Cedar Key Fun

Monday, April 11 - Friday, April 15, 2016
What fun we've had this week with our Mid-Florida Winnies group!!!!  We have been camped at the beautiful Cedar Key RV Resort with 34 other Winnebago owners along with one couple who stayed in a nearby motel for a total of 68 of us!!!!!  This little town is an example of old Florida -- a place that hasn't gotten all touristy.  It remains home for about 700 people who mostly rely on fishing for a living.  Clams are big!!!!

Below are some of the members enjoying Happy Hour on the first day.  There is always so much to share with all of our friends

On Tuesday morning I had arranged for a water tour of the surrounding waters, islands and wildlife  that 31 people took advantage of totally filling the boat.

Many of the little islands or keys are off limit to humans so as to protect the wide variety of birds that call this home especially when raising their young.  That is a white pelican with his back to us in this shot.

We also saw several eagles and of course lots of osprey on their nests.  In addition we drove by Atsenia Key where the Faber Pencil factory use to stand providing lots of employment.  They are well known for their yellow number 2 pencil we all grew up using.

Afterwards couples went in different directions taking time to enjoy the little downtown are and some of the eateries as well.  Ken and I along with our friends Frank and Bette had a bowl of Tony's famous clam chowder that won the national chowder contest three years in a row till asked to retire from the competition.

Always at 4:30 everyone gathers for Happy Hour and a time to share what they did during the day. Then following that we had a potluck with a very loaded table of food for selection.  And this was just the main dishes.  Salads and vergetables as well as desserts were at other tables.

Following dinner is a time to play games together if you enjoy them.   I took my Qwerkle game and taught it to the Jouret's.  We had a great time.

As hosts, we helped with the preparation and serving of a light breakfast on Wednesday morning.  That included muffins we had cooked at home and fresh fruit including the flat of strawberries I had cut and frozen several weeks ago.

Then we divided into groups and had an opportunity for a guided tour of the little historical museum in town.

 This one was especially wonderful because the person giving the tour was raised here in Cedar Key and now is in his 90's.  He was a wealth of information.

Included in the tour is a tour of a home behind the museum - it is the one he grew up in!!  Much of his father's equipment from both his career as a dentist and then factory owner making brooms from Sable Palms was there and on display.

Our guide is still making some of those brooms to be sold to raise funds for the museum.

Frank and Bette, Ken and I then enjoyed checking out some of the little shops in town including a quilt place and a couple of arts and crafts spots.

We ran into David and Donna Rumrill who were headed to lunch at a little local spot so we joined them.  Delicious food!!!!

Afterwards we went back to Frank and Bette's motel to see their room (it included a living room with TV and kitchenette) and their back yard views of the water.  What a neat place. Note the ospry nest on the mast of this boat anchored in the water.

Since we were hosts for the week, Ken and I then had to return to help get the Anniversary dinner ready for serving - grilled chicken, baked potatoes, vegetables, salad, and a key lime cake for dessert from the local bake shop.

Following clean up we got things ready for breakfast in the morning including breaking 12 dozen eggs into huge bowls and beating them so they were ready to scramble in the morning.

Following breakfast on Thursday was our regular monthly meeting.  By the time it was done, it was time to leave for Chieftan and the Dakota Vineyards for a wine tasting  that had been arranged by Joel and Brenda Oleksa.

Ken and I weren't into the wine tasting

but sure did enjoy seeing all the wood ducks and koi fish in the pond out back.  The owner raises the ducks and loves wildlife in general so has built the place to encourage their presence.

While wandering the gift shop that was also filled with all kinds of fascinating antiques, I discovered  flyer for the town of Trenton just a short distance away that had several interesting shops and a quilt museum.  Since it was so close we chose to go there.

Many of the quilts in the museum were displayed by antique furniture.  And some of the quilts themselves went back to the mid 1800s.  Below was an amazing quilt completed by a 92 year old woman with pictures done in petite point of every president of the United States.

We had not had lunch so decided to stop in the little cafe that was connected with the quilt shop. The food was exceptional!!  And the shop so much fun to wander through.

The place also had an old fashioned ice cream parlor.

Afterwards we wondered over to the "ice house"

which consisted of a needle work shop along with an antique shop and then in back a set up for monthly teas.  Someday I hope I can enjoy a tea there.

In the evening we all gathered and enjoyed an ice cream sundae (Ken and I had 10 half gallons of ice cream in our freezer plus sauces and strawberries plus peanuts and whipped topping) and a Winnebago quiz led by Bob and Kathy Olson.  We worked in groups of 4 to 6 solving the questions.  We sure learned alot when the answers were finally given.

Friday morning there was a continental breakfast that included more of the muffins and orange juice before we were all off to home or other places.  Bob and Glenda Christian were leading a small caravan of members to several gardens and other points of interest in Florida, Alabama and Georgia before heading the Music Caravan that starts in Nashville.  Ken and I were headed back to Hillcrest.

It was a great time for all of us.