The natural beauty of northern Florida Outside the towns and cities of northern Florida, county roads criss cross fields full of timber pine and cattle, and disappear into a landscape that probably looks much as it did before Europeans settled the area. Evidence of previous inhabitants can be found here -- just a few miles from Cedar Key is a large "midden," a Native American trash heap. In Crystal River, a mound complex marks the site of an ancient village.
At Cedar Key, ospreys and the occasional bald eagle nest and fish in the marshes. Low tide brings herons to feed on the muddy bottom. In that respect, little has changed in Cedar Key over the centuries.
At the end of that two-lane highway, the sun rises on quiet islands far removed from the din of more popular vacation spots. A morning fog, far from gloomy on the back marshes, is but a muted warm-up for a sunlit afternoon.
And in the evening ... the sun drops slowly, changing colors as it sinks through wispy clouds toward the Gulf's surface. The water glistens, and then goes dark.
It's miles from nowhere, a sleepy little town that sings with the call of the birds by day and whispers the song of the winds over the tides by night.
KC Wildmoon always wanted to be a travel writer, and now, after 10 years covering hard news for local newspapers and CNN Interactive, she can tell the world about places like Cedar Key. But if too many start going there, she may rethink her strategies.
Intro | Spotting the seabirds
In and around Cedar Key
Also:
A Cedar Key Sampling
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Weather: Gainesville, Florida; Ocala, Florida
City Guides and Maps: Florida
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