October 31, 2015 - Chiefland, FL & Cedar Key, FL

Boo!  Did Edith scare y'all?  

We thought about swimming at the spring, but figured it might be crowded now that a lot of campers and visitors are here for the weekend.  Instead we decided to drive down to Cedar Key, FL, which is about 39 miles away.

The last time we visited Cedar Key was years and years ago, so we were anxious to see how much it has changed over the years.   The drive from Chiefland to Cedar Key was very lovely.  And, to make it more pleasant the weather cooperated greatly.

We managed to find a shady parking space one block from the main street.  There were few Halloween decors in town.  There is one corner building that seemed like it will be used as a haunted house tonight.

From the parking space we strolled to the city dock, watched some boaters leaving and entering.  There were pelicans and seagulls in the water waiting for the discarded guts being thrown from the boat.

Camera shy 

Edith remembered some of what the town looked like, even remembered the upstairs restaurant she ate at with Gracie, Jerry and her mom many years ago.  

Seeing some stray/Tom cats in Cedar Key reminded us of Key West, FL where there are hundreds and hundreds of stray cats roaming around.

We watched the anglers trying to catch fish at the pier.  Almost every square inch was occupied and that was because it is Saturday and everybody is off from work.  We watched them for a while and did not see anybody catching a fish.  

We realized that Cedar Key may be the best “fishing” town to spend few days there as opposed to Swaunnee, FL that we visited a couple weeks ago.  There are few campgrounds/RV resorts outside of Cedar Key.

We had late lunch at Holey Moley and got Cuban sandwich (split order) with a bag of potato chips and a bottled drink (we got IBC root beer).

Erwin wanted to visit Cedar Key Museum, so on our way there Edith wondered if there was a cemetery in town.  Just few minutes later there was the cemetery!  She found some old tombstones, some broken ones.  It is not a very big cemetery.

The admission fee to go in the museum is $2 per person.  There is a restored Saint Clair Whitman house nearby.  It used to be on 6th Street near the town, but was relocated.  The house is well preserved and there were lots of vintage items in each room. Saint Clair Whitman was a local resident who established the first museum in Cedar Key.  His collection included sea shells and Indian artifacts.

Built in 1880's

We drove and drove around the town hoping to see something unusual or special, saw Indian Burial Mounds, went to Shell Mounds, about 8 miles outside of Cedar Key.  The mounds is about 6,000 years old and 20-30 feet high and at that time the Indians discarded oyster shells in one place. It seemed their diet consisted of solely shellfish and fish because they ate so much of it!

Edith is standing on the shell mound

We had a lovely time visiting Cedar Key and hope to come back here to stay few days and go fishing.  

After we got back home we had a quick supper with it being grilled at the fire pit.  It was a restful night.

October 30, 2015 - Chiefland, FL

Erwin was anxious to wear his new hiking boots that he bought yesterday.  The day is gorgeous and he is ready to break into them when we go hiking after breakfast.

We took the North End self-guided nature walk. It is a 8.5 miles of trail through a variety of different plant communities that is strictly for foot and bicycle only.  There is a small parking lot at North End.  We started at Scenic trail and there was a swamp that had lots of Bald Cypress trees and “knees” (short growths).  We continued on Scenic trail until we reached Clay trail.  There are lots of Southern Magnolia trees. Its red seeds and brown cones were found scattered on the walkways.  There was a dry sinkhole.

Edith is not by Erwin's side cause she keeps stopping to take pictures!

Edith was oh so thrilled to see a LIVE ring-necked snake, but it was
as small and thin as a drinking straw.  It has an orange ring
around its neck and is harmless (non-venomous) 

Before we reached Clay/Hornet trails there was a replica of a Seminole Chickee Hut that Indians used for gatherings.  Further down from the hut there is a freshwater pond that serves as a watering hole for deer and other forest creatures.  We then turned right to get on Shacklefoot trail that leads us back to the parking lot.  We must have hiked more than 2 miles, did not see any wildlife, but Erwin saw a few pileated woodpeckers but they were too fast for Edith to snap a picture or two.  

