1256 April 8, 2025 Shell Mound And Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge
It was chilly enough for long sleeves this morning and perfect for walking. I walked one mile down the country lane adjacent to the campground and then one mile back. This Ohio Spiderwort was blooming alongside the road.
We packed lunch and drove to Shell Mound. Last time we were here the area was gated and closed. Today, we were pleasantly surprised to find it open. We parked at the boat ramp and took in the view.
We walked the Shell Mound Loop Trail. We learned a lot about this area. First of all, Cedar Key is so named because of the presence of lots of cedar trees. Do you know what cedar trees are used for? Pencils. Cedar is a soft wood that does not splinter easily and it smells good. This area was one of the first to manufacture pencils. One cedar tree can produce as many as 300,000 pencils. As we were walking through the woods, it smelled like pencil shavings!
This area is a protected archeological site. Native Americans first settled here about 14,000 years ago. The oyster was important to their culture for many reasons. Most importantly it was a source of food along with fish and conch and other sea life. The shells were also used for tools and containers. The people figured out how to use the oyster shells to build seawalls. These seawalls prevented erosion and were also used in fish trapping. The remainder of the shells were collected to form a humongous mound. It is estimated that this shell mound contains 1.2 billion oyster shells. These mounds also elevated the land as much as 13 feet so that structures could be built out of the flood plain. Much of this area would currently be underwater without the shell substrate. The Native Americans realized that the right valve of the shell could be returned to the water to encourage the growth of the reef. The left valve was deposited in the mound. The habit of fostering the growth of the reef made harvesting the shellfish a sustainable practice. This mound was situated to align with the sun at summer solstice. It was used for ceremonies and rituals.
In 1970, a private landowner dug into the side of the mound with a bulldozer. He used the shells to form a path. Unfortunately, this was the fate of many shell mounds here in Florida. The oyster shells were mined and used for fertilizer and aggregate.
It was amazing to walk on ancient and sacred ground and remember that people have been here long before us.
We drove to Lower Suwannee Wildlife Refuge and started at the South Entrance. We meandered along the nature trail.
We found a place near the water for our picnic.
There were many Virginia irises growing along the edge of the trees in the sandy and muddy ground.
We saw a white-tailed deer, some turtles, a red shouldered hawk, and songbirds.
We went back to the campground and enjoyed some quiet time.
This evening, we drove into Cedar Key for dinner. We ate at the Second Street Café/Steamers Restaurant. One week before the third hurricane, there was a disastrous fire on Dock Street. Several of the restaurants and shops were obliterated.
Second Street Café and Steamers were two restaurants both owned by the same man. He had the idea to use one of his properties to relocate and merge the two restaurants. Second Street Café serves breakfast and lunch. Steamers takes over for the dinner hour. We had great food.
Meanwhile, in Reisterstown, David and his family flew in to visit with my mom and with Kyle and his family. We are sad not to be there with everyone but we have plans to be in Atlanta soon. We want to be there for Austin’s birthday. At any rate, the family including my sister, Debbie and her husband Greg, all gathered tonight at Reter’s Crabhouse. We got to FaceTime and say hi!
The cousins!
Tim and I walked out to the beach area. We saw lots of dolphins. They must have been following a school of fish and they were feeding. They were jumping up out of the water and splashing and diving. I think they may have been working together to herd and trap the fish. We watched until they were far away.
We walked to loop from the beach and along Dock Street, across the bridge and back through town.
Tim stood on the front porch of this public building. He is marking the high water mark from the storm surge from Hurricane Helene. This building is 3 blocks from the waterfront.
More new art in the town.
We went to sit on a bench on the beach and saw the return of dolphins.
We also saw a single spoonbill. He came in for a landing and startled a bunch of gulls. They all took off together before the spoonbill parted from the group and flew off alone.
On our way back to the campground, we stopped at the public boat ramp at the Marine Research Center. It was really pretty looking out across the mudflats.
We had a fantastic day!