After Being Corralled for SO Long, It’s Time to Roam Again

The long driving trip to Wyoming was planned with allowances for detours along the way for interesting side trips that pique our interest. I’ll admit, I’m a bit more distracted by small towns, murals, museums, and unique shopping opportunities than our main driver, my husband, but he’s pretty tolerant unless we’re in a major traffic situation that requires more concentration. Does that strike a chord with some others?

Once on the road, he told me he had reserved a night at a bed and breakfast in Cedar Key for the first leg of our trip. This was precedent setting! Usually, we drive until it’s two hours past the time we should have stopped for the night, however, our new rescue dog was accompanying us for the first time and precautions needed to be taken. The idea of the B & B was a great beginning to the cross-country drive.

To get to Cedar Key, you take 75 North and then take State Road 98 to US 24 past small towns and sights that are more common off the beaten track than where we live in more cosmopolitan South Florida.

One place you must stop is a sign marking the spot that was Rosewood, Florida, the scene of racial violence that erupted January 1-7, 1923. “Rosewood was a predominantly colored town with many hard-working residents who owned their own homes and businesses,” (from the sign information). A fateful day occurred on January1, 1923 when a white woman accused a black man of allegedly assaulting her and the town erupted in violence. Many lives were lost.

Following the violence, Rosewood residents took a vow of silence and didn’t return to claim their properties. In 1994, the silence was broken when a claims bill was submitted to the Florida Legislature. Governor Lawton Chiles signed a compensation bill that provided a state university fund for the families of Rosewood, Florida, and their descendants as well as monetary compensation for their loss of property and violation of their rights. Governor Jeb Bush dedicated the historical marker of these events in May 2004 and this historical site is a Florida Heritage Landmark sponsored by The Real Rosewood Foundation, Inc., and the Department of State.

There are lots of tokens and symbols of support for the victims of this senseless violence that broke apart a peaceful community 98 years ago that are placed on or near the sign. For us, it was poignant and sad that there are other incidents like this one that keep coming to light, not just in the US, but all over the world including mysterious mass burials, but I digress.

As we travel over the bridges that connect the small and larger land masses leading to Cedar Key, located three miles out into the Gulf, an incredible sunset greets us with its beacon path of orange floating across the water. What a site! And who knew? Cedar Key is the second oldest city in Florida! Can you name the oldest?

We took it slow through the area, absorbing the ambiance and uniqueness of this particular Key before arriving at our destination; The Cedar Key Bed & Breakfast on 810 Third Street, located on the Nature Coast of Florida. We met the owner the following morning for the sensational brunch they offered in an intimate, sun-lit dining area with ample seating, coffee, tea, and decorative china to choose from. The Innkeeper, Alice Phillips Oakley was absolutely delightful as were the accommodations, the grounds, and the staff. This is a dog-friendly venue and we met two of Alice’s dogs who were friendly and most well-behaved, which is one of the reasons my husband booked the room, since we had our dog with us. By the way, it could have been Miley’s first time on a road trip and staying in a strange place, but she was well-mannered and flexible, making us proud the whole time there. (So that means we can go there again, right?)

There were so many interesting things to see on Cedar Key and the history was fascinating. Cedar Key was aptly named because of all the Cedar trees that were made into pencils. In fact, it was a center for pencil making for many years, thanks to the Eagle Cedar Mill, which produced most of the Eagle pencils that we all used “back in the day!”

To say we “loved” this place is an understatement and I was so proud of my husband for researching and finding this gem amongst the islands on the Gulf side of Florida and the gateway to our journey out of the quarantine corral to spreading our wings and heading West. More on the trip in future articles.