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Spring is officially here. The cool weather from this winter seemed to hold on, even until the very end last week. Not a real big fan of cold weather anymore but I know we will all be clamoring for it by mid-July!

We kick the new season with lots of events. The 24th Annual Florida State Bluegrass Festival is this weekend, followed by the Cedar Key Arts Festival in April and The Cedar Lakes Woods and Garden 11th Annual Garden Show and Spring Fest and the Cedar Key Small Boat Meet happening in early May. These are all fun events geared towards the whole family so please make plans to get out and enjoy one or all (and also our beautiful weather)!

We welcome in some new customers and along with some old friends getting back in with us as well. Palms Medical Group, Ms. Lynn’s Old Pavilion RV Park, Candis Langford, Sky Monkey Media and PBJ Home Inspections. Thank you to all for your support!

We also have some great articles on the region for April staring with our cover feature on The Putnam Lodge. As the article states “A Hidden Gem in the Area” and that could not be more true. Beverly and Ed Pivacek, owners, have done an amazing restoring the property. If you have never been it is truly worth the visit. In addition to the Lodge, they also have an in-house restaurant and bar plus and RV Park on site. We also have short features from from The Cedar Key Dolphin Project, and Discount Residential Services.

Finally, we added some new products to our online store and we are super-excited about them! America’s 250th Celebration is now part of The Last of Old Florida apparel and die-cut stickers. Celebrating this area along with the best part of this beautiful country – our freedom!  Check them out on our website and be on the lookout for new items as summer gets closer. https://thehiddencoastmag.com/store-2/

Until the next time, we appreciate your continued support and Happy Spring!

March along with April brings several events locally including the Cedar Key Arts Festival, The Lower Suwannee Art & Nature Festival and the Horseshoe Beach Music Festival. The weather is warming up and these are all fun family events. Please make plans to attend one of them and help support the hard working volunteers who put these events on every year.

We have another good round of spotlight articles this month. They include Iron Horse Mud Ranch, Tails of Cedar Key and Citrus Lending. All local small businesses who make this region so special. If you are out and about stop by and see them and let them know you saw them in The Hidden Coast!

We welcome some old advertisers back in with us this month as well. Harbour Master Suites and Dilly Dally Gally in Cedar Key and Amy and Kevin Garver representing United Country Real Estate and Dock to Dwell respectively in Steinhatchee.

We look forward to celebrating America’s 250th this year and look for some exciting news coming from us later in the spring. It’s St. Patricks Day this month as well. Don’t forget your Last of Old Florida apparel and memorabilia  to “O’Celebrate”. https://thehiddencoastmag.com/store-2/

Finally, don’t forget our new Classified Pages in the Fishing Lowdown, our inaugural Restaurant Guide in April and the March Madness advertising deal leading into the summer. Buy an ad in our April and May editions and get June FREE!

Until the next time, Happy Spring!

Not sure about everyone else, but I am very happy January is behind us. It was almost like a “hangover” month from the holidays of November and December. Those were so different for us this year (dynamics, surroundings, family) I guess it just took a toll on me. January’s edition was probably the hardest issue I think I have done in 10 years of doing this magazine (we didn’t distribute it until the 22nd of the month). Craziness for us, but it is behind us now. Our February edition has already been printed and distributed and we are moving full steam ahead.

February always kicks off what we call the “Festival Season” on The Hidden Coast. Starting this month and moving into April you have the Steinhatchee Fiddler Crab Festival, Cedar Key Chocolate Tour, 9th Annual Lower Suwannee Art & Nature Festival and The Old Florida Celebration of Arts. So much to do and see so please make plans to attend one, if not all, of these fun events. Hopefully the cold weather is behind us and these all benefit the local communities still reeling from the hurricanes of 2023 and 2024.

We welcome new customers Tails of Cedar Key and realtor Monja Slater in for our February edition and several old friends coming back in with us as well including;  Kathi’s Krabs, Big Z RV Resort and Ms. Lynn’s Old Pavilion RV Park. We are also excited to announce that we have Our Local Flavors Pages back to two pages this month. These are speciality pages that highlight locally owned and operated restaurants in the region and it has been a staple of our for many years. A big thanks to the Old Mexico Restaurant and The Tea Room At Fiddler’s Resort for getting us over the top!

We are Spotlighting two of our long time customers this month: Burgandy Arrington, Hatcher Realty Services and Megan and Mark Ennis, Citrus Lending. Excellent reads on two great companies who give so much to their local communities.  We also have an informative article on the Lower Suwannee Art and Nature Festival (our cover feature for this month).

A couple of items to note, Our 3rd annual 2026 Business Card Directory is out. Our biggest one yet! Thank you to all the businesses who participated this year. You can view the entire edition online or look for copies wherever you pick up copies of our magazines each month. We will also be promoting every business who took part this year with weekly spotlights on Facebook and Instagram.  Don’t forget our Classified Pages in The Fishing Lowdown too. A great way to buy, sell, promote or just browse.

