Cedar Key vibe.......

7:51 am - Monday - December 31st - Cedar Key, FL - 66º F, 88% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the east by southeast......partly cloudy, but that means mostly sunny today!  Forecast high is 70º F.

We slept in Sunday, and deservedly so.  After 3 hard days of driving, and then a very full schedule our first day in Cedar Key we were exhausted.....I guess we're not 19 anymore.  We lazed around until well after 11 am when we finally got our act together to make the 1.5 mile walk into downtown Cedar Key for some coffee and pastry at the 1842 Daily Grind & Mercantile.  The walk into town revealed how much had changed in 6 years.  Our favorite coffee place then was Kona Joe's (sold 4-5 years ago, but the new owners never really got it going again), as well as our favorite dinner place, Blue Desert Cafe (owner retired after 21 years), were no longer in business, and another favorite breakfast place, Pat's, was also out of business.  The 1842 Daily Grind has come along in that intervening time, and has filled in the coffee/breakfast place hole.  On the other hand most of our other hangouts are still there.....Big Deck Raw Bar, Tony's Seafood, and Steamers.  Cedar Key looks a little the worse for wear after two direct hits by hurricanes, and another near miss this past fall.  Nonetheless, the spirit of Cedar Key still survives, and it is still a magical place that is near and dear to our hearts.

 An interesting combo....

It was still heavily overcast, and quite foggy at times as we walked slowly along the sidewalk into town.  As we passed by the Marathon gas station we noted the wonderful farmers market was no longer there, either....

 There used to be a farmer's market there in the left corner of the Marathon parking lot

......within 30 minutes we had arrived at the 1842 Daily Grind (where we enjoyed our gourmet meal the night before).  This is a very funky place, and we have already fallen in love with it, as well as the owners, Martin and Terry......

.....TLE ordered a cup of their 'Red Eye' coffee (one expresso shot) and a folded egg and cheese croissant sandwich, and I a large 'Red Eye' accompanied by a bagel with cream cheese.  We found our friends Krash and Karen had been there since 10:30 am.  We lingered and talked for about 40 minutes before continuing our walk down 2nd Street....

 Bonish Studio......owned by Pat Bonish who used to own Low Key Hideaway/Tiki Bar.  

......a couple of doors down from the 1842 is the home of Bonish Studio/Bar.  Pat has been a professional photographer for many years, but had little time for his passion while he and his wife Cindy owned and operated Low Key Hideway Motel and RV Resort (a couple of 'doors' down from Sunset Isle).  It is composed of a 5, or 6 unit motel, about 10 RV sites, and a wonderful Tiki Bar where we enjoyed dozens of wonderful sunsets, and made many friends.  It took all of their time, so they sold it about 3 years ago (it is still flourishing under the new owners) and bought a building in town to open a new business, which is really kind of three businesses in one......a very cool bar, a thrift shop section, and a studio to display Pat's photography.  In the past few weeks they have moved the 'Thrift/Gift Store' down the street a few more doors to a new location where it has room to expand

A very eclectic place

....after stopping in to talk to Pat at the 'studio', we walked down to say 'HI' to Cindy before making the 1.5 mile walk home.  We spent the afternoon relaxing, but around 5 pm we made our walk over to Low Key Hideaway/Tiki bar to watch the sunset, and have a couple of drinks....

 Out on the dock sipping a couple of vanilla porters....

 The famous Low Key Hideaway Tiki Bar

.....and there it is, the famous Cedar Key sunset....when we were here 6 years ago we spent 5 weeks and never saw a bad sunset......even with very few clouds you still get that amazingly long, beautiful sunset every night.....

.....so our first full day in Cedar Key is now in the books.  We are beginning to settle into the Cedar Key vibe once again.....life is good!

Thanks for stopping by!

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