I try to journey to Cedar Key, heart of the Nature Coast of Florida, whenever I can. My travels there recently were in part in memory of a special day I spent in Cedar Key with my dad. It was our last trip to Cedar Key together.
As I drove up to the Cedar Key Old Florida Celebration of the Arts in mid-April, I traveled through so many places that I have shared with family and friends over the course of my life. Weeki Wachee, Chassahowitzka, Homosassa, Ozello, Crystal River, and Gulf Hammock all slipped past.
Change is afoot here in the Nature Coast of Florida, along the Gulf Coast, but it is slow and spread unevenly. You can still find pockets of what it looked and felt like in my childhood. And vast chunks of public lands help maintain the natural beauty and magnificent open spaces.
My dad always enjoyed a trip to Cedar Key. Labor Day weekend, 2011, was our last journey there together. My dad passed away in December of 2011, and I was immensely glad we took that trip to Cedar Key when we did.
He had endless and boundless curiosity. Towards the end of his life travel was more difficult, but he bravely pressed on. Travel became easier with a wheelchair. While some resist that transition, my dad embraced it. It allowed him to continue to explore the world.
His amazing and passionate curiosity is one of the many gifts he gave me. I try to continue that quest, but don’t always achieve the fidelity that he did. He had endless questions he sought to answer about nature, science, politics, religion, history, and humanity. His journey continued until he passed away. He was 96 years old and lived a rich, full, and amazing life.
We spent his 95th birthday in the mountains of North Georgia. He engaged in Elder Hostel/Exploritas trips well into his eighties. He traveled to Alaska with my mom well past the point in life that many stop explorations. He still inspires me.
I worked for Healthy Gulf (then Gulf Restoration Network) from 2007- 2010 and served on its Board of Directors before that. My dad was proud of that, proud of the work I got to do with Healthy Gulf, and was glad people were working to protect the Gulf.
On our last trip along the Gulf, we loaded up and headed north, bound for Cedar Key. We explored the museums, art galleries, and places to eat. We sat in the warm sun, gazing out at the Gulf. We drove through the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. And while my dad saw most of it from the car or from the wheelchair, it did not diminish the experience for him. So much to learn. So much to see.
He was a child of Irish immigrants in New York City and grew up in the deep poverty of the Great Depression. He spent almost 30 years in the U.S. Army traveling the world for his country. He was indeed a man of the world having served in Europe, Japan, Korea, the Soviet Union, and Southeast Asia.
In his later years he found great joy and a profound sense of place here in the Nature Coast, along the Gulf.
He loved the Withlacoochee River, and our old red family canoe. I still have it after 55 years. He loved the forests of the Withlacoochee region. I am glad to visit him at the National Military Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida as he is still surrounded by Withlacoochee State Forest, and right down the road from the river.
He grew up in New York City and lived in some of the world’s most global cities. When my brother and I were toddlers though, he decided we should grow up surrounded by nature. I will be forever in his debt for that.
Our family bought a mobile home on the Withlacoochee River and spent weekends there for years. When we sold it, we moved to Hernando County on the Gulf Coast, and my parents bought 10 acres of forest. We built a home and lived there. My brother and I were in heaven, and it changed the trajectory of my life.
I will always seek to find connections to my dad in Cedar Key. I am blessed with those memories. That connection I feel to the Gulf, the Nature Coast, and the natural world in part flows from the fact that we shared these places together, and his memory is interwoven with my sense of place. That is a blessing.
Joe Murphy is a native and lifelong Floridian who lives along Florida’s Nature Coast. Joe is a former staffer for Healthy Gulf and served on the Healthy Gulf Board of Directors. He contributes these blog posts as an alumnus and as a supporter. You can follow Joe on Facebook (https://bit.ly/joemurphyfacebook)