Florida’s
The Hidden Coast
March-April 2019
The Last of Old Florida
Cedar Key, FL March 30 & 31, 2019 See Page 10 for info
Florida State Bluegrass Festival Pg. 2
Trenton’s Quilt Festival Pg. 11
Dixie County Fly-In Cruise-In Pg.24
PERRY, YANKEETOWN & All In Between!
2 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 3
Florida’s
The Hidden Coast
The Last of Old Florida
March 2019
Produced by
North Florida Media Service
P.O. Box 624 | Lake City, FL 32056 www.nfmservice.com
Volume 4 Edition 2
For Advertising Information Please Call 386.719.1354 or email sales@nfmservice.com Cover photo courtesy: Ann Kamzelski
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What’s Happening on The Hidden Coast? We Have You Covered from Perry to Yankeetown, and ALL in Between!
Look for our next edition: MAY 2019!
thehiddencoastmag.com
Key West
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352-542-7800 www.riverhideaway.com
We are located on the historic Suwannee River and are known for our 1500’ boardwalk thru the wetlands to the river. We now also have another 1900’ walking trail along the river’s edge.
RV sites • primitive tent sites • bath house laundry facilities • swimming pool 1920’s general store • WIFI hotspot Locally grown, all-natural beef sold in store 4 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast s r Cards Welcome
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TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 5
55th ANNUAL
Old Florida Celebration of the Arts JURIED ARTS FESTIVAL WELCOMING 120 FINE ARTISTS & ARTISANS
Cedar Key, Florida
March 30 (10-5) & 31 (10-4), 2019
• Great Food, Music, and Kids Activities in Beachfront City Park • Artist Demonstrations both afternoons • Family-Friendly, Pet-Friendly & FREE!
www.CedarKeyArtsFestival.com
352.543.5400 | cedarkeyartsfestival@gmail.com
6 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
PUTTING AMERICAN’S TO WORK
By: Toni C. Collins
Bridge built by the CCC in 1935 over the Econfina River, Taylor County. The WPA was a relief measure established in 1935 by executive order as the Works Progress Administration, and was redesigned in 1939 when it was transferred to the Federal Works Agency. Headed by Harry L. Hopkins and supplied with an initial congressional appropriation of 4.88 billion dollars, it offered work to the unemployed on an unprecedented scale. The money was spent on a wide variety of programs, including highways and building and construction, slum clearance, reforestation, and rural rehabilitation. So gigantic an undertaking was inevitably attended by confusion, waste, and political favoritism. However, this ‘pump-priming’ effect stimulated private business during the depression years and inaugurated reforms that states had been unable to subsidize. Special programs like the Federal Writers Project was created in 1935 in an effort to find work suitable for the nation’s thousands of unemployed writers, historians, librarians, and teachers. The programs were an ambitious attempt to harness the nation’s idle writing and research talents to document America’s cultural and social history. The workers prepared state and regional guide books, organized archives, indexed newspapers, and conducted useful sociological and historical investigations. The Federal Arts Project gave unemployed artists the opportunity to decorate hundreds of post offices, schools, and other public buildings with murals, canvases, and sculptures; musicians organized symphony orchestras and community singing. The Federal Theater Project experimented with untried modes, and scores of stock companies, toured the country with repertories of old and new plays, thus bringing drama to communities where it had been known only through the radio. One of the projects of the Federal Writers Project was the survey of known churches and synagogues which were organized by county. Survey workers then ventured out into the field to document church histories and record holdings by interviewing clergy and congregation members. These records for the State of Florida can be found online at the Florida State Archives website https://floridamemory.com/ collections. Another collection at the Florida State Archives contains brief county histories of Florida’s 67-counties. The purpose of the project was to create a useful guide to county records and holdings while providing employment to historians, lawyers, teachers, and other professionals whose jobs had fallen victim to the economic downturn of the 1930s. However, the most well known of the Works Progress Administration programs was directed toward construction. Called the Civilian Conversation Corps, during its 8-year history, the CCC built 651,087 miles of highways, roads, and streets; and constructed, repaired, or improved 124,031 bridges, 125,110 public buildings, 8,192 parks, and 853 airport landing fields. By March, 1936, the WPA rolls had reached a total of more than 3.4 million persons. After initial cuts in June 1939, the program averaged 2.3 million workers monthly, and by June 30, 1943, when it was officially terminated, the WPA had employed more than 8.5 million different persons on 1.41 million individual projects, and had spent about $11 billion dollars.
TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 7
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8 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
CLOSING SALE! March/April
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FOR ALL CUSTOMERS! Final Day APRIL 27th!
1545 NW 26th Ave. Chiefland
352-493-9002 Pool & Billiard Hall Sports Bar · Pub
Chiefland Billiards is the only smoke free pool hall within 50 miles!
Lunch & Dinner Specials. Stop by and see us.
434 2nd St., Cedar Key Phone: (352) 543-9779 bethjdavis@bellsouth.net Hours: 10a–5:00p Monday – Saturday thesaltyneedlequiltshop.com Beth Davis Owner
TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 9
10 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2019
Hundreds of Quilts from Florida Quilting Groups Outdoor & Indoor Displays NO ADMISSION FEE Come See What Everybody is Talking About! This is one of the nicest and most interesting shops I have ever visited...don’t miss visiting Salt Marsh Cottage for unique decorating items, beautiful and affordable jewelry, and truly exciting gifts! -Misty B. My favorite store in Cedar Key, Florida! Awesome customer service and great unique items. I love it!! -Marla H. This is an absolutely wonderful shop! Everything is beautifully displayed and the prices are reasonable. Don’t miss stopping in when you’re in Cedar Key! -Susan S.
618 2nd Street | Cedar Key, Florida
(352) 477-5100
TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 11
“We have the potential to create a record of the things we are going to lose to sea level rise, to have them virtually, so we can recreate them, or elements of them. It’s a very powerful technology.”
— Morris Hylton
Laser Legacy By Cindy Spence A version of this story appeared in UF’s Explore research magazine | explore.research.ufl.edu
S
ince 1859, the Island Hotel has weathered the storms of coastal Cedar Key. Generations have sipped a beer on a hot summer day and dined on speckled trout fresh off the boat. Its weathered facade seems steadfast, a survivor of the Gulf of Mexico’s whims. The thriving inn and restaurant is on the National Register of Historic Places and draws townsfolk and tourists alike. Its place in history is secure, but its place in the next century may not be, and so University of Florida researcher Morris Hylton III points a laser scanner at its walls, documenting it millimeter by millimeter in three dimensions. The images are ethereal, and in a world of rising seas, perhaps the ghosts of Florida future. The work is part of the Resilient Resources Initiative, and Cedar Key is a pilot before Hylton and his graduate students move on to the 9 square miles of historic districts in Miami’s South Beach, and perhaps other coastal communities. “There are going to have to be some very difficult decisions. Which resources are we going to go to any length and spend any amount of money to save, and what are the things we’re going to have to document, and then let go,” Hylton says. “The facts are, it can’t all be saved.” A 2014 estimate puts 720 of 1,007 UNESCO World Heritage sites at risk from sea level rise. There is no survey of threatened heritage along Florida’s 1,350 miles of coastline — although almost any Floridian can name a favorite iconic site — and Hylton says that was the impetus for the Resilient Resources Initiative, a collaboration of the Envision Heritage Program and the GeoPlan Center in UF’s College of Design, Construction & Planning. Hylton says the laser scanning technology gives coastal communities accurate documentation of their heritage as a tool in making the hard choices ahead. UF’s laser arrived in 2012, and now the university is a leader in using the technology for historic preservation. Through the National Center for Preservation Technology, the
12 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
National Park Service contracts with UF to train heritage specialists to document threatened sites, and Hylton’s team has been to Thailand and Myanmar to document temples. When Hylton aims the laser at a historic site, a point cloud takes shape in 3-D. The virtual model consists of millions or — depending on the size of the site — tens of millions of tiny points that record the x, y and z coordinates when the laser hits the surface. The files are large, and Hylton says UF’s supercomputers, HiPerGator and HiPerGator 2.0, have been pressed into service for data management. HiPerGator’s keepers welcomed the opportunity to work on large visual datasets as opposed to traditional datasets of numbers and words. For an archive, digital files are a challenge, Hylton says. Data stored on floppy disks in the 1990s, for instance, is not easily accessible today.
The Resilient Resources Initiative uses 3-D visualizations of sea level rise as one way to help historic coastal communities make critical decisions about adapting their buildings or mitigating their loss.
