We had a wonderful 10 days over Christmas at Cedar Key. The location is absolutely beautiful and quiet.
The sites could be spaced a bit more apart though.
We met some interesting travelers in Marc and his wife who come down from Canada every year, Barb and Brian who own a seasonal campground in Michigan and spend their winters down south and in their new RV in Florida for the first winter, the Dutch couple who only stayed one night or the Cozzavini’s from New Jersey who passed though.
I do not know who had the idea to put a park next to the local cemetery, but it was an interesting walk and excursion. Unfortunately we had to do it without Selene again as she is still having trouble doing more than the morning and evening round.
The other day she sat down and did not want to continue on her walk. It is very difficult to watch.
So we headed out and did our little “after too much Christmas food walk”.
And were rewarded with a beautiful sunset that evening
Christmas in Florida is always different. Mostly due to the weather but also due to our location this year. I had mentioned the sites were close, here is how close
And thanks to ALDI we do not really miss much at Christmas time.
And of course another beautiful evening outside, watching the sun go down.
Finally had a more quiet day at the office. The day before Christmas should be.
We like it here so much that we extended another 4 days today.
Went into town, had a lovely fish dinner and watched the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico.
After the neighbor left there was a bit more room to enjoy for everybody, especially the little one could stretch again.
And then, of course, the sunsets. We had read about them and could now appreciate what others had written about them
And not one like the other.
My first camping trip to France was in a VW Bus we had purchased and furnished ourselves.
Wow, what a great time 2 teenage boys had for 4 weeks in the Bretagne and 2 weeks in Paris back in the late 70’s.
Had breakfast at the campground’s Ada Blue Cafe and it was delicious. Quaint cafe and quaint campground
Took a trip around the island to check out if it had recouperated from Hurricane Hermine in September. Wanted to take Selene but she was too tired after her morning walk. She is beginning to worry us.
Parts of the island had not recouperated yet.
Others had and we started looking for a good seafood restaurant. Ended up having local clam chowder and fish
Cedar Key has a population of around 800, yet has some of the largest aquaculture clam farms in the U.S. supplying jobs for 500 people and adding $ 45 million to the local economy per the University of Florida.
Finally got here around 16:45h after a 3 hour drive on first 4-lane then 2-lane roads. Thought it would go quicker, but we arrived safe and sound.
The campground is older and the sites very close together. Could not back in the way we entered, so had to turn around in order not to hit the neighbors Ford Fiesta.
Set up, cleaned and finally got done around 20:00h. Tired and exhausted, but were rewarded with a sunset around 18:00h that was worth it. We are already looking forward to many more.
Before heading out to Cedar Key we wanted to see and enjoy the St. Augustine annual celebration of Nights of Lights.
A longstanding tradition that starts just after Thanksgiving and runs through January, where the whole of downtown is covered in white lights.
We had never really felt like going as the newspaper articles reported of the masses heading downtown for the opening ceremony, and huge tourist numbers weekend after weekend.
Something we could do without. But then again, you cannot talk about if if you have not been there and seen it.
The crowd sizes were small and manageable if not existing at all – must be the Fake News we have been reading about.
Nothing like a nice warm evening in short sleeve shirts, dining outside and walking the city in the middle of December.