Cedar Cove Beach & Yacht Club

Fishing spot

by kyoub

This has to be the very best place to look for a fish. At least the pelicans seem to think so.
They sit out on this fishing shack all day long.
When it is dinnertime they dive down and get a fish.

cedar key florida

by doug48

"cedar key"

cedar key is a collection of small islands on the gulf of mexico in levy county florida. cedar key is located at the western terminus of SR 24 twelve miles west of US 98 in north central florida. cedar key was originally inhabited by the deptford culture native american tribe around 500 BC. spanish explorers in the 17 th century named this cluster of islands las islas sabines, "islands of cedars". the cedar keys were once the hide outs of the pirates jean lafitte and captain kidd. in 1839 general zachary taylor built fort # 4 on cedar key during the second seminole war. the seminoles were driven south into the everglades and in 1842 cedar key was opened to homesteading. by 1860 cedar key became an important port that shipped cedar lumber to northern pencil manufacturers. in 1864 cedar key was occupied by union forces during the civil war. after the civil war the florida rail road connected cedar key to fernandina on the east coast which had significant effect on the development of the area. during this time the eberhard faber and the eagle pencil companies built pencil factories in cedar key. in 1886 the economy began to decline when henry plant's florida west coast rail road bypassed cedar key in favor of the town of tampa. in 1896 a hurricane hit cedar key and destroyed most of the town. after the hurricane most of the population left the area and cedar key was in a state of decline until the 1960's. today the economy of cedar key depends on clam aquaculture and tourism. cedar key has a vibrant downtown with a number of good restaurants and bars. cedar key is known for it's excellent salt water fishing and nearby wildlife refuges. cedar key is a very nice "off the beaten path" place to visit in north central florida.

Little fishing village

by kyoub

"Great fishing"

A century ago Cedar Key was one of the largest cities in the state. That was before a hurricane took over the area, now it is a quiet little fishing town with a small art colony.
Everyone loves the seafood hear, even the birds.

Wildlife at Cedar Key

by maryellen50

"Serene Coastline"

Cedar Key is on Florida's undeveloped West Coast surrounded by acres & acres of protected lands, including the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Key National Wildlife Refuge, the Waccasassa Bay State Preserve and the Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve composed of tidal salt marsh, coastal islands, sand scrub, cypress swamp, rivers, flood plain, artesian springs, maritime forest and old growth pine forest

"Nature Coast Wildlife Experience in October"

This was the first wildlife festival for Cedar Kay with activities ranging from shore birding to birding by boat to aquaculture to kayaking.

"Bat at Suwanee Wildlife Refuge"

Several species of bats make their home in this area of Florida. The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge has a proactive bat house program for the Brazilian Free-tailed bat and the Rafinesque's Big-eared bat.

Nature and History come together

by mtncorg

Cedar Key is one of Florida's older towns. Its existence has been marked with periods of boom and bust starting with the building of a cross-state train line from here to Fernandina, on the Atlantic side near present-day Jacksonville. Before Cedar Key got to enjoy the fruits of the new trainline, a little thing called the Civil War intervened. When all the dust had settled, the pencil industry discoered the vast nearby cedar forests. Both Eagle Pencils and EberhardFaber had factories running with over a couple hundred people working. Cedar Key was Florida's second largest city in the 1880's. Too soon for city fathers of the time, though the cedar tree were all cut down and the pencil industry moved on. Another boom over. To punctuate that fact, in 1896, a horrific hurricane swept most of the town away taking the town back to its beginnings.

Cedar key is off-the-beaten-path and local residents - around 800 - prefer it that way. They have held off most developers (though there are always battles to be fought and money to be made) - a very difficult thing to do in the Sunshine State - and the town has remained a quiet community living off the seafood industry and low-scale tourism.

Eco-tourism is gaining hold here, situated as it is amongst a paradise of wildlife and unique environmental setting. The town is located three miles off the mainland at the end of a causeway, in the midst of a hundred plus little islands, mostly retained in their primeval state. Kayak trips take advantage of the calm waters to show visitors what the Gulf Coast of Florida once was (as opposed to what it is further south and north).

The town boasts a couple small museums - Cedar Keys State Museum and the Cedar Key Historical Society Museum. Fish of choice here, as with most of the Gulf Coast, is the mullet. Come here for its nature, its history or its somnolescence.