Sea Creatures

An adventure on Florida’s Sports Coast brings one traveler closer to nature.

byGrace A. Capobianco

WE HAD JUST FINISHED DINNER when the storm came over the horizon. We were in the middle of nowhere—not on a boat, but a wooden stilt house, standing alone in the Gulf off the coast of Florida. It is one of the oldest houses on the water, built so that the fisherman can stay out on the water scalloping overnight.

That morning, we had scalloped the water around the American Flag Stilt House, snorkeling along the Gulf of Mexico and picking out shells where they had settled along the ocean floor. The stilt house's owners, the Lake family, invited us over to cook and eat our catch, with the help of Chef Ben of Benedetto's restaurant.

The stilt house is an historic landmark along Florida's 'Sports Coast,'

the coastline off the shore of Pasco in Pasco County. The natural beauty of that coastline has attracted lovers of water sports, who fish, sail, kayak, and jet ski along those waters. Instead of beach and pool-side lounging, the Sports Coast offers visitors opportunities to engage with the county's natural beauty and spirit of adventure.

And there was plenty to do when we weren't exploring nature. Pasco boasts a hopping local brewery scene, shopping, delicious cuisine, and even a hidden speakeasy. The area has enough creature comforts to enjoy your vacation in style, but not enough to forget why you are there. The scalloping was the highlight of the trip. Every summer, visitors can dive into the shallows of the gulf and pick scallops off of the ocean floor. We dove in with mesh bags and snorkels and picked our dinner—fresh from the ocean to our plates. There is nothing like the feeling of being connected to nature and local history.

Stilt houses are a window to the past: wooden structures with no electricity and no plumbing (though they do have outhouses). American Flag Stilt House, where we stood watching the storm on the horizon, is one of eight still standing on the coast. The unusual structures have existed for longer than Pasco County, with records going back to the 1880s. They were popular for fishing, storage, and waiting out the storms which rock the coast. American Flag Stilt House has our country's flags painted on its north and south walls. We were inside this piece of history when we saw the storm. As it came toward us, we sat down with the Lakes and with Chef Ben, and sang and played guitars surrounded by nature. Watching the storm roll across the water, with dramatic lightning arching across the clouds, we got to see the natural, wild beauty of the sports coast in the same way that Pasco's inhabitants would have almost 150 years ago. DT