tbt* (St. Pete Times’ free weekly paper),Published August 24, 2005
Editor’s note: Life magazine recently listed its Top 10 getaways in the country, and our own Cedar Key made the list. Coincidentally, free-lancer Susan Barnes had filed this dispatch about its Old Florida vibe.
When my friends Nikki and Carol and I started to plan a girls’ weekend, we all had thoughts of where we’d go. A luxurious spa featuring treatments that used nature’s finest ingredients? A lush resort that would pamper us day and night?
No, we wanted something more. Someplace that would challenge us. Someplace we could get in touch with nature. We decided on Cedar Key.
Composed of four islands and a National Wildlife Refuge, Cedar Key is a nature lover’s dream and a piece of Old Florida – before the condos and the strip malls. One of Florida’s oldest ports and the country’s No.1 producer of farm-raised clams, Cedar Key is also an artists’ haven and a perfect place for romance, nature walks and quiet introspection.
We arrived in downtown Cedar Key – a blocklong street lined with shops, restaurants and hotels – and checked into our accommodations. Then we set out to explore.
First, we shopped. Stores filled with knickknacks, one-of-a-kinds and souvenirs beckoned. Then, over a late lunch of the best crab bisque I’ve ever had, we decided to try sea kayaking the next day.
None of us had ever kayaked, let alone sea kayaked, so we viewed it as an adventure. We signed up for a four-hour guided tour.
The next morning, we met Sherry Liebert and her husband, Tom, down at the marina. After brief instruction, we pushed off. Tom had told us of a back way into Atsena Otie Key (Cedar Island in the Creek language, the locals pronounce it See-Nee-Oh-Dee, according to Sherry), just offshore from Cedar Key, so we wound our way to the back of the island and found the passage, gliding through the calm waters. Overhead, a bald eagle flew from his perch in search of a snack.
We landed on the shores of Atsena Otie Key, ate the lunches we’d toted along in the waterproof compartments of the kayaks and explored the island.
Once a thriving island and home to the Eberhard Faber Pencil Co. because of all its cedar trees, Atsena Otie Key was devastated in the hurricane of 1896 and its residents fled to Cedar Key. All that remains today are relics of an old chimney and a beautiful, tranquil, cemetery dating to the 1800s.
That night, we talked about our first kayaking adventure over fresh seafood. The three of us decided that we would do this again. Cedar Key is definitely the perfect place for our version of a girls’ weekend.
Essentials
Where: From Tampa, take the Veterans Expressway north; follow it to U.S. 98 W. Follow U.S. 98 W to U.S. 19 N. Follow 19 to State Road 24. Turn left onto SR 24 and go for about 20 miles until you come to Cedar Key.
Lodging: We stayed at the Dockside Motel (dockside-cedarkey.com). Rooms range from $60 to $85 a night, and you’re right in the middle of the action. For a piece of history, stay at the Island Hotel Bed & Breakfast (islandhotel-cedarkey.com), built in 1859.
Dining: The fabulous crab bisque was at Frog’s Landing (frogslanding.net). For a good, fresh seafood dinner, try the Captain’s Table, and for live music nightly, head back to Frog’s Landing.
To do: Get in touch with Sherry and Tom Liebert at Kayak Cedar Keys (kayakcedarkeys.com) for a kayaking experience to find out what Cedar Key is really all about – nature.