country that produces this fruit December to April.

We’re a little too early to check-in to our rental AND we were hungry so we’re meeting our friend Dennis at Aplachicola’s Hole in The Wall Seafood – a family owned restaurant and oyster bar.

It’s nothing fancy, just good (fried) seafood.  The owner and his wife are practical and no nonsense folks.  It’s not an extensive menu, not much seating, some communal tables and unfortunately no Apalachicola oysters.  The day we were there they were closing early at 3pm to watch sports.  They locked the door with us inside and no one else was served.  There were people trying to get in, but no such luck (for them).   Fried grouper fingers and fried shrimp were our seafood choices this day.

The décor is eclectic – neon beer signs and baseball caps line the walls.

Finally the time came for check-in (4pm).  Man – it was also a zoo at the rental company.  We parked along the side of the road to stay out of the mess. Of course it doesn’t help that we’re extra long with the boat.  🙂

Everyone names their houses and this was no different.  We are staying at Canal-a-Bye.  It doesn’t look like much from the outside………….

But hey, it suits our needs and primarily we are here for the fishing, not luxury accommodations.  Three bedrooms, 3 baths, a porch and most importantly a dock.

And let’s not forget the ‘man cave’.  The guys are keeping a bunch of their stuff in this room next to the garage.

We were able to launch the boat the day of check-in and get it to our dock.

Eric finally gets to use this ‘special’ buoy he got for Christmas.  He has such a good wife.  🙂

The first night is about settling in, getting the fishing ‘stuff’ ready and planning our time on the water. Hang tight – more to come!

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final chapter for this trip.  Yes, it’s about food (and possibly some beer).  🙂

A (Darden) fan favorite is Seafood Seller Café.  It has been a recent find and every trip to Crystal River we stop here – multiple times if we can!

It’s a colorful, New Orleans-themed eatery featuring Cajun-style seafood.  The crawfish draw Eric.  This is 5 lbs.

There’s almost always a wait so we usually eat at the bar.  The tray of crawfish always draws comments and a crowd.  Eric shares with whoever will try a taste – after he gives instructions for the proper way to eat them.  It’s an art and a science.  Next visit, I’ll share details.

Me, I’m drawn by these ‘tomato chips’.  Seems innocent enough, they don’t look like anything special. but OMG!  They are little bits of tasty heaven.

During our State Park travels, we got hungry.  Googled nearby restaurants and found this place called The Freezer.

It was a little casual…………………..

And very popular.  There were no tables available inside and had an interesting ‘decor’.  Yes, those are real dollar bills.

We wandered outside and found a tiki table available.

As I said, things were a bit casual.  Since we were sitting outside, ordering was done in a designated space at the inside bar and brought to you outside.  A variety of things were ordered to appeal to all of our appetites:  fish dip, smoked mullet peel & eat shrimp.

When we left, it was now obvious why this place was called The Freezer. Okay, looking at the photo, maybe it’s not so obvious, but this used to be an actual freezer for their daily catches and now it is a ‘casual’ restaurant.

Another local stop we made was The Plantation Inn.  Years past we stayed here and have enjoyed eating at the bar.  Once again, we began our meal with fish dip, along with crab bisque.

I had this tasty tune & advocado poke dish.

 

Adrienne was ready for something green and got the wedge salad – it looked great!

So I mentioned ‘beer’.  There is one brewery in Crystal River.

Oops, actually it’s a Winery and Brewery.  Something a bit unusual is their tanks are outside and therefore brewing is subject to Florida’s weather.  They do have plans to move to another location, possibly opening this Fall.

Yep, we had a taste of their brews.  L – R:  American Red ale, Centerfield Brown ale, Front: Strawberry Banana Wheat beer.

They had a creative use for their growler.

So that’s my final post for Crystal River………….this trip.  I hope there are more visits but we don’t have any planned for the foreseeable future.