The laser works fast, and speed is what Hylton needs with the sea rising, steadily in some places but unpredictably in others. He estimates it would take a day and a half to document a structure the size of the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, for instance. The Castillo is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States, at 321 years old. Although it never fell to an enemy in battle, it is slowly succumbing to the sea. The technology is as accurate as it is powerful. When interiors of the former Steinway & Sons piano company in Manhattan were demolished to make room for a residential tower, Hylton’s team scanned the decorative plaster ceilings. Using the scan, the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston, S.C. recreated some of the details by hand with traditional methods. “We went from analog to virtual and back to analog,” Hylton says. “We have the potential to create a record of the things we are going to lose to sea level rise, to have them virtually, so we can recreate them, or elements of them. It’s a very powerful technology.” Recreating something larger requires a cost-benefit analysis. A U.S. Department of the Interior study of just one-third of the national parks threatened by sea level rise estimated $40 billion in resources are at risk. The study noted that rebuilding the Castillo farther inland — with its original coquina blocks and tabby mortar — could cost billions. The National Park Service has partnered with UF to provide training and workshops on using the laser to document its sites. The World Monuments Fund, too, has called upon UF to document fragile resources. Hylton says that when he worked for the fund before coming to UF the enemies of historic preservation were largely decay, neglect, even development. Today, water is by far the major threat. At Wat Chaiwatthanaram, a riverside Buddhist temple in the Khmer style in Thailand, Hylton’s team was invited in following flooding that damaged the foundations of the temple and towers. Some sites have turned to mammoth engineering to keep rising water at bay. Venice, Italy just completed the Moses project, a series of gates to block the highest tides in the lagoon, at a billion-dollar cost. “They don’t know if it’s going to work or for how long,” says Hylton, who lived in Venice for a year. “It started so long ago, and today the scenarios are worse than anticipated. It’s a World Heritage City, it’s one of those places … how much money are we willing to spend to save a place that’s irreplaceable?” As he prepares to document Miami’s South Beach and its art deco treasures, Hylton wonders if generations to come, more accustomed to virtual worlds, may turn to the scanned images as a memory bank of sorts. In a future, virtual world, perhaps they can even enter digital images, for a stroll along the ramparts of a fort built by Spanish conquistadors or through the lobby of Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau hotel, or into Ernest Hemingway’s home with its six-toed cats in Key West.
Island Hotel, Cedar Key
Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami Beach
Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine
“Nothing can replace visiting a place, being there, but the fact is we’re going to lose a lot of places, and if they can somehow experience them that’s a huge benefit from what we’re doing,” Hylton says. Hylton has dedicated his career to historic preservation, and says the prospect of what Florida, his adopted home, might lose exacts an emotional toll that is hard to describe. At the same time, he feels an urgency to deploy technology, to do what he can. “This is critical. We have to do it, or we’re not only going to lose these historic coastal places of Florida,” Hylton says, “we’re not going to have a record.”
For more information Morris Hylton III Director of the Historic Preservation Program mhylton@dcp.ufl.edu Related website: https://dcp.ufl.edu/historic-preservation/ envision-heritage/
TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 13
LocalFlavor 490 Dock St., Cedar Key (352) 543-8004 Formerly Carlin’s Waterfront Bar & Grille
OPEN 7:30AM–10PM • 7 Days a Week
420 Dock St., Cedar Key (352) 543-5142
steamerscedarkey.com
Open 7 days a week Lunch and dinner Fresh Clams and Oysters
1-352-498-8088 7022 SW 358 HWY Steinhatchee, FL goodtimesmotelandmarina.com
Steinhatchee, FL
Jake’s Waterfront Pub At The
The Marina Horseshoe Beach
LOGO
LOGO
14 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
262 3rd St. • Horseshoe Beach (352) 498-5405 In Florida’s Last Frontier
www.themarinainhorseshoebeach.com
OPEN MOST WEEKENDS
Watch the Shrimp Boats Come In and Have a Cold Beer!
YOUR BUSINESS HERE! Restaurant & contact information
Picture
YOUR BUSINESS HERE! Restaurant & contact information
Picture
LocalFlavor Call now for Fresh Florida Stone Crabs! Locally Family Owned & Operated Restaurant & Bar Check us out on Facebook for weekly specials! www.kathiskrabs.com
A great NEW menu, open-air dining and views, deck seating, pool tables, live music on weekends, and more! Food & Drink Specials Daily! 310 Dock St. Cedar Key, Florida | 352.543.5070 www.83westcedarkey.com
331 Dock St. Cedar Key, FL Great selection of local clams (352) 543-9992 and oysters! The grouper (Pet Friendly)
Tiki Bar We’re the closest marina to the Gulf of Mexico in Steinhatchee!
sandwich is excellent!
