On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
frosty
This was our second time here. To start with, Cedar Key isn’t one of the Florida Keys south of Miami. It’s on the Gulf Coast north of Tampa, but not as far as the Panhandle. There’s not a lot going on around here. It’s a long way from anything resembling a city; in fact it’s a long way from an interstate highway: it’s 55 miles to I-75 at Gainesville. It was at one time a significant port and the terminus of the first cross-Florida railroad from Fernandina Beach. Like many places in Florida, it’s now a tourist center, with aquaculture for clams the other main business.
The historic district has lots of cottages and bungalows, live oaks, and shaded streets. The whole island is a great place to sit and do nothing. And to go out to eat at the seafood restaurants on Dock Street.
Second St, the main commercial area.
Residential street, lots of live oaks.
Another residential street.
Tree, in the middle of the street.
Cottages
City fishing pier
City park and beach.
Dock Street
lowtechcyclist
Sigh.
Cedar Key sounds like a wonderful place, and if Florida weren’t going over to the dark side, it sounds like it would be an excellent vacation replacement for our beloved but now all-too-discovered Anna Maria Island. But I don’t see spending any tourist dollars in Florida after this year.
eclare
Looks like a nice place. The old FL was really wacky and special.
raven
ya’ll might like this, they are around the corner from Cedar Key but still very nice!
A collaboration between Melissa Farrell, Christina McDermott and Emily Raffield. We invite you to get lost in Old Florida, a place where a genuine essence of simplicity, adventure and community thrive. All of these saints are shared in Saints of Old Florida through personal stories, written contributions by area locals, meaningful recipes, vintage relics and authentic photography. A timeless book for those who love the coast. 252 full-color pages, on uncoated paper, natural linen cloth hardback cover. Custom, gold embossed cover art.
MagdaInBlack
This (and Betty’s porch) would be a side of Florida I would like. Thank you for the photos. ❤️
satby
wrong thread
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
Looks a lot like old Key West, before cruise ship dicks ruined it.
Phylllis
@lowtechcyclist: I grew up in Bradenton; Anna Maria has a special place in my heart. We used to ride our bikes to the beach. It was an idyllic childhood in so many ways.
HinTN
@raven: Wow, thanks! I love that part of the world. Have you ever dropped in to Richard Bickel’s ship in Apalachicola? His photographs are exquisite.
Betty Cracker
Cedar Key is such a special place because, so far, its remote location has protected it from rampant development. Whenever we visit, I can feel the weight of the world dropping away when we cross that last set of bridges.
CaseyL
I visited Cedar Key nearly half a century ago – I was a student at UF in Gainesville, and a bunch of us decided to go to Cedar Key over the weekend.
I remember it as a very sleepy little place, and am glad to see it hasn’t changed much since then.
My most vivid memory is looking out over the water on a foggy day and not seeing a horizon. The water blended completely with the sky. I think that was the first time I’d seen such a thing, and it had a cosmic impact on me.
Spirula
I live in Gainesville and visit from time to time. Laid back, a bit touristy, though off the beaten track. They have a great arts festival (take a bike with you…parking is often very remote) and seafood festival (though very little is from Cedar Key…not a seafood “port”). From there you can see Crystal River Nuclear Plant, which is only noteworthy because it appears to be sitting in the Gulf due to the shoreline curvature of the Florida coast in that area.
Mark
Clams??!? What?
Don’t you mean scallops?
BigJimSlade
The trees of the keys!
frosty
@lowtechcyclist: We’ll be at Cedar Key among other places next February but after that I’m kind of with you. Wondering if AZ/NM but be a better place to spend my tourist bucks.
TVD
My grandfather had a clamming business and restaurant there for decades, and I visited every year and then went to college an hour away. It’s a charming little town. He lived several miles outside of town and it was beautiful and his neighbors were a mix of hippies and hard core, violent, racist red necks. One of the only places where I’ve personally heard white people using the N word. The Rosewood massacre was right outside of Cedar Key. Anyway, his restaurant was excellent (The Clam Shack, no longer there) and one of the ones in the town proper was also pretty good. The rest were meh. I’ll go again some day but right now avoiding FL as much as possible.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Is Travis McGee
Still in Cedar Key?
That’s what old John MacDonald said