Fiddlefest and Cane Boil at Gainesville’s Morningside Nature Center, November 28, 2015
This event is held each year the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and combines traditions of giving thanks and fall harvest with live fiddle, banjo and string-band music, which were major influences on American entertainment for more than 150 years. Bring your holiday guests, friends and family out to Morningside’s beautiful Living History Farm to experience the …
The Best Fishing at Suwannee—and Maybe At Cedar Key—Suwannee Sound
October’s cooling waters seem to have a positive effect on the fishing in Suwannee Sound, the stretch of rugged coastline between the mouth of the Suwannee River and Cedar Key. Keeper seatrout have moved off the deep flats. While not yet holed up in the rivers and creeks, they’re moving closer to shore, especially around …
Kayak to Atsena Otie Key—An Easy and Informative Trip at Florida’s Cedar Keys
The locals call it “Seenie Otie” but it’s official name is Atsena Otie Key, It lies just about a quarter mile south of the boat basin at Cedar Key. And it offers some interesting sights to see if you paddle across the sound. Cedar Key was once a railroad terminus and western shipping point for …
Steinhatchee’s Northwest Territory–Great Florida Fishing!
The close-in coastline south of Steinhatchee often gets more than its fair share of attention by anglers, especially during the cool early-winter months. There are, of course, a couple of good reasons. First, the bottom is rockier there, providing shelter and warmth for the bait fish and crustaceans that are of interest to inshore species …
Visit The La Chua Trail and Alachua Sink at Payne’s Prairie State Park
Paynes Prairie is biologically, geologically and historically unique. This park became Florida´s first state preserve in 1971 and is now designated as a National Natural Landmark. Noted artist and naturalist William Bartram called it the great Alachua Savannah when he wrote about his visit to the prairie in 1774. Depending on the season you visit …
Meet Baseball Great Wade Boggs, Saturday, October 31 at Island Grove Wine Company, Alachua County, FL
What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon! Yes, to all you Gator and Seminole fans, it’s all about football. But before you get locked down in front of the family TV, why not head east from Gainesville to visit the new Island Grove Wine Company Tasting House and a chance to meet Baseball …
Natural North Florida Springs–Cool in Summer, Warm in Winter
Our Natural North Florida counties (Alachua, Gilchrist, Levy, Dixie, Taylor, Madison, Jefferson, Union, Lafayette and Wakulla) have the largest concentration of natural freshwater springs in the world. And, when the weather gets hot, they’re the perfect place to cool off. However, visitors and residents flock to the springs, and their contant 72-degree water temperatures, when …
Hungry For Spanish Mackerel? Fish Cedar Key’s Seahorse Reef and “The Hook”
There’s no doubt in my mind that the small islands that we now generally refer to as “Cedar Key” was once the upper end of a ridge of land that stretched well southwest into the Gulf of Mexico. But eons of time and moving water have worn down that peninsula, and it’s now mostly submerged, …
2015 Stone Crab Season Now Open–The Best Seafood Florida’s Gulf Offers!
Stone crab season is underway, and I’m always surprised by the number of presentations in which stone crab meat is adulterated–by both amateur and professional chefs. I enjoy crab dip and crab cakes, but I reserve those recipes for either lump or claw meat from blue crabs. Stone crab claws are best left simple, only …
Cedar Key, Florida’s Main Ship Channel—No Ships, But Great Access to Some Excellent Fishing!
In the 1880’s, steamships plied the waters between New Orleans, Havana, and Cedar Key. Yet after the hurricane of 1896 and the depletion of the cedar trees by pencil manufacturers, Cedar Key became a sleepy fishing village on Florida’s Big Bend. But in spite of the town’s loss of commerce and population, its main …