Note: I'm backtracking a little bit here. I wrote this offline but forgot to post it. I thought I had but when Peg went looking for it she couldn't find it. Sorry.
Manatee Springs State Park
We left Carrabelle, Fl yesterday morning and had an uneventful drive to Chiefland, Fl. We were going to stay in the local Walmart but managed to get the last available spot in Manatee Springs State Park for one night only. Once we were set up in the park we drove the car down to Cedar Key, about 30 miles away.
We had intended to bypass the Key but several people told us how much they loved it. We love it, too, and is on the list of places we would come back to at least part time. The local tourist information recommended Tony's restaurant for their award winning chowder (3 time world champ) and the Historical Museum across the street from Tony's. So we took her up on it. Tony's isn't fancy, high tin covered ceilings reflect most of the noise. The chowder is the best I have ever had anywhere. It's a traditional cream based New England Clam Chowder but it's flavor has been elevated by spices and seasoning to far above average. It is slightly pink in color so there is probably paprika in it, but that is all I could tell about it's ingredients. It's no wonder they retired his recipe after 3 wins. You can now buy it in cans in Publix markets. We'll try the canned version and see if it holds up. Cedar Key is known as a farm raised clam area, so I tried the chowder, steamers and clam strips. Chowder 5 stars, the rest much less. I still lust after my Ipswich clams. Someday. Peg had a blackened fish sandwich with a side of fries. Good but nothing special. If you go to Tony's stick with the chowder.
After lunch we went to the historical museum across the street. The entrance fee is $4.00 for two people. The museum seems to be the gathering place for the locals. People streamed in and out greeting each other and talking about this and that. We had asked our waitress at Tony's where to get a good mullet dip and she told us. We asked the same at the museum and we got the same answer. That's a good sign. Then we asked about local oysters and they were off and running about how good their oysters were, so much better and sweeter than those Appalachicola oysters. We got the home address and phone number of the woman who might supply us with oysters. Also we got directions to Island Girl Cakes, the woman who sells the mullet dip. Don't buy mullet dip from that other guy in town, only buy hers, they said. O.K. Will do. As I paid the entrance fee I told the lady at the desk that we got $4.00 worth of information just walking in the door.
Cedar Key was once a railroad terminus and a stop off for people coming from Louisiana and others wanting to get to the Florida Keys and Cuba. There was also a thriving brush and broom manufacturing operation using the local palm as a source. The museum displayed the process of manufacture with some of the machinery used. To me it is amazingly primitive but fascinating to think a whole business was built on this simple idea.
Dr. John Andrews owned the house that is part of the museum and he was there that day. He was born in this house. His father ran the brush making business and, I believe, he and his son were both dentists. He talked a little about the house and the surrounding town. Before he could get into the business of broom making another couple came through the door and he turned his attention to them.
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| Island Girl Cakes |
After touring his house we went in search of mullet dip. Unfortunately the shop was closed, a sign on the door said she wouldn't be back for several hours, so we went on home empty handed.
We returned the following day and again found a sign on the door. This time it said she would be back by 1 p.m. It was 1:30. We're getting used to Florida time, so we went for a quick lunch and when we got back she was there.
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| Jan Allen, the Island Girl |
You don't get out of any interaction around here without a lot of talk, and we learned a lot about Island Girl history, how she came to be in the bakery business and how mullet dip became a sideline. She and her husband were in the "fish" business for years, but she got tired of depending on fishermen who would not show up, so she opened a restaurant serving a fixed meal every night with dessert. Then she noticed that apart from working too hard she was selling a lot more dessert than anything else, so she ditched the dinner part and started doing only baked goods.
The mullet dip is a left over from the old fish business days. Her son smokes the mullet, the two smokers are right outside her front door. She didn't have any mullet today, because again her fisherman didn't show up. We tried some of her dip and bought 2 containers. I'm sure I can find a good mullet dip recipe. The problem is finding good smoked mullet once we are out of this area. We also bought a key lime tart. Excellent!
Back up at the Walmart we settled in for the night. We decided that the following morning we would go find manatees, since we didn't see any at Manatee Springs.
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