Showing posts with label Cedar Key. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cedar Key. Show all posts

Sunday, January 6, 2019

It must be a sign.......

7:45 am - Sunday - January 6th - Inverness, FL - 42º F, 97% humidity, wind - CALM - clear today with a forecast high of 70º F.....it got down to a glorious 58º F inside our bedroom last night.....wonderful!  Had to turn the heaters on this morning.....now that is more like it....that is the weather for which I was hoping when we came to Florida......60's-70's during the day, and in the 40's at night.

We awoke to a partly cloudy day, which eventually morphed into clear blue skies in the afternoon.  When I opened the front curtains I saw what I believe are some sort of cranes, but not being a 'birder' I am just guessing.  There are a lot of birds here including dozens of large turkey buzzards......


......my first task of Saturday after completing my blog was to put away the rest of the tools I had been using to install TLE's new seat, then hookup our sewer line to the sewer connection as it had been 8 days since we last dumped.  I had planned to dump our tanks before we left Cedar Key, but decided I could go a few more days.  Once that task was complete I retrieved the sign I made weeks ago to add to Richard and Rhonda's friends post in their front yard, and install it.  The prior record for longest distance from home was Tom and Darlene's sign showing 2,150 back to Wittmann, AZ.  We have now topped that with a total distance of 2,417 from our home mailing address in Rancho Cucamonga, CA....

 Our sign

 The rest of the signs

.....once the sign was affixed to the post I proceeded to apply (over several hours) three coats of polyurethane via an aerosol can.   There is currently a small controversy in process about whether we can claim Rancho Cucamonga as our home as it is just a mailing address.  Some (the McCloud Clan) believe our new sign is only 75' from our home (the Newell), but I countered that the sign is only for people who have driven their Newells to Inverness, not a car.  I'm sure this good-natured debate will continue for some time.......😉

Next up was to finish hiding the power and ground wires we ran to power the new passenger seat.  TLE's old seat did not have power.  That took about an hour, but finally I was done, and then rotated the seat, as is our custom, so it can be used as an extra seat for visitors.....


......after that I took a short, but well deserved nap, then took a shower so I could go out and get a haircut, and do some shopping with TLE.  She found a Fantastic Sam's about 9 miles away for my haircut......there were no Supercuts within 20 miles.  That's my third successive haircut at a Fantastic Sam's (two in Campbellsville), and this one was by far my best haircut of the three.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that our hosts left around 8 am on a trip up to Baltimore, MD  in a rented box van to deliver some furniture to their son who lives there, so we were are on our own for our last two days here in Inverness.  On Monday, the 7th, we'll roll our wheels once again, only northward this time.

We were home by 4 pm, and enjoyed a nice relaxing evening.  TLE made some Cajun Andouille Mac & Cheese for dinner......


....I am not really a mac & cheese guy, but this was exceptionally delicious.  I'm glad we did not eat it all Saturday.......😉

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Mission accomplished.....

7:16 am - Saturday - January 5th - Inverness, FL - 60º F, 87% humidity, wind - CALM......cloudy today with a forecast high of 65º F.

I was up relatively early getting ready to do something I have not done since Burlington, VT.....ride my bicycle. Our Inverness hots, Richard and Rhonda, are avid bicyclists, and specifically avid tandem riders.  TLE was not up to a vigorous ride.....I hoped I was.  We left their home around 8:30 am to ride 2.9 miles over to the Withlacoochee State Trail where we would ride another 6+ miles south to our turnaround point.  To be fair, I was not aware of the distance we were going to ride Friday, and when Richard announced we were almost to the turnaround point I blithely asked "How far have we come?" to which he replied "9 miles" to which I retorted "Wow, I had no idea we had come that far!", and I did not.  Why? I hadn't plugged in my Garmin GPS cyclocomputer for a few months, and its battery had run down, so I was riding without any data input....rare for me.  I like to know how fast I am going, what my average speed is, and how far I have ridden.  I was just taking it on faith they would not ride me into the ground, and my faith was not misplaced....

 On the Withlacoochee State Bicycle Trail with Richard and Rhonda 
resting before the return ride

.....in all I fared pretty well on the 18 mile ride, but the last 2 miles back to their home we were riding into a stiff headwind, and I gradually fell behind them, arriving home a few minutes after them.  I was reminded of how much I love to ride my bike, and how little I have done of that the past 6 months.  I have got to remedy that situation!

