Cedar Key has
a lot of history behind it. The Indians lived there hundreds and
hundreds of years ago, and actually farmed oysters in some of the
earliest known aquaculture. Somehwere around the end of the 1800's
it was a huge point of departure for Russion freighters hauling
cedar wood back to Russia, thus the name Cedar Key. They actually
had a huge pier built out of Cedar that first wagons and later trucks
trundled around in a continuous loop loading the ships.
After a huge
hurricane came through around 1900 and destroyed the peir, it was
never rebuilt, but the town is still there, and the view from above
is stunning. Ironically, from the ground it's not that impressive.
It's just kind of flat with some grass and a few trees.
But from above,
you can see a hundred different shades of water, and wild shapes
carved into the flats by the tides rising and falling for eons.
Smaller islands
number in the hundreds, and some are heavily wooded while others
are barely more than a sand bar with a couple tufts of grass on
them. These were shot from about 2,000 feet up.
There were some
million dollar mansions perched right out on the ends of some of
these points. I couldn't believe how posh these luxury getaways
were.
This place cries
out for a sea plane! Look at all those little beaches down there.
If I ever get to build my kit plane, I'm gonna be sure to make it
have amphib floats.
We circled in
from about 2,000 feet, crossed over the end of the field and entered
the downwind at the corner at 1,000 feet. I came around on base
and the local taxi called me on the comm and asked if we'd need
a ride into town. We couldn't stay that long this time, but it's
pretty neat that they monitor the frequency and ask like that!
If you are planning
on eating, pooping, or anything else, plan on going into town. There
is no FBO, no rest rooms, and no water spigot, etc. There is NOTHING
but the runway and a small tie-down area.
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