Florida: Cayo Costa State Park to Cabbage Key

Day 191
NM Today: 5
NM total: 3580

Before leaving our anchorage at Cayo Costa State Park we decided to launch the dinghy and take a short trip over to the state park dock to look around.  We heard they had beaches and hiking trails and thought it was worth the trip to see what they had to offer. The island was interesting for such a small place. We walked a shortened version of the available trails and within the short distance we hiked, we found jungle-type terrain, desert-like areas, and swamp lands.

Sign at State Park - "Welcome to ... the real Florida"

Park Trail

Evelyn at Beginning of Cemetery Trail

From palm trees to cactus plants

Land becoming barren

and yet more barren

with the Gulf Beach at the end of the trail

Gulf Beach at the Cayo Costa State Park
Boca Grande Pass in Background
(saw lots of shells but none worth collecting here)

Red Flag day at the beach - High Hazard

We even passed swamp lands on the way back to the dinghy.
As Clark stepped up to take this picture, I saw a black snake slither away right where he was walking!
He never saw the snake!

At the end of the trail I checked my Fitbit and found we had walked 6750 steps or just under 3 miles. Great! More than half way to my daily goal and we still had more planned exploration at our next stop! We hopped back into the dinghy, made our way back to Sea Moss, and pulled up anchor to get  underway. The boat trip to Cabbage Key, our stop for the night, only took one hour of travel time. In fact as we approached Cabbage Key we could look back and see the dock for the state park we had just visited.

The Inn at Cabbage Key was made famous by Jimmy Buffett's song Cheeseburger in Paradise.  After we checked in at the marina office, Clark and I walked up to the restaurant to see the $70,000 worth of dollar bills stuck to the walls and ceilings of the dining area and barroom. The tradition of leaving a bill taped to the wall was started years ago by a commercial fisherman who had plenty of cash on hand. He taped a few bills to the wall to be sure he had enough money for more drinks upon his return. The bartender said that the inn was recently added to the registry of historic sites.

Dollar bills with messages written on them
cover every wall in the dining area

They even hang from the ceiling held together with masking tape.
We saw several dated 2015 and 2016 already.

The bartender made sure we saw the Jimmy Buffett dollar
(in pink frame with his picture behind the bar.)
as well as the one left by JFK Jr.

As we walked back to the boat we saw another looper boat coming in to dock and recognized the boat as Firebird, so we went over to say hello. Joe, on Firebird, is traveling on his 36-foot Grand Banks on his own. Since Clark and I were going exploring, we invited Joe to join us on our walk. We were told that the whole island could be toured in 30 minutes.

First, we found the turtle warrens. The turtles had clever names like Speedy, Myrtle, Leonardo, Raphael,

and Donatello.

I looked all around for Michelangelo but couldn't find his warren anywhere.

Florida's oldest surviving water tower is on the island. All others have succumbed to hurricanes and old age. At the top of the water tower stairs the view is impressive with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Pine Island Sound on the other.

Historic Water Tower - Cabbage Key, FL

View from Water Tower on Cabbage Key

View from Cabbage Key Water Tower

We walked the trail on Cabbage Key watching our surroundings and steps carefully. Along the path we found informational signage telling us about the flora and fauna of the area. The first sign we came to said that multiple alligator sightings had been reported in the area. Later signs showed pictures of the types of snakes we might find along the trail.

When we reached the end of the trail, Joe said the same thing I was thinking ... "I don't know if I am relieved or disappointed that we did not see any alligators." Joe is from Massachusetts, and Clark and I are from New Jersey. None of us have a clue what to do if an alligator is encountered. In fact the only danger any of us were in on the trail was the risk of falling onto our behinds into a muddy section of the trail that barred the way to the end. We had to slip and slide our way along the edge of the mucky soil for a few feet to get back to dry land. Somewhere along the trail my Fitbit did the buzz thing it does when I reach the goal of 10,000 steps! Yippee!

We extended an invitation to Joe to join us for dinner, and after our hike, he decided that he would accept. I provided the spaghetti dinner, and he returned the favor by bringing me over some beer. I seem to have acquired a taste for Yuengling Lager which is what he had in stock on his boat. Since Joe saw that I enjoyed the first one he gave me, he went back to his boat after dinner and brought me two more - one for tonight and one for tomorrow night! My cheeks are quite red in the picture below - a sure sign I had one beer too many to drink. Clark, of course, had water to drink as usual.

Evelyn and Joe after dinner 

 We had a lovely evening with Joe talking about where we have been on the loop and where we plan to go from here. Joe is a very good story teller, and I enjoyed listening to his Massachusetts accent as he told his stories. We expect to see him at our stop tomorrow night as well in Cape Coral.