About 45 minutes after returning from our ride Richard and I got busy installing TLE's new passenger seat.  In all it took about 5 hours beginning to end, but we finished bolting it to the floor just as it began to rain.  Naturally, I was outside tightening the nuts on the bolts, two of which come out in our house battery bay, and two in the right front wheel well, so just as I was tightening the last nut with my socket wrench I began to feel sprinkles on my back.....perfect timing.....

 The new passenger seat installed with power

....I've got a little cleanup to do Saturday, but that will be a breeze.  The chair works, and it can be turned around easily to provide extra seating when we are stationary.  So our mission in Inverness has been accomplished......now to work on replacing my seat!

Around 6 pm we went inside the house to eat dinner with our hosts and were treated to smoked pork tenderloin, and roasted vegetables.  We sat talking, and sipping wine until well after 9 pm.  Again, as I have written many times, some people you meet along the way you just connect with on a deeper level, and feel as if you have known them all your life.  Richard and Rhonda are just such people, and we have cherished our short time with them here in Inverness.  Life is good, and satisfying.....thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.

Friday, January 4, 2019

Moving inland.....

6:32 am - Friday - January 4th - Inverness, FL - 68º F (wait, what?), 99% humidity (yeah, it feels like it), wind 7 mph out of the south.....cloudy today with a forecast high of 77º F, and a 100% chance of rain by the afternoon.

Leaving Cedar Key is never easy....I'll just leave it at that.  It seemed that our six days there just flew by way too quickly.  It takes a while to settle into anyplace, even one which you have frequented in the past, and we were just getting comfortable when it was time to change our view once again.  I was up by 7 am, and TLE a short interval later.  By 8:55 am we were rolling our wheels out of site #60 and north on HWY 24.....within minutes we had crossed the bridge and the island was receding into the distance.

Our destination on Thursday was Inverness, FL, about 76 land miles south and a little east.  Within 20 minutes we had transitioned to HWY 98 southbound.  I set the cruise control at 60, and just held onto the steering wheel as we floated on a cushion of air along the straight, flat asphalt ribbon stretching to the horizon.  As we neared the small coastal town of Crystal River I spied a Shell fuel station selling diesel #2 for $2.79/gallon.  We were down to about 40 gallons in our tank, and planned to fill up soon.  By the time I had decided we should take advantage of the opportunity we had passed by the station, but never fear, there was U-turn opportunity less than 200 yards down the road, so we did just that and headed back to the station.  I was figuring we would take on anywhere from 140-150 gallons of diesel.  Since we last filled our tank in Lebanon, KY on October 19th we had traveled about 900 miles.  We paid about $3.10/gallon back in October so the price of diesel is finally catching up with the decline in the cost of a barrel of oil over the last 4 months.  In all we took on 133 gallons of diesel.....always nice when it costs less than you expect.  We averaged about 6.7 miles per gallon.....not bad considering the hours of idling south on I-75 around Atlanta and Macon, GA.

By 11:30 am we had arrived at the home of Richard and Rhonda.  Richard parks his 1999 Newell behind their home on a driveway made of 'pavers' he built himself.  We were to park our trailer in front of his Newell, then move our Newell to his driveway where he has a 50 amp outlet, water and a sewer connection for out of town visitors.  Within 30 minutes we had dropped the trailer, were parked in the driveway, connected to the 50 amp outlet, and running our A/C to dry out the interior air of the coach....it was quite humid on Thursday (that high humidity continues Friday morning as I write).




Richard prepared a lovely lunch for us and we sat talking for a good hour before retiring back to our coach.  I needed to get busy removing TLE's old passenger seat so we could install the 'new' one on Friday.......


 Ready to remove the four large bolts fastening her to the floor

The old seat is now history, and the new mounting base plate is in position

......it took me less than an hour to remove the old seat, and begin planning how to install the new one.  We will need to drill some new holes to accommodate the new base plate, but that should not take too long.

Around 6 pm we headed out to have dinner at the MC Wine Bar (they have craft beer on tap, also) in Old Town Inverness.  We arrived to find we had the place to ourselves on this Thursday evening, and quickly ordered some adult beverages.  Richard and I had their 'Black Lager', which was perfect.  They do not prepare food on the premises, but you can order food prepared at other eateries in Old Town.  We ordered pizza from a local establishment, and it was delivered within 20 minutes.  Time passed quickly, and soon the small hand on the clock was edging toward 8 pm.  Thank you Richard and Rhonda for a wonderful evening filled with great food, brews and conversation!