End your day at Steinhatchee with a cold beverage! Open during scallop season and special events only
322 Riverside Drive Steinhatchee, FL VHF Channel 09 • (352) 498-3008
Attention Restaurants!
Be a part of our "Local Flavor" page • Covers Yankeetown to Steinhatchee • Social Media Updates • 70K Distribution • Available at I-75 Welcome Center • Online Presence • Published Six Times a Year
$75/ per edition Call 386-719-1354 for more info!
Attention Restaurants!
Be a part of our "Local Flavor" page • Covers Yankeetown to Steinhatchee • Social Media Updates • 70K Distribution • Available at I-75 Welcome Center • Online Presence • Published Six Times a Year
For information on our next edition call
386-719-1354 TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 15
16 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
The Hidden Coast
Find Your Way Around
TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 17
Map Courtesy: River Graphics Maggie Valley, NC 2875 | Tel. 828.944.0134
The Last of Old Florida
H O M E
Cedar Key Arts Center presents
Tiny Treasures Home Tour Saturday March 9, 10 am-4pm Visit Thirteen of Cedar Key’s Artistically Designed & Decorated Small Homes Refreshments in Morning & Afternoon Benefits the Cedar Key Arts Center
T O U R
18 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
Tickets $20/person Available at Cedar Keyhole 457 2nd St, 10a-5p
Special Offers on Day of the Event
Box Lunch Special at 83 West Tour Rental Rate from Gulf Kart Co.
d ew Ti
An
Thanks to everyone for
Two Years In Business!
ater Tou rs
d Boat Rentals
Cedar Key invites you to experience pristine water and remote islands of the Cedar Key National Refuge aboard Cedar Key’s largest touring vessels.
Dock#4 on Dock Street Cedar Key, FL
Capt. Tom Cushman | 386-623-0243 captcush357@hotmail.com
Runnin’ Out Fishing Charters
Call or Text!
352-543-9523 | 352-949-1996 www.tidewatertours.com
SCAN FOR WEBSITE!
• 7 Wildlife Management Areas • 9 Public Boat Ramps for small boats and kayak/canoe launching • Phenomenal Fishing and Scalloping • Restaurants, lodging, gift shops, grocery, hardware & marinas • Year round events and more! www.steinhatcheechamber.com
Photo Courtesy of: Kim Kennedy @simplysteinhatchee
We offer guides for fishing & scallop season, vacation, boat and kayak rentals and restaurants for both Jena and Steinhatchee. Steinhatchee is the place to settle for a night, a month or longer. TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 19
Rise Above the Boundaries of Land & Water – Fly the Dixie Skies Cross City Airport Fly-In Cruise-In & Business Expo | Saturday April 27, 2019
Everyone remembers their first time behind the wheel of a car, their first time operating a power boat and their first job in a local business. Each year, since 2015, we provide young and old, an opportunity for their first flight, or a repeat flight with Young Eagles plane rides, MaxFlight helicopter rides, FOAA Huey helicopter rides, Florida Air Tours rides, Don Bo’s hot air balloon rides and the Kiddie Squadron “train” ride around the tarmac. You will find a reason to return each year as we continue showcasing unique aircraft, land cruisers and watercraft along with exhibits by regional businesses and organizations, arts & crafts and food vendors along with live music talent under the trees. We provide handicap parking assistance and a people mover to the venue. Dixie invites visitors to come for the day or remain longer to tour our hidden coast, rivers and the nature preserves. Sample the variety of lodging and dining available in our historic towns. 20 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
Explore Dixie’s Towns, Rivers, Nature Preserves and Coastal Byways
Dixie covers 704 square miles including 160 square miles of lakes, rivers, coastal bays and creeks. The land is 80% forested, 5% salt marsh and 15% residential areas. Elevations range from 62 feet in the northeast to 0 feet at the coast. Dixie boundaries include a northern land border with Lafayette County, 35 miles of Gulf of Mexico coastline on the south, 54 miles of Suwannee River on the east and 13 miles of Steinhatchee River on the west. The quiet seclusion draws visitors from across the country. The Gulf waters off Levy, Dixie and Taylor offer a lifetime of fishing, diving, boating, kayaking and nature watching. Clams, oysters and scallops are harvested both commercially and recreationally in season. Forest products are produced by local timber companies, lumber mills and mulch operations. Four-lane US 19 going west from Fanning Springs passes through Old Town at CR 349 which parallels the Suwannee River giving
access to springs and campgrounds north and south down to Suwannee on the Gulf. At Cross City, the county seat, CR 351 accesses the town of Horseshoe Beach and Shired Island County Park. Continuing west on US 19, Jena can be accessed at Jonesboro via CR 358 and Steinhatchee can be accessed at Tennille via CR 51. RV camping, lodging and dining are available at each town. Marinas and boat ramps are available all along the rivers and coasts. A network of unpaved roads link Suwannee, Horseshoe Beach and Jena along the coast. In dry seasons the roads provide a delightful alternative to driving up to US 19. Hunters and wildlife enthusiast can enjoy state and national nature preserves. Coastal creeks, some navigable by powered watercraft, provide access to remote areas along the Gulf for fishing and scalloping at high tide. The Dixie County Tourist Development Council (VisitDixie.com) and the Dixie County Chamber of Commerce (dixiechamber.org) and their Facebook page links have a wealth of
additional information for visitors. Fun video and photos and added routinely to the pages. Whether you relax or play, you’ll fit naturally in Dixie.
