Sunday, April 1, 2012

CEDAR KEY TRANQUILITY -- PART 1


FIND OLD FLORIDA IN CEDAR KEY


They don’t make places like Cedar Key anymore.

Especially in Florida, where suburban sprawl and overdevelopment have sucked the life out of more coastlines, fish shacks, seaside bungalows and starry nights that anyone can count.

We live in cosmopolitan Miami and love its dizzying architecture, diversity, cuisine and spirit. 

But to get away from it all, we have to drive hundreds of miles.

The southern Gulf Coast has built itself into oblivion and the Keys, though still magical, usher in a bigger slice of corporate America (while snuffing out bits of Old Florida) every day.

Old Florida is a place where the kitchen closes down at 10 p.m. – maybe even as early as 9 on a weeknight.

You don’t have to ask where the locals eat, because the handful of restaurants are dependent on locals – not jet setters from Manhattan to Madrid (bless their South Beach-loving hearts.)

Old Florida is where the seafood you eat was actually caught nearby in the Gulf of Mexico, where the town shuts down before midnight and you can truly see the stars at night. 

We're not talking about the kind in the nightclubs, but those in the sky, and they're not drowned out by sky glow from big city billboards.

STORY CONTINUES TOMORROW -- APRIL 2

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