Left to right: Richard (Rhonda is taking the picture), moi and TLE

We were home just after 8 pm, bid our adieus to Richard and Rhonda and headed retired to our coach for the balance of the evening.  Friday will begin with a bike ride on a local bike path, then Richard and I will get down to the business of installing TLE's new passenger seat!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Take a seat....please......

6:46 am - Thursday - January 3rd - Cedar Key, FL - 67º F, 84% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the southeast.....mostly cloudy today with a forecast high of 70º F.  Today is moving day!  We roll our wheels in 2 hours.

Wednesday was a cleaning day.  It has been months since I spent time doing a thorough cleaning of the Newell exterior.  The last time I undertook this task was in late August whilst we were still in Southwest Harbor.  In the intervening time since we left Southwest Harbor I was mostly able to keep it looking pretty clean by avoiding traveling in the rain, but we ended up driving through a lot of rain on our drive into Campbellsville, and a lot of rain since we left, the worst of which occurred as we passed slowly by Atlanta the other day.  As a result the Newell has been looking a little sad lately.  Thankfully it was quite overcast first thing so I was able to get quite a bit of cleaning done before direct sunlight, and humidity intervened.  By the time the sun came out I had managed to clean the front of the trailer, the rear of the Newell, the entire passenger side, plus wheels, the front, and the two drivers side wheels.  It became much too humid to be working that hard outside so I called it quits for the day and headed into the cool, dry, air conditioned interior of the Newell.   After we finish repositioning Thursday to Inverness, FL I'll try to finish the drivers side, and the rest of the trailer.  

The rest of the day was spent napping and watching some more English Premier Soccer.  While it only got to about 72º F Wednesday, the humidity made it feel as if it were in the high 80's, and I am not ready to be working in temps that high.  As we work our way west I am sure I will begin to acclimate to warmer temperatures, but for now when it gets out of the 60's I surrender.  On a positive note it has not rained a single drop since last Friday.  Six days without rain in Cedar Key is just what the doctor ordered.

Our reason for heading south another 60 miles to Inverness is to visit friends Richard and Rhonda (1999 Newell).  We last met up with them when we were working in Yellowstone the summer of 2017.....you can read about that here.  About a year ago Richard announced on our Newell forum (www.newellgurus.com) that he had replaced his wife's passenger seat, and that the old seat, which he had just reupholstered in the prior 12 months, was available for free if someone wanted to make the drive to Inverness to retrieve it. I have wanted to replace TLE's passenger seat for some time with a power version, and knew we would be on the east coast in mid 2018, and in Florida by the beginning of the New Year.  Richard agreed to keep it in his garage until we arrived, and that time has arrived.  It has been almost a year that Richard has been storing this seat, and I am sure he would like to see it gone soon.  There is still a small question as to whether it will fit, but if it does, and I'm about 95% sure it will, we will remove the old seat and install the new one while we are visiting.

Picture taken July 19, 2017 in Richard and Rhonda's coach....the passenger seat the background (red arrow) is the seat TLE is getting

In less than 10 days we will begin our return trek to SoCal. Our time east of the Mississippi is about over, and within two weeks we will once again be west of the Mississippi, and headed to new adventures.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

New Years Day, 2019

7:36 am - Wednesday - January 2nd - Cedar Key, FL - 64º F, 91% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the west by southwest.....cloudy today with a forecast high of 70º F.    I cannot tell you how much it means to see 'highs' in the 70's every day.....it has been so long (mid September) since we were in consistently warm weather.

I was awake a little after 7 am on New Years morning with no hangover.  I've never seen the point of drinking so much you feel awful the next morning.  At any rate, I was up feeling just fine, and tuning in the the Rose Parade 'pre' show.....I grew up in Pasadena, CA and have watched at least part of the Rose Parade every single year no matter where I may find myself.  I remember as a teenager being up all night wandering up and down Colorado Blvd. with my friends.....good times.  It's kind of funny thinking about how safe we felt back then, and how my parents never even gave a second thought to their son being out all night on New Years Eve.  My, how times have changed.

I really don't have any pictures to share from New Years Day as I was ensconced firmly in front of the TV watching Bowl games, and English Premier Soccer matches.  I did venture outside a few times, but not often.  It was a beautiful lower humidity day, but sometimes you just....I was going to say 'need', but the truth is I just 'wanted' a do nothing at all day....remember, time you enjoy wasting, is not wasting time, and I really enjoyed wasting time New Years Day.