Finally, we are planning another special publication this year, The Hidden Coast Restaurant Guide. This will follow the same size and setup as the Business Card Directory and hopefully be an annual piece starting this year. Look for details on our website and social media pages. Drop date is scheduled for the first week of April.

Until then, thanks for reading and enjoy this beautiful weather!

Happy new year and happy anniversary to us! 2026 marks 10 years of The Hidden Coast magazine. Our first publication of which now there are four in our library. When we started our journey 10 years ago we were hoping to continue on the road we had been on for almost 20 years before then. We were able to do that, plus some.

Being creative through art and design is all I’ve ever know and I am forever grateful I have been able to make it a life-long career. Of course, many thanks to our readers, followers, advertisers and vendors for their support over the last decade. As I have said many times before, “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

We have have big plans for all of our publications this year. We hope to expand them in their own unique way. This includes additional feature articles, spotlights on local business owners and leaders, continued growth with our online publication The Hidden Coast Brief, adding classified pages for The Fishing Lowdown and specialty publications every quarter. We will continue to balance our presence in both print and online as the year moves forward.

Our January edition includes a fantastic cover compliments of the North Florida Trails. This been a collaborative effort of several counties in the Hidden Coast area over the last year and finally finished up by Kay McCallister of the Dixie County Tourist Development Council. Our January edition only scratches the surface of information offered for this project so we urge you to visit their website for an abundance of additional information, photos, stats and maps. https://www.northfloridatrails.com/

We also feature Miller Homes Public Adjusting in this month’s edition. With Miller Homes PA, you gain an experienced public adjuster who knows how to document, value, and negotiate your claim for its true worth—fighting on your behalf to secure the fair settlement you deserve. Something we all need living in Florida and the history of hurricanes over the past few years.

Finally we were talked into doing an article on “us”. Several advertisers as well as friends and family thought it would be a good idea to let the region know who we are along with our history of starting The Hidden Coast Magazine 10 years ago. I went into this kicking and screaming, I am not one for the spotlight, but in the end Elizabeth Burr, our staff writer, did an excellent job brining our journey to paper. A big thanks to her as well as my family (all mentioned in the article) for their tremendous support and help over the years – it goes way beyond the 10 years of this magazine. 

Until the next time, stay warm out there! 

Hard to believe the big day will be here in 3 days. Where does the time go anymore? The older I get the busier I get. Is that suppose to be happening? We look forward to the holidays with great anticipation. Christmas’ of years past alway bring back great memories and we all hope to make the same experiences every year. Some fall short, some exceed, but in the end it’s the little things to alway remember. The reason for the season, your family, your health, your home… it’s not what’s under tree, but who’s around it. 

This year started with much celebration and anticipation in our family, but it all came crashing down (hard) in August. The fall season was like walking around in a fog with anger, sadness, regret and so much more hung around our necks. The healing has been slow, but we are making it. This month marks 4 months and in a couple weeks it will 5 months and a new year. A milestone for sure.

Enough about me and on to our magazine and the festive edition we have out for December. Starting with Cedar Lakes Woods and Garden, Christmas in the Quarry. This place is indeed one of the many hidden gems in the region and to see at Christmas is quite the sight! We also have additional holiday events that were included in the issue, but have since past. Thanks to all for being part of our last edition of the year. 

We look forward to 2026 so we can kick off our 10 year anniversary! We are proud to announce this milestone and look forward to celebrating all year long. We also have some new additions coming to The Fishing Lowdown, so stay tuned on both.

If you’re still looking for a last minute gift don’t forget an annual subscription to one or all our of or magazines. A great gift idea for a fan of The Hidden Coast which lets him/her keep up on local events and activities all year long! 

Finally, we wish all of our readers and advertisers a very Merry Christmas and all the best for a happy and healthy 2026. We wouldn’t be here without you, not to mention the past 10 years, and for that we are eternally grateful.

We come into November giving thanks for a quiet hurricane season. Hallelujah! Our cover and feature article for this month spotlights four business owners and their road to recovery from the storms of the past two years. Four individual stories that show strength, faith and determination while facing unbelievable hardship. Each of them shying away from the spotlight while at the same time continuing to give back to these local communities that need it the most. Quite extraordinary.

Several holiday events are featured in this month’s edition as well. From Christmas in Dixie, to a Christmas Theater at the Putnam Lodge and finally the annual Cedar Lakes Woods and Gardens annual Christmas display, a sight to see for sure. In addition to these holiday event we also are featuring the annual Yankeetown Seafood Festival happening the weekend before Thanksgiving. A big thanks to the all the local businesses who joined us this year and a special thanks to Jennifer Naja, Pristine Properties, who is a big help to us every year. Make plans to attend the festival this year, fun for the whole family! It will take place right on Riverside Drive, within walking distance to the Withlacoochee River. You can keep up with all of the holiday events happening locally with our weekly online newsletter, The Hidden Coast Brief. Clink on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up. And start receiving your copy every Friday morning! 

