Cedar Key Arts Festival - 4/12/14

What a wonderful day we had at the 50th Anniversary Arts Festival in Cedar Key, FL. There were many very fine artists with their works on display along 2nd Street. Seriously, we were enthralled with many of the items on display, including paintings, photographs, sculptures, unique apparel, musical instruments, wind chimes, etc.

(I just read a book about photography after purchasing a new camera so this is a new attempt at being "artistic." Not something that comes naturally to me - as you can tell by this photo. Let's hope the photography gets better from here...)

Amazing glass sculptures.

John bought me a beautiful bracelet from Jason Stoddard Designs - www.jasonstoddardesigns.com.  And a lovely copper creation that we will hang from our awning (Shooting Star; 605-571-2661).

The community hosted food and drink booths where we feasted on clams (farmed locally), clam fritters, shrimp, drinks, and other assorted delicacies. Cedar Key has a lovely beach area with picnic tables where we enjoyed our food.

If you ever attend this event, check out the carriage ride (horse-drawn and Sadie got to ride along with us) that was a historical tour of Cedar Key - very informative and fun.

We walked out to the hurricane-proof pier (that residents believe is hideous in comparison to the beautiful wooden ones that preceded it). There are always many fisherman there and beautiful views of Cedar Key.

If you are traveling with a dog, you may want to stop in at the Big Deck on Dock Street. We ended the afternoon there with drinks and a fried shrimp appetizer that was delicious. Our doggie, Sadie,  enjoyed meeting three new friends there! Great service, too, including water for the dogs.

This is a really nice event that you should attend if you are ever in this part of Florida in April.

Blog Update - #2

I am really enjoying the ease of use of Blogger!  Following are some updates:

• Photos:
• We are using Photobucket to store our photos.
• I can upload them from my iPhone or iPad.
• The photos are inserted in a post by using an URL link.
• Template/Layout:
• I experiemented with various simple templates provided by Blogger.
• With a few updates, we selected the one shown now.
• The layout option is great for re-arranging and/or adding widgets (again provided by Blogger).
• Labels:
• I had been identifying each post into a category all along.
• The category is defined in the "labels" section of each post.
• Now I am listing our posts by Label and I think this helps readers to find items of interest. Do you agree?

Do you have suggestions for us to improve the usability of our blog?

Quote - on knowledge

"Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge."
-Abraham Joshua Heschel

Cedar Key Museum State Park - 4/07/14

This museum ($2/per adult) displays items collected by St. Clair Whitman, a resident of Cedar Key, who established the first museum in his home.  His collections include shells found in the area, Native American artifacts, butterflies and moths indiginous to the area, and other local historical items of interest. A small museum has interesting displays of some of his collections as well as other information regarding the history of Cedar Key.

Below is a civil war cannon on display at the park. Weighing 3,000 pounds, this cannon could fire a 24-pound cannon ball one mile!

Cedar Key was an important producer of salt during the early years of the Civil War. In 1862, the Union Army destroyed 60 kettles on Salt Key capable of producing 150 bushels of salt per day (by boiling sea water and retaining the remaining salt) thereby ending this lucrative business. Photo of an authentic kettle below.

There is also a short nature trail (dog-friendly) that winds out to the water where we encountered many fiddler crabs (below), beautiful butterflies (sorry, no photos of them), and, of course, the local palm and pine trees.

The St. Clair Whitman house is also on location at the park. It was originally built in the 1880s and purchased by Whitman in the 1920s. When preservation of the home was in jeopardy, it was moved in 1991 from town to the curent site. It has been restored to reflect life in Cedar Key circa 1920-1930.  Some of Whitman's collections are displayed in the home.

The house:

Check out these shells and alligator skulls in the Whitman house:

Here is a broom made from the palm tree that was also used for brushes:

Here's the fancy gas stove they had:

We enjoyed our visit to this small park. The Historical Museum in town has many more displays that supplement what is presented here of the history of the area.

Link to website:  www.floridastateparks.org

Cedar Key - Island Tour - 4/04/14

Tidewater Tours provides a 2-hour boat tour of the outer islands of the Cedar Key National Wildlife Refuge that we took today ($26/per person). The refuge was established in 1929 with a primary purpose to serve as breeding grounds for colonial nesting birds. It consists of 13 offshore islands ranging from 1 to 165 acres. 

Our guide had a wealth of knowledge regarding the wildlife in the area as well as historical information about the islands. We saw dolphins, migratory birds, fiddler crabs, and a bald eagle (with a huge nest and baby).  The tour included a stop at one island (North Island) where we explored a shell covered beach in a small cove.

Dolphins:  After spotting several dolphins in the distance, our guide pursued them and waited for them to appear near our boat. When they did, he took off and the dolphins followed in our wake. It was amazing to be so near these beautiful animals. And observe there sheer power in swimming, jumping, and diving. It was a real thrill. A couple of (not so great) photos.

Migratory birds: We saw a large flock of white pelicans (much larger in size than the more common brown pelican). They appear to be all white, but have black on their wings that is visible when they fly.  We were able to get quite close to them on a sandbar along North Island and the sight of them taking flight was breathtaking.

Bald eagle: There are 17 known bald eagles in the wildlife refuge. We were lucky enough to see one near his huge nest...and a baby poking his/her head out of the nest.  The nest is in the V of the large tree in the center. The eagle is on a branch below and to the right of the nest.  