Hickory Nuts

Colorful Fungi

Two deer: one grazing while the other rests under the bush

The afternoon found both of us resting outside.  Campers next to us had lots of friends over to watch TV (yeah, they brought a large TV from home so they all can watch University of Florida (UF) and Georgia football game.  Erwin could hear the cheering, the groaning, the clapping.  At one point Erwin got up and walked over to see what was going on.  That was when he found out they were watching the football game and was told what the score was.  13-3 in favor of UF. We found out the next day that UF won 20-3.

We had slow cooked chicken that was leftover from the day before and had grilled diced potatoes and onions that were cooked on the fire grill.  

Edith went by herself to the dock for sunset watching. Three couples were there to enjoy the view.  

Octobr 29, 2015 - Chiefland, FL & Jacksonville, FL

Edith had a restless sleep during early morning hours because she was worried that she and Erwin might oversleep past 6 am.  They decided last night that they want to leave for Jacksonville, FL at 7 am.  Well, she was up at 7 am!  Ahh, too late...

We hurriedly got dressed, fixed a pot of coffee, left the state park at 8 am.  

It was a very foggy morning, but it was beautiful.

According to GPS the estimated time arrival to our house is 10:45 am. We have few errands to run today before the 2 pm medical appointment:

1. Pick up the bedroom shades for our Lil’ Home
2. Pick up mail
3. Check the house to be sure all is ok
4. Shop at Dick’s Sporting Goods for hiking boots
5. Make an appointment with Dr. Duffy for annual check-up at Center One 
6. Have lunch at Panera in Jacksonville Beach, FL
7. Check in at First Coast Dermatology for annual check-up with Dr, Chelsy Marty
8. Pick up bicycles and the rack carrier

1. At Calico Corner store we checked the bedroom shades, but were not satisfied with the way velcro strap was done, told the clerk to shorten the strap.  She said she hopes that the seamstress can fix it before 4 pm and we could pick them up before going back to Chiefland, FL.

2. The mail was half full in the box. As usual, most of them were junk. 

3. The house looked fine.  We cleaned out leaves from the driveway and the walkways.

4. At Dick’s Sports Erwin found a pair of waterproof hiking boots in his size.  He first tried two other boots, but did not like them. He liked the 3rd one, walked around some more and was very satisfied.  A lot cheaper than the one he looked at two weeks ago. His old hiking boots have started to come apart and became uncomfortable for walking.

Erwin's old hiking shoes

5. Since Erwin’s knee surgery in November 2011 he has to have annual check-up with Dr. Duffy, so we stopped by the office to make an appointment for November 9th.

Intracoastal Waterway 

J.T. Butler Bridge crossing Intracoastal Waterway

6. After arriving Jacksonville Beach we had enough time to grab lunch at Panera before our 2 pm appointment with the dermatologist.

7. Checked in with Dr. Marty.  Erwin checked out clear, Edith had a couple of actinic keratosis (pre-cancerous moles) which were promptly freezed off (cryotherapy, which is "freezing" the lesions with liquid nitrogen) It is a perfect timing for Edith’s Halloween Look because the affected moles will turn very black immediately and then fall off in 5-7 days.  We already made an appointment for annual check-up in December 2016.

8. We went back to the house to pick up bicycles and the rack carrier.

Before leaving Jacksonville we stopped at Calico Corner again, but the shades were not done.  We left the city around 4 pm and the traffic was little slow but moving! When we hit 301 going south just past the little town of Waldo, the sun was low in the west and Erwin spotted a bunch of bee hives and made a U-turn back to the area.  The sun highlighted the bees and the soft light was showing off the swarm of Honey Bees!  Oh wow, what a very lovely sight!  

We were glad to be back “home” safe and sound.  We were really exhausted and did not stay up late as usual.