Cedar Key is one of the oldest ports in the state, and when Florida's first railroad connected it to the east coast, it became a major supplier of seafood and timber products to the northeast. Today it has become a haven for artists and writers who find the unspoiled environment inspirational to their work. Many people visit each year to walk the historic streets browse the shops and galleries, explore the back bayous and enjoy the world-famous restaurants featuring seafood fresh from local waters. Annually, thousands of visitors come to enjoy the Old Florida Celebration of the Arts in April, the Fourth of July Celebration and the October Seafood Festival.

In addition to excellent fishing, bird watching and nearby nature trails, guides are available to take parties for offshore trips to the outer islands. A public marina with boat docking is available.

Federally protected sanctuaries, the Cedar Keys form a chain of barrier islands ideally suited to a vast range of migratory and shore birds, including the elusive white pelican, roseate spoonbill and bald eagle. The variety of natural habitats, from salt marshes to Indian shell mounds, makes this truly a nature lover's paradise.

So says the . I highly recommend you visit it to learn about this uniquely “Old Florida” town.

I have been visiting Cedar Key and it’s outlying keys for the last 15 years. Each year, on the first full weekend in May, small boaters from all over the country gather to enjoy each others company creations and ideas.

My friend Addison LePlate had this to say about it:

Camaraderie; that one word sums up Cedar Key for me.. Many sailing pursuits are defined more by their solitude . Sailing as a physical endeavor removes you from the daily hubbub.

Intellectually it invigorates you. Yet hubris does not remain for long as your endeavors are easily dismissed by unheeding powers of wind sky and sun.

But somehow we persist in solitude . The camp-cruiser is not motivated by the drivel of spectator sports. His blather is of equipment and voyage.. he remains land bound by daily responsibilities , yet his heart hears the siren call of the water's gurgle, the seaside splash.

No tonic is needed when one crests the waves and all of civilizations din is removed by distance.

So when one finds  a tribe , a gaggle of like minded souls ,  a pod of spiritualists whose Cathedral's ceiling is blue and its floor sandy, where the fount is salty and the windows nonexistent .

You immediately feel that sense of Camaraderie .. We go down to the sea not for livelihood but for sustenance .. Our recompense is the sense of our minuteness. We go to the coast ,not to cross to another land, but to another shore where our silence grows louder and our introspection ...blinding.

Cedar allowed me to enjoy that vision among like minded souls..

Thanks everyone.

Paddlevan