All that being said, we were not total slugs Tuesday, we did agree to meet our friends, Krash and Karen, and a few of their closest friends for dinner at the Big Deck Raw Bar.....one of the few favorite places to have survived the past 6 years.  We arrived just at 5:45 pm to find Krash and Karen just exiting their vehicle at the restaurant.  In all we had 10 for dinner, and it was a great time talking, laughing and eating well prepared food, which included a reasonable bill at the end.

Internet Pix of BDRB

The Rose Bowl was a bit of a disappointment if you are a PAC-12 fan.....the Washington Huskies lost 28-23....it was not as close as the final score would indicate.  For the first 3 quarters Washington only managed 3 points.  If not for the 20 they scored in the fourth quarter it would have been 28-3.  The nightcap, the Sugar Bowl, was close at the end, but the Texas Longhorns really dominated the Georgia Bulldogs for the majority of the game winning easily 28-21.  It never was really in doubt.

And that was our New Years Day......a lot of wasted time, but all of it enjoyed.....thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.......

8:06 am - Tuesday - January 1st - Cedar Key, FL - 66º F, 82% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the east by southeast.....sunny today with a forecast high of 70º F.

It hardly seems as if another year has some and gone, but I look at our calendar and it absolutely declares it is New Years Eve, 2018.  A year ago I was recovering from my stroke (December 28th), and grateful to have no lasting after effects except that now I am on blood pressure medication.  My doctor said "Clarke, you just won the lottery!"....I could have had paralysis, or been dead, but just got a warning instead, and got to go on about my life.  In March of 2018 we finished our gig at the Grand Canyon, and headed home to SoCal for about a month to spend time with kids, and their kids before we headed to Maine for the summer.  We took a month to make the 3,000+ mile drive to Southwest Harbor adding many wonderful memories along the way.  We worked for about 3 months at Smuggler's Den, and then spent the next 5 weeks hiking and enjoying Acadia National Park.  Then we took another 5 weeks to travel to Campbellsville, KY to work at Amazon.  During that interval we spent time in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York City, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Connecticut before landing at Amazon for 8 weeks.  In the process we ticked off 6 more states we had not previously visited and can now claim to have visited the lower 48 states in our Newell.....only Alaska remains.

After Amazon we flew home to visit our children once again, and then made our way to Cedar Key, FL for New Years.....we last spent New Years day here in January of 2013, and now it is January of 2019.  In just 31 days we will celebrate the end of our 7th nomadic year, and the beginning of our 8th year on the road.  It sincerely does not feel as if it has been 7 years since we began our journey.  I think it can now be said we have officially earned our nomadic credentials after 7 years.

To begin our 3rd day in Cedar Key we headed out for the obligatory 1.5 mile walk into town to have some coffee and pastry at the 1842 Daily Grind, and then walk around downtown Cedar Key, and here are some of the sights we saw along the way.......


 Yes, it does feel like home




 The 1.5 mile walk into Cedar Key 

 A random manger scene


 The old, now defunct, Kona Joe's


Google photos stitched together this cool little slide show 
of our day in Cedar Key

 Al fresco dining at 1842 Daily Grind


Looking down Dock Street



Our beloved Blue Desert Cafe.....now just a memory

....we stopped off at a local gift shop on Dock Street, and found this little sign that perfectly sums up Cedar Key for us......

This little sign really says all there is to say about Cedar Key

.....there truly is NO wasted time here in Cedar Key....there is just 'being'.......

By the time we returned home we had covered some 4.5 miles walking, and it was getting warm.....well, warm for us.....72º F (also a tad humid), so we turned on the A/C and settled in to 'wasting' a little time relaxing.  We had talked about walking over to the Tiki Bar for sunset, but decided to just view it from the waterfront here at Sunset Isle.......the sunsets here are just breathtaking....


....we had also planned to return to the Cedar Key downtown area (2nd Street) to watch the 3rd annual 9 pm 'ball drop' at Bonish Studio, but we opted to spend a quiet evening together seeing in the New Year....with a few naps thrown in along the way we both managed to be awake at 12:01 am, and officially wished each other 'Happy New Year', then headed off to dreamland one more time......yup, there is no wasted time in Cedar Key!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.

Monday, December 31, 2018

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!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.

Sunday, December 30, 2018

At last........

8:43 am - Sunday - December 30th - Cedar Key, FL - 66º F, 93% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the east by southeast......foggy right now with a forecast high of 70º F.

