September is here and we made it through another Florida summer! I told my son that the summers seem to be getting hotter and hotter lately and his response was, “no dad, you’re just getting older.” Even I had to laugh when he said that. Who says teenagers aren’t smart? My wife and I were blessed to be able to take some great trips over the summer. A couple of weekend trips and a week’s vacation in St. Augustine, Jekyll Island for our anniversary and wonderful trip out west that included San Fransisco, Napa Valley, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Fun times and great memories made, but it’s always nice to be home sweet home.
We kick off fall with the annual Cedar Key Seafood Festival on the cover of our September edition. This was our most popular edition last year, reaching 17k+ on Facebook. The Lions Club of Cedar Key put on a great show and I highly recommend you make plans to attend (October 20-21). Cedar Key is also one of only five Florida towns to host the Smithsonian “Crossroads” traveling exhibit. This event will kick off on September 8th and run through October 20. The Cedar Key Welcome Center urges everyone to stop by and visit this interactive exhibit and also plan to attend one of the many community events planned around the exhibit. One of these is the Railroad and Riverboats show taking place September 28-30 in Cedar Key. The Ocala Model Railroaders’ will be present, fresh off their National Competition win in Kansas City. Another event will be the first annual open house at the Nature Coast Biological Station. UF/IFAS has done some great things over the past 12 months. Come see what they have accomplished and what they plan to do in the years to come!
Our local charter captains have contributed articles getting you ready for fall fishing and looking back on a busy scalloping season, and Toni Collins gives us sneak peek on the Railroads and Riverboats exhibit with two great articles devoted to both. Our usual advertisers are all in too plus some new ones! Cedar Key Pizza and Ken’s Kettle Corn join us with some tasty ideas if you are out and about in the area.
We can never say “thank you” enough to all of our contributors, advertisers, and readers. Our little magazine has grown leaps and bounds in two years and we owe it all to you. Thank you for all the comments, notes and emails.
We have been working on another project for the past couple months and hopefully, we will be able to introduce it in September. Stay tuned and in the meantime enjoy the fall season and The Hidden Coast.