Trip to Cedar Key…
We had been wanting to do something, since summer is nearing an end and the heat is… well, its still damn hot, but the summer is almost over. We almost always go to St. Augustine, this time we decided to go somewhere different… so we went West. The gulf coast… a sweet little dump of a fishing town called Cedar Key. If you have ever wanted to party with random bikers and eat some crappy seafood in a dirty bar… Cedar Key would be heaven for you. Now dont get me wrong, it sure is breathtaking to look out over the water as you sip a Corona and eat some clam chower… it just is not a place you would want to go with your kids. Okay, if your kids are older– teenage maybe, you could let them roam the postage stamp sized town, while you are enjoying some drinks at the local watering hole, and you could be 100% certain that your kids could not find trouble if they tried! If you have a stroller though, beware that most of the bars are on the second floor… and are not handi-cap accessible. Oh and if you want food? Most of the food can only be found in these 4 bars. So you are limited to carrying your kid and stroller… or you can go to the “dirtier” biker bar down the street that has seats on the first floor, stinks of cigarette smoke and has no servers.
Baby's first trip to the Gulf Coast!
I had a good time though, as I am always one to look on the bright side and make the best of it… which is good, since Josh is not that type and he likes to complain (as much as possible) before he comes around and just relaxes. So after getting a margarita into Josh, we went to the little beach and walked the kiddo around through the sand and the water. I asked Josh to be a good sport and snap a few pictures of us. I am always the photographer and hardly ever see pictures of myself with my son! I was happy to see that some came out quite nice! Go Josh!
Cedar Key beach
The sand was pretty hot, but he played in it a bit. I kept covering his feet with dry sand — wet sand — he was not a fan and kept kicking it off! There were a lot of kids on the small beach and they were running around playing in the water, making sand castles and just having a blast. I think our little one had the most fun just observing everything around him. Maybe on the next beach trip he will be playing with the bigger kids! For now though he stuck close to Mom.
Another jaunt around town took all of 20 minutes… okay I exaggerrated there. It took about 15 minutes. With nothing else to do and having seen all the sights… we popped into the “Cedar Keyhole” and looked at the local artwork. I was on the hunt for the perfect souveniers, that way we never ever had to return to this wretched little place! I finally decided on a piece of hanging driftwood with a seahorse painted on it. At the checkout Josh spied a wooden magnet shaped like a gator with “Cedar Key” etched into it. Perfect!!!
( I will take a picture and insert it into this spot ASAP)
Then we stopped for water, beer and some more snacks. I had award winning clam chowder, Josh had a lovely looking house salad and some peel & eat shrimp. The kiddo ate some black olives and crackers… he threw strawberries, bananas, and more crackers on the floor. Then Josh and I shared a deep fried platter of desserts. Rich and fattening. We then decided to head towards the car and take the long drive home. I got to the car and realized I had not taking any pictures of the water! It was such a nice day, I insisted and a whining-complaining Josh walked with me a whole twenty feet to the water.
Honeymoon Shack
This beautiful dream house is called “The Honeymoon Suite”. It is a popular landmark among artists and photographers. Josh had a great laugh over this. He can not understand why they would not tear down this eye sore. My understanding is that it was a functional building until a hurricane demolished it, then it became a novelty. I like it and I love my pictures. Perhaps one of these days I too will join the ranks of Florida artists who have painted this “Honeymoon Shack” . It really sums up the whole town… a dilapitated pile of shit, that makes you wonder why no one has cleaned it up, but then you realize it is simply because no one really cares… if they do care enough, they have obviously lost ambition because due to lack of things to do in this town, said individual has since gotten drunk and forgotten all about it.
Cedar Key, Florida 08-30-2009
All in all, as bored as we were in Cedar Key, we had a good day. The baby was well behaved and sweet, we didnt spend a ton of money and we enjoyed some breathtaking views during a gorgeous weather day, and even though it was completely sweltering, we had a good time wandering around the 3 streets of Cedar Key, Florida. I dont think we will ever visit this place again. I feel like both of us have a new appreciation for St. Augustine and its 7-8 streets to wander. So we headed home, tired and sprinkled with sand. Josh will kill me for blogging this tid-bit but he actually got a bit lost! I nearly threw his blackberry out the car window when he pulled it out to use his GPS! I laughed and laughed!!! I navigated the two blocks to get us out and we were home in time to enjoy some pre-season football and get my Hyena Cart shop in the works. I got in some good knitting time on the ride to and from… I worked on my Pheasant Run socks mostly. I finished the dreaded ribbing of the second sock and I am nearly to the toe on the first sock. So a good day all around!