North Island:  Following are some photos of the cove where we stopped.  

Horseshoe crab shells:

Conch shell (the beach was literally covered with shells of all types and sizes with small fiddler crabs running in between them).:

Lambs Quarters (wild spinach) - this is an edible plant that can be used in lieu of spinach in salads or as a cooked vegetable.

Check out the roots of the trees...the water has washed away the soil underneath them.

View of Atsena Otie Key dock: This island was the original town of Cedar Key. Before Tampa and Miami, this was the only port on the Gulf.  In 1839 during the Second Seminole War an Army supply depot and hospital were built on the island. In the mid-1800s commerical business began: a sawmill, broom factory and the pencil mill.  Today it is uninhabited but visitors can access the island by boat and a boardwalk has been constructed to enable visitors to explore the island. Poisonous snakes abound on all of the islands, so visitors are advised to be cautious and avoid the thick forest areas.

Private ketch.

Views of Cedar Key restaurants from the Gulf

The dock master (brown pelican).

We both really enjoyed our time on the water today. We learned a lot more about the area and loved seeing the wildlife.

Cedar Key Historical Museum- 4/02/14

You will find great local historical collections at this museum! There is a wide array of well-documented displays in the two small buildings of the museum from Native American artifacts dating back 5,000 years to current times.

Here's a synopsis of this small community that we found interesting:
- There are seven keys (islands) that comprise this community of Cedar Key (Way Key, Seashore Key, North Key, Depot Key/Atsena Otie, Snake Key, and Scale Key).
- The first cross state railroad (Atlantic to Gulf) was completed in 1860 and the last train trip in 1932.
- Pencil industry: Cedar saw mills were built on two of the keys by pencil companies. Slats of cedar were sent north from here to manufacture pencils.
- The boom for Cedar Keys was 1880-1890 with a population of approximately 1,900 (today it is around 900).
- A fierce hurricane hit Cedar Key in 1896 with powerful winds (125 mph) and a huge storm surge (called a tidal wave at the time.)  The pencil factories were severely damaged (along wih many other business and residences), and never re-opened.
- In 1909 the business to manfacture palm fiber was started by two individuals and was in operation from1910 to 1952. There were only 3 fiber factories in the world, all in Florida. The Standard Manufacturing Co. was the largest and was the only one to make brushes. The brushes were used to brush ("clean") clothing and hats. Here's what they looked like:

- The source of fiber was the young Sabal Palm that still grows abundantly in FL. The process was labor intensive and the factory played a key role in the economy of Cedar Key for 40 years. The fiber was sold to brush companies in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

- Another very destructive hurricane hit Cedar Key in 1950 (24" of rain in 3 days). 50% of homes were uninhabitable and 90% were damaged. It virtually destroyed the fleet of boats owned by the fishing community (fishing was the primary livelihood). And the palm fiber factory was so severely damaged that it closed 2 years later, never to re-open due to the advent of synthetic fibers.

- Today aquaculture (clam bed farming), fishing and tourism are the primary industries.

Photos of some other interesting displays:

This safe in the local bank (circa 1912) was quite small but weighed 4,200 pounds. Didn't look like anyone could break into this thing!

Crabbing is an important part of the fishing industry. Here's a photo of the two types they catch:  blue crabs and stone crabs. What I learned today is that when stone crabs are trapped, the large claw (one on the right below) is removed and the crab is returned to the Gulf. It will grow a new one!

A dsplay of antique medical instruments was fascinating.  Here are some ob/gyn tools (yikes!).

And I hope these were used on the men, but I cannot say for sure (rectal dilators). What??

Steamer trunk - I have always read and heard about these things, but was fascinated to learn that the inside look like this...a place to hang up your clothes, put your shoes, and drawers for your other clothing or accessories.  Nice design.  They just should have had wheels on them.

Here's the phone from the fiber factory. The phone number was 6 (no 10-digit numbers to remember).

This place is a must see if you visit Cedar Key.  Loved the locals we met there. 

Exploring with Sadie - Cedar Key

One of Sadie's new favorite past times is hiking on trails with us (where she is permitted as a visitor).  She is constantly on the look out for some little creature or some new interesting smell along the way.

One of her new interests is finding lizards - you know, those little ones that are running all over the place here in Florida. Here's is one of several she found today along the Railroad Trestle trail.

Can you see the little guy?

Another new favorite activity for her is jumping in the water and splashing around. When we had our boat at the marina, she was not very enamored with water sports. Today, as soon as she saw it she ran right in, almost taking John with her!

Sadie being a good girl with John on the Dennis Creek Trail in the Lower Suwannee River Wildlife Refuge.  

Sadie and John sitting on the steps of the St. Clair Whitman House at the Cedar Key Museum State Park on 4/07/14 after a hike on a short trail there.

Sadie had such a fun time playing with her new friend, Harley. He is a beautiful 140-pound Bernese Mountain Dog, a gentle giant.  They romped in the field at the RV park until Harley was tired of playing. 

Photo of Sadie and John at Shired Island in the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. We only saw the sign NO PETS when we walked to the car to leave. Fortunately, no one said anything to us and there were not any park rangers around! Other areas of the refuge are dog-friendly...