Smith and Weeki

Debbie and Liz meet up with a mermaid

We met up with Debbie Pigman this this week at the world famous mermaid show at Florida’s Weeki  Wachee State Park.  Weeki Wachee is headwaters of one of Florida’s many artesian springs and the mermaids have been performing there since 1947 when a retired Navy SEAL created a performance area allowing the audience to view the springs under water in comfortable theatre seats. In spite of a chilly morning, we enjoyed a narrated boat ride down the Weeki Wachee River and then settled in for the mermaid show. It’s impressive to see these excellent swimmers in the 74-degree water for 45 minutes, smiling, lip-synching and never appearing to be cold. The magic creeps in, one’s imagination of a life under the sea takes over, and one hardly notices that the graceful dives to the bottom are to pick up air hoses. We especially liked it when the fish and turtles crept through the show. In fact we enjoyed the whole thing so much we were happy to return after lunch for another show. To learn more about the history of the attraction and the women behind the show, see the story that was posted in the New York Times last summer .  

Whisk brooms and pencils from historic Cedar Key

Our next stop was in historic Cedar Key, once a bustling terminus of the Florida Railroad. We rushed to get to this now-laid-back fishing village of about 900 folks to hear Rick Smith, son of Florida’s preeminent storyteller Patrick Smith, give a retrospective of his father’s work. When we first landed in Fort Pierce, we had been issued a stack of Patrick Smith historical novels as required reading for gaining an appreciation of cracker culture and the historical interaction of humans and land in Florida. This lecture was sponsored by the Cedar Key Historical Society and by 7pm there was standing room only as all 250 seats of the community center filled with old-timers and snowbirds, and a few kids and families. Rick showed video of his dad discussing his various books, including “Angel City” which cast light into the oppressive migrant worker camps and brought significant legislative changes; “Attapatah” and “Island Forever” which captured the saga of the Seminoles and their loss of land and livelihood; and “A Land Remembered” chronicling a pioneer family that helped create the Florida cattle industry. This book, about the first of so-called “Crackers” (a name that came from the sound of the drovers' whips) is now taught in Florida classrooms. The evening felt like a large community book club as we all raised our hands to indicate which books we had read. We were sad to note the passing of Patrick Smith a few weeks ago, and were pleased to be able to meet his son who is so ably and passionately keeping his father’s work alive. See his website for scheduled talks.

Seahorse Key hosts artists as well!

We made the most of a rare opportunity to explore the island of Seahorse Key, on one of the few days each year the public is allowed to visit. Seahorse Key, offshore from Cedar Key, is one of a number of smaller islands, managed by the US Department of Fish and Wildlife Service as the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge. Seahorse Key is known for  ibis, egret and heron rookeries, as well as an historic lighthouse and an abundance of cotton mouth vipers. It is open to the public only two days a year.  Lighthouse Key is also a study site for marine biology students from the University of Florida, many of whom were acting as docents for the day.  We especially enjoyed walking with ornithology experts on the beach where we practically tripped over yellow rumped warblers, phoebes and juvenile ibis. Spotting scopes were used to view old friends like loons, buffleheads and horned grebes out on the water. Seahorse Key has been noted in National Geographic for the symbiotic relationship between its nesting seabirds and a large cottonmouth population.  According to the researchers the snakes keep rodents from pillaging the rookeries and gorge themselves on dropped fish, not baby seabirds, allowing the seabird population to flourish (see National Geographic story here). We also clambered through the historic lighthouse which was built in 1854 and served as a Union bastion during the Civil War. It is one of 14 Florida lighthouses that claims a female keeper. We paid our respects at the grave of Catherine Hobday, the lighthouse keeper, as we explored the historic cemetery.  

We also have to make note of the truly unique campground we are in. Sunset Isle RV Park in Cedar Key first came to our attention through the blog of technomads Chris Dunphy & Cherie Ve Ard, hosts of the great RV tech resource, Technomadia. They wrote about how this campground attracts folk, country and bluegrass musicians and how people gather on the docks to watch the sun go down. We have met some new friends here and enjoyed playing and singing last night with Bob Kay, who, in the other season, captains the Blue Nose Schooner Martha White on Chesapeake Bay (see website).  There was music every night and most of the day. It’s on our list of places to return to when we are in the area again.