 Golf carts on Second Street  |
Cedar Key is not your average Florida destination - it is "old Florida" or "original Florida" or better yet, "before Disney" Florida. Quaint streets lined with shops, friendly people, real food, funky art, and peace. Cedar Key is a fishing village with a tourist trade. The tourist trade is mostly seasonal and visitors are usually looking for the laid back sort of vacation that most only dream about. The pace is slower than the rest of the world and if you require the world to operate on a precise clock - you probably won't like Cedar Key. It's not uncommon to see a sign in the window of a shop that says "Gone Fishin'" during business hours and they really mean it.
Besides the fishing, nature-viewing, and relaxing, Cedar Key also has two festivals each year - the Arts Festival which happens sometime in mid-April and the Seafood Festival which is in mid-October. These two weekends are extremely busy and it's hard to find lodging in town. Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day are also "full-house" times. If you're planning to visit during these times - be sure to contact us for reservations early!
Town Resource List and Links
- Cedar Key's Online News - the most up to the minute info about Cedar Key. Print version produced every two weeks!
- See our article: Roseate Spoonbills online at Cedar Key News!
- See our article: The Misunderstood Vulture online at Cedar Key News!
- See our article: Roseate Spoonbills online at Cedar Key News!
- Cedar Key Beacon
- This is Cedar Key's print newspaper - published each Thursday, both in print and online.
- Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce
- The Chamber has a good list of phone numbers for local businesses and general information about the town.
- CedarKey.net
- A personal homepage full of links related to Cedar Key. Excellent and interesting collection.
- Florida Memory Project: Historic Photos of Cedar Key
- Enter "Cedar Key" in the search box for a fascinating collection of old photos of Cedar Key. By entering "cedar key aerial", you can see what the town looked like prior to all the shops built downtown!
Here's a collection of online articles published about Cedar Key. There's nothing like some different perspectives to help you get a feel for a place!
- American Senior Fitness Association
- has written an article recommending Cedar Key as a vacation destination for seniors interested in walking around town and keeping fit while vacationing. We granted permission to SFA to use some of our photos of Cedar Key to illustrate their article. We love the article - it celebrates much of what is best about Cedar Key - a wonderful island to enjoy for people of all ages.
- Florida as it was
- St. Petersburg Times, published March 19, 2000
- "...Chances are, if you were not headed to Cedar Key you would never get here....You have to depart a barren stretch of U.S. 19 at a blinking traffic light, head west across more than 20 miles of pine forests and salt marshes -- at night the trip is accompanied by frogs croaking loudly enough to drown out a Harley-Davidson -- until you can't go any further without falling into the Gulf of Mexico. And here you are." read more...
- "...Chances are, if you were not headed to Cedar Key you would never get here....You have to depart a barren stretch of U.S. 19 at a blinking traffic light, head west across more than 20 miles of pine forests and salt marshes -- at night the trip is accompanied by frogs croaking loudly enough to drown out a Harley-Davidson -- until you can't go any further without falling into the Gulf of Mexico. And here you are." read more...
- Head Down Past Gainesville, Turn Back 50 Years
- Published by the Sun-Sentinel
- "...by far the best fisherman today on the city dock of downtown Cedar Key is a great blue heron. It stalks among a few silver-crested retirees and ruddy-cheeked waterfront regulars like a stern professor of piscatology, and then pauses to ki-bitz over the shoulders of a father and his young son who are spin-casting bait into the fiery Gulf of Mexico sunset." read more...
- "...by far the best fisherman today on the city dock of downtown Cedar Key is a great blue heron. It stalks among a few silver-crested retirees and ruddy-cheeked waterfront regulars like a stern professor of piscatology, and then pauses to ki-bitz over the shoulders of a father and his young son who are spin-casting bait into the fiery Gulf of Mexico sunset." read more...
- Cedar Key, Florida
- Published by About.com - contains several pages of historical narrative and photos around town.
- "...The shops along the waterfront boardwalk are unique and varied. We found shells and things made from shells, jewelry, clothing, antiques and children’s toys. What caught my eye were the arts and crafts of the islands' artisans and tropical island-style decorations that made me want to go home and redecorate..." read more
- "...The shops along the waterfront boardwalk are unique and varied. We found shells and things made from shells, jewelry, clothing, antiques and children’s toys. What caught my eye were the arts and crafts of the islands' artisans and tropical island-style decorations that made me want to go home and redecorate..." read more
- Florida Unplugged
- Published by Travel and Leisure, February, 1997
- "...If you've ever wondered what Key West was like when Hemingway wrote The Snows of Kilimanjaro there, come to Cedar Key.
Before the sightseeing trams and the party crowd, Key West was a remote island of shopkeepers and fishermen and artists. Today, Cedar Key's 650 year-round residents are a similar mix, cherishing a similar isolation. It can take you a full day to adapt to its tranquil pace: the island is so laid-back that at first its pulse is barely discernible..." read more - "...If you've ever wondered what Key West was like when Hemingway wrote The Snows of Kilimanjaro there, come to Cedar Key.
