We paddled the Suwannee River, starting at Manatee Springs.  A short walk from our campsite was the springhead.  We launched our boats and enjoyed a long paddle.  By the way, we had dropped a vehicle earlier to provide return transportation.

One of the highlights of the trip was Ichetucknee Springs.  We put in at the tube launch and since we were in the middle of winter, we had the place to ourselves.  The clear, fast flowing spring carried us through a misty morning landscape.  Toward the end of the park, we encountered a few other brave souls, including a couple canoeing upstream.  We paddled beyond the park to the Santa Fe River and eventually to the Suwannee where we had left transportation.  At the takeout, we talked to locals who had found an arrowhead while diving - we had seen them earlier while paddling.  They do this to earn extra money and to collect; says there's a lot of stuff to be found in those rivers. 

The morning we drove to Cedar Key was rainy.  The grey sky and water was not very inviting.  We found Cedar Key windy, but it was a steady wind so we decided to give it a go.  We paddled a bit in the estuaries, but the tide was going out and the water shallow.

Cedar Key is made up of a number of small keys linked by bridges and a highway.  Driving through town, we found the beach and tried again, launching from the beach.  A group of small island were only about a mile away and we paddled to them.  Playing in the creeks channels of the islands gave us a break before returning.

It was oyster season in Cedar Key and we encountered numerous trucks carrying bushels of oysters.  Several oyster businesses near the highway had oyster washers busily washing and tumbling the oysters clean.  Given that the bounty was so fresh and so close, we felt it necessary to try this delicacy at a local establishment. We found such a place overlooking a creek and across from an oyster business.