Just a reminder as Christmas approaches. Don’t forget our online store for great apparel and unique items from The Last of Old Florida and The Fishing Lowdown (our sister publication). Hats, shirts, bags, koozies, decals and annual subscriptions. Great choices for that hard to buy person on your list. Check it out at https://thehiddencoastmag.com/store-2/

Finally, with the holiday season closing in, remember to count your blessing and not your problems. Tune the outside world out and focus on what you have been given. All the simple things that add up in our lives. Slow down and take a moment to look around the table at family get-togethers and parties this year, and give thanks for what you have. Life can change in an instant (our family was reminded of this in August). So turn off the cell phones, computers and TV’s and enjoy each other.

In closing, we want to take a moment and thank all of our customers and readers for another great year. We are thankful for your continued support and patronage over the years, and look forward to celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2026. Thank you and until the next time, Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall is upon us and what a beautiful time of year it is on The Hidden Coast. So much to explore and do outside as well as several festivals and events kicking off as we head into the holiday stretch run. 

We are promoting both the 2025 Cedar Key Pirate Invasion and Seafood Festival in our magazine this month. Along with those we have several Cedar Key businesses who signed up to be part of this special edition along with some informative feature articles on this funky seaside town. Please plan to attend one, if not both, of these fun events.

Hard to believe a year ago festivals and visitors on The Hidden Coast was the last thing on business owners minds. Now, 12 months after the most devastating hurricane hit the region, this area has done it again. Worked through adversity, helped each other out and opened back up in record time. The region just completed a very successful and busy scallop season, a lifeline for many, and now they look forward to an even better fall season. Help these folks out and plan a visit. Grab lunch or dinner, rent a kayak or boat, spend the night or a weekend or catch an amazing sunset as you sip on your favorite spirit. every little bit helps as they continue on the recovery road.  

We have a number of new and old customers in with us for this round as well as some great articles on Cedar Blessings RV, Sky Monkey Media, We Scan Diagnostics and a new exhibit at the Cedar Key Welcome Center (we won’t spoil it). Please plan to pick up a copy of our latest edition throughout the area and remember you can always read the entire edition online at www.thehiddencoastmag.com

Until the next time, get outdoors and have some fun! (before the in-laws arrive for the holidays)

So glad to have August behind us. It showed that life can change in an instant and you need to always be prepared. Our family was hit with a very tough, hard event that came out of nowhere. This weekend marked 4 weeks and to say those 28 days have been hard is an understatement. 28 days have felt like 28 months or 28 years, but we have survived. The love and support of our families has made all the difference in the world. I complain and fuss about them all the time, but I can tell you I wouldn’t trade them for anything. They have circled the wagons and closed ranks, and for that I am eternally grateful. My wife has always been a firm believer of family and her motto reminds me much of the infamous Michael Corleone, “Never turn your back on and never go against your family.” How true. Tough time don’t last forever, but tough people do.

We close out the summer (we survived another one) with another 48 page publication. We celebrate fall and what there is to do on The Hidden Coast (Hint: there is a lot). We are also proud to spotlight four longtime customers (The Deer Camp, Sun Country Radio, Suwannee Sunshine River Tours and Phoenix Park Model Homes) with in depth articles by our own Elizabeth Burr. Please take some time to read these article and learn about these businesses and what they bring to the local region.

The fall season also brings several outdoor events, BBQ from the Hart, Smokin’ in the Pines and Cedar Key Seafood Festival. All great events and fun for the whole family. We are lucky to be holding these events a year out from the most devastating hurricane this area had ever seen. These communities picked up, cleaned up and re-opened in record time. Yes, much was lost by many, us included, but the grit and determination of this area is quite remarkable. We have been blessed to be part of it for the past nine years.

Until the next time, get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and also these incredible surroundings we call The Hidden Coast.

The end of summer is upon us already. School has started back for most in the area and the coastal communities along the gulf are starting to slow down after a very successful season (from what we have heard). 

The last three editions we put out, that’s including our current August issue, have been extremely popular this year. We have had online views averaging around 35K per month and our net followers for Facebook have gone through the roof. Add to that strong sales for both subscriptions and apparel, and we have done as good as I had hoped for, if not better! We were very leery coming into the summer months and didn’t know what to expect. Sales had been very slow for us since the storms of last year, but we came out the gate with an increased page count for June and another one for July. Our sales are still off from where we were a year ago, but we are staying consistent with new customers joining us each month. A big part of that has been our new sales person, Shelby Robb, out of Perry/Taylor County. She has done a tremendous job since joining us in the spring, as we very grateful for all of her hard work! 

For this edition we welcome Ms Lynn’s Old Pavillion RV, Keaton Beach Storage, Bille Jo Leep (realtor), Iron Horse Mud Ranch, School Work Custom Rods, Ironwood Mobile Homes along with some old friends back in with us again (Hope Webb, American Dream Real Estate) and Valena Driggers (adding a second advertisement).

This is a beautiful part of the country during the fall months and we have some great feature articles planned in the months ahead. Looking for a new avenue to advertise as we move into September, either in print or online (or both!) give us a call! Just because the weather is cooling off doesn’t mean your sales have to as well.

Until the next time. Enjoy the final days of summer and stay cool. Don’t forget to check out our online store for new visors, decals and koozies!