Sunday, March 11, 2012

Hanging out in Cedar Key

We've had a great 10 days in Cedar Key and have met some great people.    We've shared a few meals, a few beers and a few "campfires".  Although there is a community campfire ring, we have been sitting around a "campfire in a can". 

It definitely has it's advantages over a regular campfire as there is no smoke to get in your eyes!  And, at the end of the night,  your clothes don't smell like a campfire.  Charlie and Dot, who own the one we have been using, did the calculations comparing the cost of this ($100 or so) and the propane that it takes to run it vs buying firewood.  They said that the campfire in a can is actually cheaper.   

The weather here has been a mix of gorgeous, windy, and overcast and we've been trying to coordinate a kayak trip.  Last Friday, we packed up and headed out to explore Atensa Otie Key.  Atensa Otie Key is located in the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge.   The Refuge consists of  a number of islands ranging in size from 1 to 120 acres....totaling 762 acres.  Atensa Otie is the most frequented island but there is also Deadman's Key (don't want to visit this one!), Snake Key (nor this one!) and Seahorse Key.  I really would like to go to Seahorse Key but, it is quite a distance to paddle and it is closed to the public Mar 1-Jun 30 to protect the nesting birds. 

We put the kayak in at the boat landing in downtown Cedar Key and off we went....


 It took about 15 minutes to get to Atensa Otie. We had a very nice beach to dock at....



Atsena Otie (which incidentally used to be called Depot Key and then Cedar Key) provides a dock, interpretive information and a hiking trail that leads to a cemetery. Ruins from the Faber Pencil Mill (built in 1868)  were also supposed to be visible near the dock.   So off we were....

View on the way to the trail
Clear trails and wonderful woodsy feel!
We came across a few relics and couldn't distinguish what they were.  We think this is an old windmill....in pieces!




After about 10 minutes, we came upon the cemetary...a very very old cemetery.  Call me crazy but I am fascinated with old cemeteries and old churches. 

Based on the marker at the entrance to the cemetary, there are about 38 graves.    We walked around to check out the dates...

1835!

1861
The graves were all from people born in the early-mid 1800s.  Part of the cemetary was fenced off...the fence was very intricate....



I guess I can add "old fences" to my list of things I like!!

On the way out of the cemetary, we saw this.....


This is a burial site of a Timucuan Indian.  Carbon dating has indicates an age of at least 4000 years old!  The little sign says that to these Indians, the Suwanee River was sacred to their Sun God.  To them, the moon of the Suwanee put the colors of the rainbow into the earth.    The Sun drew the colors out into the flowers.  Pretty cool, huh?

We walked back to find a place to have our picnic lunch.  Here's where we decided to enjoy our sammies!


We almost had the island to ourselves!  There were a few people there that were waiting on one of the tourist-y shuttle boats to take them back to the mainland.

Once they left, we DID have the island to ourselves!  It had a very cool Survivor-y feel to it!

After lunch, we went to check out the remnants of the Faber Cedar Mill Site.  The mill produced the cedar slats for pencils.


Pretty cool!  We headed back to the kayak and paddled around a bit more before heading back to the mainland.
The pier at Cedar Key
About half way back, Dan spotted something to our left.....
Shark....or dolphin?
It was a dolphin!



It was a very neat way to end the afternoon!  Life is good!!

10 comments:

Sherry said...

We went there last October but the mosquitoes were ravenous and the pier was cool and covered with pelicans and other birds all along it. Would love to go back in the non mosquito days you had so maybe we will when we get up there in a week or so. Hope the dophin will be there still. Hopefully we'll See you soon!!

Nancy and Bill said...

Yes Indeed....LIFE IS GOOD!!

Wonderful Kayak Trip:o)))

Gin and Syl said...

I feel very relaxed now. Thanks for taking me along on your paddle.
Syl

Elaine said...

Very interesting photos as you continue your adventures. I especially liked the grave sites because I'm a history buff. Also liked how close you got to the dolphin. It must have been so cool to have the beach all to yourselves! Love & miss you:-)

Catherine, Jo Beth and Grace said...

Excellent pics! You have to be fast or lucky to get such good shots of the dolphin.

Cathy said...

I can think of a few things to do on a secluded beach!

Karen and Al said...

I added that Key to my Pinterest board for places we'd like to kayak. It looks very nice...love having islands to myself and I also love old cemeteries. Thanks for the tour.

Paul and Marti Dahl said...

Amazing how nature reclaims the land from man's abandoned buildings.

I love watching the dolphins, sharks, not so much, at least when in a rubber boat... ;c)

Artina said...

It looks like Fish has been having one heck of a visit to Florida. I just love reading your blogs. Since it is GS Week (100th birthday), I wanted to take a quick minute to thank you for being my GS buddy and partner-in-crime. We have had so many great memories and I look forward to new ones as well. Is there room for a Turtle in the RV?

Ceal said...

What a fascinating adventure you are having.