For more information on the author
Cary On Destinations, Inc.
17582 SE HWY 19 Suite 6 | Cross City, Florida 32628 | Jeff.Cary@CaryOnDestinations.com 352-440-2056 Office | 352-562-6533 Cell
TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 21
Island Hotel & Restaurant
Riverside Spirits ‘N Wine Shoppe 1312 S Riverside Dr. • Steinhatchee, Florida
(352) 498-2942 Riverside Spirits is a family owned and operated liquor, beer, and wine shoppe. We also carry fine cigars and beautiful sterling silver jewelry.
Built in 1859, this old Florida style Inn is located in the heart of Cedar Key. Features a fine dining seafood restaurant and Neptune Lounge. Ten distinctive rooms with private baths.
On the National Register of Historic Places.
www.islandhotel-cedarkey.com
373 2nd Street Cedar Key, Fl 32625 (352) 543-5111 ~ (800) 432-4640
22 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
HOURS Mon-Thur: 10-8:30 Fri-Sat: 10-10 Sun: 10-8
Cedar Key Inshore Fishing!
Each piece you order is made especially for YOU. 4051 D Street • Cedar Key, FL Monday-Saturday 9-5 • Sunday 10-5 (352)543-5198 www.ckcanvas.com • julie@ckcanvas.com
Levy County Quilt Museum 11050 NW 10th Ave. Chiefland, FL 352-493-2801 www.levycountyquiltmuseum.org
Redfish • Trout Shark • Cobia
Captain Jason Lowe 352.362.0656
Licensed & Insured
www.JLowesGuideService.com | Jason@Jlowesguideservice.com
Old Florida With Modern Comforts!
Don’t Forget Quilt Fest! See Page 11
Open Tuesday-Saturday 10 – 3 Free Admission | Free Parking RV’ers Welcome | Large Parking Area
410 2nd Street | Cedar Key, Florida 32625 | (352) 543-5455
Family owned and operated since 1991 11951 SW Shiloh Rd Cedar Key, Florida, FL (352) 543-6268 Hours 10:00AM - 4:00PM
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thehiddencoastmag.com What’s Happening on The Hidden Coast? We Have You Covered from Perry to Yankeetown, and ALL in Between!