Ginny  

 

 

 

 

 

What to do on a rainy weekend?  Go visit some of Florida’s State Parks – and there’s plenty near and around Crystal River.  But we were also getting passport stamps – more on that later.

Our first visit this day was the Crystal River Archaeological State Park.

As we motor down the river on the boat, we go past these mounds so today was the day to see them first hand.  There is a nice, small museum that orients you before you go traipsing around the grounds.

First on the agenda was the highest mound.

Naturally, there were steps involved.

Before seeing this amazing view.  First shot was looking left, with the second photo looking right.

Interesting view of the back of the  mound as we walked to the river.

Our next park was a small roadside park with a picnic area & grills

They are the remains of a sugar plantation owned by David Levy Yulee, who become a senator when Florida became a state.  They were destroyed in the civil war and was at one time part of a 5000 acre plantation.  The mill was used for sugar, syrup and molasses (which in turn was used in making rum).

We hit one more park on this day…………………

We arrived just in time to see them feed the manatees romaine lettuce.

They had an interesting boardwalk along the Homosassa River.

We found other animals and we definitely made sure to stay out of this splash zone.

Three bald eagles were in this refugee, after being hurt and unable to defend themselves in the wild.  One was photogenic.

What Florida zoo would be complete without these.

This roseate spoonbill was pretty interesting.

At the beginning I mentioned a passport……………….

We have one from years past.  They stopped the program during budget cuts.  Apparently, they’re back.  Adrienne purchased one on this trip which gives her a chance to see Florida in its natural state.

One last post is coming and its all about food!

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

Let me start with saying this is a continuation of our Crystal River weekend………but this post is focused on a place a short road trip away from our rental.  It’s really a continuation of my previous post – if the posts get too long,  problems pop up and my frustration level goes waaaaay up.  That’s not good for me or Eric.

We visited Cedar Key, Florida – approx. 1 hour away.  It’s much closer as the crow flies, but we had to drive.

• It was founded in the 1850s, but its big break was when it became the western station on the Florida Railroad.
• As an important port, it saw some action in the Civil War.
• After the war, the many cedar trees brought prosperity when the Faber pencil company opened a wood mill here.

Today, Cedar Key feels like an old fishing village, with some artists thrown in.  If you’re not aware, clams are big business.  When the gill net ban went into place, the residents of Cedar Key were close to University of Florida and found another seafood industry.  Ninety-five percent of Florida’s clams come from this waterfront town.

 

You could probably say we headed this way due to this food item.

Not specifically the canned version, but this bowl (and hush puppies).

Tony’s Seafood Restaurant opened in 2005 and the popularity of his chowder caused patrons to ask for quantities to take home.  He was asked to compete in the 2009 Great Chowder Cook-off  and won!  He competed the following two years (won both) and his recipe was retired in the Chowder Hall of Fame.

We had two more places to visit in the town.  There’s this hotel with a ‘famous’ (slightly risqué) painting behind the bar.  Eric wanted to stop in for a drink, but alas, it didn’t open until 5pm – next visit.  I found a photo on the internet of what we missed.

I wanted to stop at their Community Garden and the weather held off long enough for our visit.

Several of the beds had success growing veggies (eggplant is shown) and flowers.

I walked up while Eric was talking to this lady (Denise) and joined in with sharing some tips and tricks I learned in my first Disney role.  She had a great looking garden.  You can tell she has a passion and knack for growing.  🙂    That tall plant on the left is kale.

Public Art – I think I notice it more since we saw so much in Iceland. The garden itself had several interesting pieces.

Walking back to our truck, we passed by a wall that contained this painting using a section of tin roofing as their platform – pun intended.  Notice the structure in the bottom corner of the painting?

Loved all of these faces found on another section of the building.

 

Along with this mural.  Once again, that structure is seen in this painting.   I tried to google it, but this time I had no luck.  It remains a mystery to me.

It’s a fun place to visit and to return.  We’ll be back – again.

Ginny