As it turned out our driving distance to Cedar Key on Saturday was 176 miles.  We were moving out of our site at Cain Creekside RV Parke about 9 am, but first we had to ford some water.....apparently the pond had overflowed during the night covering the entrance road to our section, but it ended up only being about 12" deep, and we crossed without incident.....



.....initially I-75 was free flowing, but you just know something is going to happen to slow you down eventually....this is the nature of I-75.....


.....within 20 miles we were leaving Georgia in our rear view mirror and entering Florida for the first time in 6 years......


.....and, of course, Florida not to be outdone by Georgia, gave us some good old 'slow and go' at about the 85 mile mark into our day.....


....then it completely stopped, and when it began to move again it took us a good 30 minutes to cover just 3 miles......


.....we're imagining a large, multi car accident, but the actual issue was a motorist who was off the freeway, actually parked on the grass, who was trying to cool off the disc brakes on their SUV, and the attendant steam (smoke) resulted in what we call RPS.....Residual Pinhead Slowing.  Everyone had to slow way down, stopping in some cases, to see what was happening....oh the humanity!

Eventually we exited I-75 just southwest of Gainsville to SR-121 leaving us with 60+ miles to Cedar Key.  In Bronson, FL we transitioned from the 121 to the 24 which took us directly to Cedar Key.  As we approached the bridge taking us on to the island we suddenly saw our friends, Krash and Karen, standing on the side of the road waiving and welcoming us to Cedar Key....what a cool surprise!


As you can see from the picture above it was quite foggy around 1:07 pm as we crossed the bridge......


....eventually we saw the sign welcoming us to Cedar Key, and within another few hundred feet that very familiar, funky sign for Sunset Isle RV Park & Motel.....


.....this is our 3rd time at Sunset Isle RV Park, and for us it is the only place to stay in Cedar Key if your home is an RV.  From Sunset Isle it is a quick 1.5 mile walk to the center of town, and many fabulous restaurants, as well as the beach.  We are only a couple hundred feet from the water in our site (#60), which is a long pull through site....one of only 4 that will fit our coach and trailer without us having to drop the trailer.....perfect!




Within 40 minutes we were mostly set up, and made plans with Krash and Karen to meet them at '83 West', a restaurant on Dock Street on the waterfront, for a late lunch.  By the time we got there it was after 3 pm, and we were famished......


 Our favorite corner table!

....within minutes we had a couple of Yuengling drafts at our finger tips, and were waiting for our entrees.  Krash and Karen arrived about 20 minutes after us, and settled down to talk non-stop for about 90 minutes.  We first met Krash and Karen back in April of 2012 while visiting my sister who lived near Ann Arbor, Michigan at the time.  Karen had begun reading my fledgling blog, and asked if they could meet us.  We agreed and it was the beginning of a wonderful nomadic friendship.  We met again when we returned to Cedar Key in late December of 2012 when we spent over 5 weeks in this lovely, funky, quaint, sleepy, Gulf Coast fishing village.  We have hooked up with them twice more over the intervening years, but the last time we saw them was in Cape Blanco back in 2014.  They sort of made Cedar Key their winter home away from home each of the last 6 years, and it has been our dream to return to Cedar Key again and spend time with them and enjoying the quirkiness that is Cedar Key.

They had arranged an aggressive first day schedule for us....a late lunch at '83 West', a girls basketball tournament basketball final at the local Cedar Key School (K-HS) at 6 pm, and then a gourmet dinner at the 1842 Daily Grind and Mercantile on 2nd Street in downtown Cedar Key at 8 pm....

 From right to left: TLE, moi, Karen, Debbie (friend of Krash and Karen's), and Krash

 The girl's team finished in second place to a much larger school...it was a great game!



The game was over by 7:40 pm, so we drove home to pick up a bottle of wine for our gourmet dinner at the 1842 Daily Grind & Mercantile.  This place is normally a high end coffee shop during the day, but a few times a year they host a two seating (6 pm and 8 pm) gourmet dinner in the evening prepared by one of the co-owners, Martin.  He is a wonderful chef, and the food was exceptional.  There were three choices, and TLE and I chose the Shrimp & Crab Crepe topped with seared Sea Scollops and covered with Lobster Infused Bernaise sauce....



....by the time we finished dessert it was after 10:30 pm, and we were ready to head home and get some much needed rest.  We bid adieu to Krash, Karen and Debby and were home within 3 minutes.  What a great first day in Cedar Key.....what is in store for Sunday?

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.