- Pelican man of Cedar Key puts critters first
- Published by the Free Press, November 11, 2001
- "... This Gulf Coast village has other characters, of course. A lot of artists have settled here, some of them Yankees. And we know what they're like. But it's a good sign for a town to have a few characters, so long as they don't dress up in mouse suits and talk in falsetto voices..." read more...
- "... This Gulf Coast village has other characters, of course. A lot of artists have settled here, some of them Yankees. And we know what they're like. But it's a good sign for a town to have a few characters, so long as they don't dress up in mouse suits and talk in falsetto voices..." read more...
- Cedar Key has old Florida feel, new farm-raised clams
- Published by Waterfront News, February 2003
- "...When the number of bird and animal species nearly rivals the human population, you know you've entered a unique coastal environment. All day long visitors stroll along Cedar Key's sugary white beaches and marshy shores, as ospreys build their nests and feed their young. Egrets, blue herons, white ibis and a myriad of other wanderers quietly harvest the water's glassy surface. With its tranquil old Florida feel, life in Cedar Key reflects the Gulf of Mexico's own tidal cycles. Days here aren't measured by clocks or the speed of a computer...." read more...
- "...When the number of bird and animal species nearly rivals the human population, you know you've entered a unique coastal environment. All day long visitors stroll along Cedar Key's sugary white beaches and marshy shores, as ospreys build their nests and feed their young. Egrets, blue herons, white ibis and a myriad of other wanderers quietly harvest the water's glassy surface. With its tranquil old Florida feel, life in Cedar Key reflects the Gulf of Mexico's own tidal cycles. Days here aren't measured by clocks or the speed of a computer...." read more...
- The Dark Side of Cedar Key
- Published by the Weekly Planet, 5/15/02
- "... The mills are history. But the village of 700 still possesses a commercial fishing fleet. Local restaurants serve fresh clams, crabs and oysters. That and a tiny arts community have turned Cedar Key into an unassuming, low-dough resort that is usually and blessedly overlooked by marauding tourists on their way to see the Mouse and other Florida irritations. ..." read more...
- "... The mills are history. But the village of 700 still possesses a commercial fishing fleet. Local restaurants serve fresh clams, crabs and oysters. That and a tiny arts community have turned Cedar Key into an unassuming, low-dough resort that is usually and blessedly overlooked by marauding tourists on their way to see the Mouse and other Florida irritations. ..." read more...
- Visiting the earliest Floridians
- Published by St. Petersburg Times,November 8, 1998
- "...In Cedar Key, on the gulf coast about 60 miles from Gainesville, remnants of Indian oyster-shell and sand burial mounds can be seen in the southwest part of town, between E and G streets from the waterfront to Seventh Street; on the south side of Second Street, west side of G Street and west end of Sixth Street...." read more...
- "...In Cedar Key, on the gulf coast about 60 miles from Gainesville, remnants of Indian oyster-shell and sand burial mounds can be seen in the southwest part of town, between E and G streets from the waterfront to Seventh Street; on the south side of Second Street, west side of G Street and west end of Sixth Street...." read more...
- GORP Review of Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge
- A short history of the town of Cedar Key is included.
- "... The outermost 165 acre Seahorse Key with its sand dune height of 52 feet makes it the highest elevation on Florida's west coast. Seahorse is also a prime nesting area where boats must stay a distance of 300 foot or more from March 1 through June 30. The island contains some of the largest heron, egret, brown pelican, and ibis nesting colonies in the south..." read more...
- "... The outermost 165 acre Seahorse Key with its sand dune height of 52 feet makes it the highest elevation on Florida's west coast. Seahorse is also a prime nesting area where boats must stay a distance of 300 foot or more from March 1 through June 30. The island contains some of the largest heron, egret, brown pelican, and ibis nesting colonies in the south..." read more...
- Adventure: Outdoors on Florida's Big Bend: Cedar Keys National Wildlife Reserve
- Published by Onroute.com (more area articles at bottom of page!)
- "...Native peoples occupied the islands for more than a thousand years. Since the Spanish era, the islands have had a colorful history. Seahorse Key, the outermost island, has been used as a military hospital, and served as a detention camp for captured natives during the Second Seminole War (1835-1842). A lighthouse was built on this island in 1851, and abandoned in 1952..." read more...
- "...Native peoples occupied the islands for more than a thousand years. Since the Spanish era, the islands have had a colorful history. Seahorse Key, the outermost island, has been used as a military hospital, and served as a detention camp for captured natives during the Second Seminole War (1835-1842). A lighthouse was built on this island in 1851, and abandoned in 1952..." read more...
- Read unbiased reviews of Cedar Key at www.TripAdvisor.com
- More good information about Cedar Key.
- John Muir's Travels to the Cedar Keys
- Published by the Sierra Club
- Did you know that John Muir visited the Cedar Keys? read more...
- Did you know that John Muir visited the Cedar Keys? read more...
- Island-Search.com
- Long for more island places? Check out this site...
- The Only Internet Search Directory Exclusively For The Over 50 Age Group
Do you have some information that you think we should add? Tell us!
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