Look for us at the
Wings over Suwannee Aviation Event Suwannee County Airport, Live Oak • March 30
TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 23
Our 2019 Sponsors Remind You: “Drive Safe, Watch for Spinning Props, Moving Aircraft & Vehicles” 24 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 25
26 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
Florida Facts By: Toni C. Collins
• The first game of billiards played in the United States was at St. Augustine in 1565. • Florida has over 300 species of native trees. • Tallahassee is the capital of the state because it is approximately midway between Pensacola and St. Augustine the provincial capitals when Florida was acquired by the United States from Spain. • Ochopee, on the Tamiami Trail, is said to have the smallest post office in the United States. • The first night airplane flight took place at Tampa in 1911. The pilot, Lincoln Beachey, also set a world’s altitude record over Tampa that year. • Florida has 27-first magnitude springs, more than any other state. • The first artificial ice was made in Apalachicola by Dr. John Gorrie in 1845. • There are six reservations for Native Americans in two federally recognized tribes in Florida (Seminole and Miccosukee). • The oldest chartered state bank still in operation in the United States is Quincy State Bank. • The first air/sea rescue was near Key West in January 1911. • The car first exceeded the speed of 200 mph on Daytona Beach on March 29, 1927. • Florida is only known to have had three earthquakes. • There are 20 metropolitan areas in Florida. • Florida’s first telephone exchange opened in Jacksonville in 1880. • There are approximately 80 native mammal species in Florida. • There are 882-islands, or “keys” in the Florida Keys which are large enough to be showing in hydrographic maps. • The first operating railroad in Florida, the St. Joseph Railroad-Lake Wimico, began operation in March 1836 and had the first steam locomotive in September 1836, • Florida’s population growth rates in the 20 century have ranged between 29 and 79 percent per decade. • The first moon flight was launched from Cape Canaveral in 1969. • Key West is the site of the first international air passenger station, opened on October 28, 1927. • DeLeon Springs near Deland is the site of the oldest sugar mill in America. • The first cigar factory in the United States was established in Key West in 1831. • The oldest wooden schoolhouse in America is in St. Augustine. • There are 1,711 islands of 10-acres or larger in size in Florida. • Lake Okeechobee is the second largest freshwater lake entirely within one state and the fourteenth largest natural lake entirely with the United States. • Florida is one of the world’s largest producers of phosphate, providing more than one-fifth of the world’s production. • Venice has the world’s only professional clown school. • Wakulla Spring is the deepest fresh water spring in the world. 185 feet. Source: The Florida Handbook, 2003 - 2004. Compiled by Allen Morris and Joan Perry Morris. The Peninsular Publishing Co., : Tallahassee.
The Marina In Florida’s Last Frontier
262 3rd St. • Horseshoe Beach www.themarinainhorseshoebeach.com
331 Dock St. Cedar Key, FL (352) 543-9992 (Pet Friendly)
We offer Gulf Front Rental Properties!
The Angler Inn 22 Main Street
$99
Off Season Tax Included
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Cedar Key Country Store 598 2nd Street | Cedar Key, FL | 352.543.9697 Hours: 10-5 Thur, Fri, Sat & Mon
Gulf Front
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$445/$1065
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Sleep up to (8) People, Docks, Fish Cleaning Sinks, Fire Pit, Bikes, Crab Traps, Fishing Poles, BBQ... We Have All Types of Gift Ideas!
All Units Are Non-Smoking. Call Dennis Buckley 386-235-3633 or 352-498-5986
Spectacular Sunsets! Locally Made Items, Island Home Décor, Memorabilia, Jewelry, Unique Finds & So Much More! 28 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
Fish or Crab off of Your Own Deck! See Back Page For More Information!
Cedar Key
Dolphin Project
“...because every fin is unique: it is like a fingerprint.”
Dolphin vs. Porpoise One of the first things we heard when we started doing research on the Bottlenose dolphins in the Nature Coast area was “we don’t have dolphins here, we only have porpoises.” Like a lot of things in the English language, there has been confusion. In Japanese, the written form of dolphin translates to “sea pig.” In English (which is rooted in Latin and French), the word porpoise is based on a combination of pig and fish. Additionally, the Welsh name for porpoise is based on “sea pig.” Translations to and from English for both of the words dolphin and porpoise relate to “sea pigs.” We know that there are scientific differences between dolphins and porpoises: porpoises are smaller than dolphins and have smaller mouths and spade-shaped (like a spatula) teeth, whereas dolphins have bigger bodies, longer mouths (or “beaks”), and teeth that are shaped like cones. There are about 32 dolphin species and about 6 porpoise species in the world, but there are no porpoise species recorded in the Gulf of Mexico. So what is going on?
Dolphin
Porpoise The word mix-up likely is something that has been passed down through generations of fishermen and sailors. We find that the word porpoise is used more often where fishing is a significant way of life versus areas where tourism is more prevalent. There are 29 marine mammal species in the Gulf of Mexico, though you are unlikely to see many of these as they live in deep waters or are very rare. The most common dolphin species in our area is the Bottlenose dolphin. There are 8 other dolphin species in the Gulf: the Clymene dolphin, the Atlantic spotted dolphin, the Fraser’s dolphin, the Pantropical spotted dolphin, the Risso’s dolphin, the rough toothed dolphin, the spinner dolphin, and the striped dolphin. So you see, this article does have a porpoise! The next time you are discussing porpoises versus dolphins in the Nature Coast, you are talking about the same species! If you would like to help the Cedar Key Dolphin Project, a 501c3 organization, consider a tax-deductible donation! You can find us at www.cedarkeydolphinproject.org, or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!
TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 29
Spring has sprung here in...
The Calendar says it will officially begin on March 20th as the Spring Equinox takes place. This occurs as the tilt of the earth on it’s axis in relation to the sun reaches a point where the day and night are equal. From that point on the days will get a little longer each day. The sun will rise a little earlier and set upon the horizon each afternoon just a little bit later.
Spring fishing patterns are shaping up nicely and this should prove to be a great Spring fishing season here in Steinhatchee. Once the water temperatures have reached 70 degrees and maintained for a while that means the spring fishing party is on. This actually occurred at the end of February so this transition is in full swing. During this time the fish that have wintered in the creeks and rivers Winter came a little earlier than what we have or out offshore begin to move onto the flats. grown accustomed to last year as we got out forst Cold snap in October, but it seems that During this transition baitfish that had Mother Nature is making up for it. February migrated south for the winter begin to move has had quite the Springish feel for most of the back into our area. As this bait moves in larger month. Many migrational birds have shown predator fish follow and feed as they make up already, some have been here for several their venture back to our part of the gulf as weeks. Trees are budding out and blooming all well. During this springtime period we will see through the woods, Easter Lilies are beginning many fish species appear that have been south to pop up and bloom in the ditches along the for the winter. Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, highways. As all of this new stuff is happening Cobia and others will make their way back we will see the Loons, many of our species of into our fishery once again. ducks and the White Pelicans disappear until the fall. All of Gods glorious sights that we see Spring is such a magical time with all of in the springtime are showing up everywhere. the beauty and changes that occur here each 30 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
Steinhatchee !!
year in Steinhatchee and I hope you will come fishing so don’t miss out on it. If I can be of for a visit where we can share the beauty and service to take you out for a day on the water experiences with you. Spring fishing is full of please give me a call or visit my website. action and a great experience for novices. I love the Spring season, it feels like a time of Capt Mike Farmer renewal as we shake loose the cobwebs of the Salt Addiction Charters Winter season and everything pops up new 352-210-1551 again. Also it is one of my favorite times for www.saltaddictioncharters.com
2019 Bay Scallop Season: June 15 – Sept. 10 for more info: myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/bay-scallops
TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 31
WELCOME TO THE ISLAND! PelicanRealty.com Small Town Realtors Big Time Results Caryn Stephenson, Broker Ann Young & Julie Vandegrift, Realtors Phone: 352.543.5581 598 2nd Street, Cedar Key Cedar Key, FL 32625
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32 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
Private Balcony • Pool Hot Tub • Dock Canoe • Kayak • On-Site Staff View Condo Photos Check Availability & Book Online
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Join Us in Celebrating the
Anniversary JOIN US IN C40th ELEBRATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY theCCedar OFofTHE EDAR KKey EY HHistorical ISTORICALMuseum MUSEUM It’s said that there's something special about places that are at the end of the road. We know you'll agree. Come to the end of our road, Florida State Route 24. Come all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. There you can lose yourself in the past of one of Florida’s oldest cities and one of America’s best small towns. There, at the end of the road, the Cedar Key Historical Museum awaits. Since 1979, the Cedar Key Historical Museum has dedicated itself to preserving the long and rich history of Cedar Key. The Museum is in the Lutterloh building at the corner of 2nd & D Streets. Built in 1871 by attorney J. D. Lutterloh, the building not only shares the history of Cedar Key, it is part of the history. Next to the Lutterloh building visitors find the Andrews house. Dr John Andrews donated his family's turn of the century home to the Museum in 1994. The house was moved from its original location to the Museum property. Challenges from government agencies and funding shortages were overcome. The Andrews house opened to the public in 2002, an integral part of the Cedar Key Historical Museum. The Cedar Key Historical Museum features a wide variety of local history. Visitors enjoy exhibits that include:
Fossils of the Native American Wacasassa tribe Native Ceramics & Aboriginal Artifacts Naturalist John Muir's Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf Pencil Companies in Cedar Key Fishing and Aquaculture in Cedar Key The Railroads Role in Local Industry The Donax Brush Company Medical and Dental History in the Community and more..................
