10 May 2022
10 May 2022
The owner/manager tells you, upon checking in, the building is old (1859) and the walls are paper thin and there’s no insulation so please be quiet. One sign in the hotel strongly suggests, in a polite way, you may not want to have sex in your room because people on either side of you will hear everything. I didn’t hear any sex going on last night but you certainly can hear everything – flushing of toilets, coughing, whispered conversations, etc. I did sleep fairly well other than early in the morning, I woke up itching. I guess I could blame it on ghosts. The place is supposedly haunted (as many as 13 different ghosts) but no one came knocking at my door. The hotel has even been featured in one of those TV series that hunts for ghosts.
This itching has been driving me crazy for months. My cousin Jimmie suggested I try Dove soap. It seems to work or at least it mitigates the problem. I used the hotel soap last night and the itching returned. She also suggested I bring a bar with me on the trip and I did. This afternoon, I showered after my hike with the Dove.
Breakfast is complimentary and served from 8 am-9:30 am. I was surprised at the meal. Bacon and biscuits were provided and you had a choice of eggs (any style), mushroom and onion quiche, or waffles. You also got your choice of beverages, including a wide choice of juices. I chose the quiche and it was excellent. The biscuits were homemade and the bacon done crisply. It’s one of the best breakfasts I have in a hotel in years.
After breakfast, I put on my hiking boots, got my walking stick, and headed out to the Cedar Key Railroad Trestle Trail, about 0.8 miles from the hotel. The first train arrived in Cedar Key on March 1, 1861 and the tiny town, with the advent of the railroad, became a significant port in Florida. Grover Cleveland returned from his Cuba trip through Cedar Key.
Henry Plant’s railroad by-passed Cedar Key for Tampa, and the town slowly declined. The last train out of Cedar Key was July 7, 1932. The nature trail follows the old rail bed and takes you to the trestle that crosses the water from a smaller key north of Cedar Key into Cedar Key. The trail is 0.6 miles one way and is totally in the shade from a canopy of mangroves, pines and cedar trees.
You may wonder where Cedar Key got its name. Eastern Red Cedars (Juniperus virginiana) were harvested from the area along from other areas of Florida. They were milled into the two halves that form pencils. From the port of Cedar Key they were shipped to Germany where the “lead”(graphite) was added when the two halves were glued together. The pencil business was a big deal back in those days.
I ran into a birding couple on the trail but otherwise, had the trail to myself. There was a nice breeze and the temperature was in the mid-70’s. It was perfect walking weather.
From there, I headed to Cemetery Point Park on Rye Key, northwest of Cedar Key. The distance was 1.5 miles; however, the address for the park is confusing. It leads you to the street intersection of Pagoda and Gulf Blvd. and not to the cemetery nor the trail. After asking some bulk trash workers, I finally found the cemetery and the trail.
The board walk is one of the longer ones I’ve been on at 1299 feet. It winds along the bay and the cemetery. It also may have been the point John Muir first saw the Gulf of Mexico on his walking trip from Louisville, KY.
My grandmother Ruby got me visiting cemeteries. Often, after lunch on Sunday (after church services, of course) she would often drive around to various cemeteries in and around Scott County, Mississippi checking on relatives’ graves. I got interested in the various shapes of the tombstones and memorials and sayings carved into the tombstone. As you might guess, once I finished the trail and boardwalk, I meandered through the cemetery.
I’ve mentioned in previous posts about the number of deaths in the U.S. evident in cemeteries for the year 1918 – the influenza pandemic. As I walked through the cemetery, I noticed a number of graves with 2020 and 2021. I assume at least some are from the COVID pandemic. Later, I overheard some locals talking about having contracted COVID. The Tampa Bay Times reports at 1 in 14 in the Cedar Key area developed COVID as of 2021.
My intention was to also visit the Cedar Key Historical Museum. During my first visit about four years ago, it was closed. Also closed was the Cedar Key State Park Museum. Both were closed this trip also. I understand it’s summer and they have reduced hours but I think they are only open certain days of the week (the ones which I’m not here).
Lunch was a Cuban sandwich at the 2nd Street Cafe, across the street from the Island Hotel. It was mostly locals at the place and the topic was certainly real estate – from the waitresses to the clientele. One waitress commented that she couldn’t afford to live in town any more. That’s the same problem Key West has had for years.
If you want to see Cedar Key before it becomes totally developed like Key West, this may be your last year to do it. It still has some of that old fishing village atmosphere, particularly when you look at some of the old buildings in town.
McCormick Management and Realty is the predominant realtor in town as far as the signs are concerned. I’d said the majority of the properties in town are vacation rentals. The total permanent population in Cedar Key is around 800. The prices I’ve seen in the windows of realtors in town are $400 k for a total fixer upper to over a million. The locals are being priced out of their own town.
The old buildings and original bungalows and fishing cabins are being replaced by multistory apartments and condos. It’s the gentrification of Cedar Key.as
I was tired after lunch. I hiked a total of 6.2 miles today. The weather was nice but 6.2 is still 6.2 and I’m old. Fortunately, most of it was level with the highest point at the water tank for the city. Otherwise, it was just gradual grades. My hips held up and I had no pain. Perhaps my exercises to strengthen my butt is working.
Dinner tonight is at the restaurant at the Island House. No cutoff shorts or shirts allowed, no t-shirts deemed obscene, and no profanity. I’ll try to keep my cursing to a minimum.
Tomorrow is a 3 hour drive to Wakulla Springs State Park, just south of Tallahassee.
Stay tuned!