Dot's Way Cruising Cat: Steinhatchee to Cedar Key, Florida

Dinner last evening was flatbread Italian sausage, peppers and spinach pizza on our new pizza stones and new convection oven. Yummy! It was sound sleeping at the dock and we woke up before daybreak to get ready to depart. Several fishing boats got out ahead of us at daylight and they honored the no wake zone going out the channel and then zoomed away. We had a few white caps as we started out and then by 11 am it was glassy calm as we dodged the lines of crab pots. We arrived at Cedar Key and are anchored across from town off the sandy beach of Atsena Otie Key, part of the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge. We enjoyed the Forgotten Coast along the panhandle and are now enjoying the waterfront along the Big Bend of Florida and will explore the town tomorrow morning.

Birds lined up on old dock of the wildlife preserve

Folks flocking to the sandy beach of the wildlife preserve

We launched the dinghy the next morning and headed across the anchorage and under the bridge under construction to the inner harbor of Cedar Key. It was low tide and most of the harbor was mud and the boats at the dock locked in the mud. We tied up near the boat launching ramp as most of the boats were launching on the outside launching ramp. We strolled into town and darted into the grocery store and being the only customer we quickly picked up some disposable masks as we had gotten away from the boat without them. Second Street Cafe outdoor dining beckoned us in and we had the most fabulous skillet breakfast cooked to perfection. We then hunted down the Hardware Marine Store nicely stocked with what we needed. After looking at Trip Advisor, we discovered the Cemetery Point Boardwalk, Fitness Trail and Disk Frisbee Golf Trail. That was a superb walk through the Old Florida part of town and we ended up walking 6 miles by the time we headed back to the boat and decided the Wilderness Preserve Beach was too crowded and it was time to depart for Crystal River.