The Cedar Key Historical Museum is a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence recipient. The Museum is open Sunday thru 1:00 PM tois 4:00 PM. On Saturday, the Museum is The Cedar KeyFriday Historical Museum a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence recipient. open from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The Museum is open Sunday thru Friday 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
On Saturday, the Museum is open from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. TheHiddenCoastMag.com • 33
The Sheep Come
Marching In
By Capt Brian Smith, Big Bend Charters Steinhatchee
Last year the sheepshead season was fantastic. We caught a boat limit each trip. I have a five sheepshead per person limit on my boat as opposed to fifteen per regulation. Furthermore, we try to cull egg laden females as best possible. One trip last year the seas were extremely rough so there was no other option but to continue to catch sheepshead after the thirty fish boat limit was made. We brought back ninety legally caught sheepshead much to my dismay. I asked that no pictures be taken because I don’t want to promote taking that many fish during spawn. I found pictures posted, even on my FB. My wife took them down. That will never happen again! First because I didn’t like it. But, thankfully the legal limit has been reduced from fifteen to eight per person. If that had been done decades ago, we’d be catching more sheepshead all during the year not just during the spawn. I’m happy for the common sense change. It is immediately good for the fish and eventually will be good for us. Way to go FWC!!! There are several things sheepshead fishing teaches. Number one is patience. There are times when you can watch the fish take the bait and still not put the hook to them. Most of the time it goes in this order: the bait is on the bottom, there is a slight tap, followed by the yank to set the hook, grumbling words while reeling up the bare hook, the rebait and replay the aforementioned. One can’t put the ‘touch’ in someone else’s finger tips. It is an acquired skill after multiple failures. Thankfully, when the bite is hot, you get many chances to gain the skill set. Actually, women are better sheepshead fisher-people than men. Women tend to be more sensitive. It is fun to take couples sheepshead fishing just to watch frustration level rise in the guy until self destruction. The woman gleefully pulling up another sheepshead to the chagrin of her humiliated man. Or better yet, the daughter out fishing the father. Another fun sight to see is a dedicated bass fisherman. They usually bring their own baitcaster. This guys set the hook as if trying to drive it through a 4x4. With no fish at the end of the line, they almost fall backwards The importance of anchoring well. Grouper diggers know that being off the spot a little is to be off the bite completely. Inshore anglers are used to drift fishing or out-right cheat using a Power Pole. Power Poles don’t apply in twenty feet of
34 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
water or more! If you are not positioned right over where the sheepshead are milling around, you get to watch the folks who anchored well catch the fish you wanted. There is a lot more to anchoring than dumping the anchor off the boat. Often thinking “this is close enough” can be translated to “I really didn’t want to be bothered with catching fish”. Factors, such as, wind, current and tide can make anchoring well frustrating even for seasoned fishermen. I’ve anchored a boat more often than most, yet still encounter times when four attempts are necessary. It does hurt the pride but pride don’t catch fish. Pride goeth before a fail or something like that. Sheepshead fishing shows you just how conservation minded you really are. Most anglers aren’t fish rapist. They fish mostly for a good time with family and friends. Only a fool thinks that if limits weren’t taken or poundage wasn’t maxed out, then the fishing trip was a bust. Those types are short-sighted and probably unhappy about many other things in life. But, for the majority who consider conservation a good thing and feel they are conservation minded, it is still difficult to release the large egg laden females. You know the ones with the bloated bellies or eggs oozing out her vent. It might be the biggest fish of the day, yet you realize her potential. That single female can produce over a million plus eggs over a single spawning season. Folks are admiring your catch. Children thinking your the greatest fisherman they know. Do you toss her in the cooler to watch thousands upon thousands of eggs rinsed off the cleaning table? Or do you stand by your convictions and let her go to do her purpose? It is an opportunity to know ones self. It is an opportunity to show others what is most important to you. Thanks for taking your valuable time to read my story. Take care of yourself and the tackle. – Capt. B If going fishing was all about eating fish, then it would be by far cheaper to go the the fish market. – Salty Dog
Horseshoe Beach A Great Vacation Place!
Tammy Bryan, Broker
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Office: (352) 498-2400 | Cell: (352) 356-1296 | Fax: (352) 498-2403 130 Main Street/ PO Box 154 | Horseshoe Beach, FL 32648 compassrealty@bellsouth.net | www.compassrealtynfl.com
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36 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
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38 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
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The Marina
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Featuring Jake’s Waterfront Pub! Open Fri. and Sat. 4-12 with live music most weekends. We rent bicycles, golf carts, fishing poles, crab traps, etc... We also rent and sell Wilderness Systems kayaks! Kayak Our Beautiful Shoreline!
40 • Florida’s The Hidden Coast
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