INSPIRED BY COLORS OF CEDAR KEY

Last spring my husband and I visited Cedar Key for a relaxing weekend getaway. Cedar key is a tiny island that sits well off the beaten path, surrounded by the gulf coast waters. You get to it by turning onto a stretch of scenic highway somewhere between Tampa and Tallahassee. When we arrived we discovered Cedar Key contained a thriving estuary of birds and fish – Hubby was sad he didnt bring his saltwater pole – as it was clearly a haven for fishermen and kayakers alike.

Aside from bird-watching barefoot on the sandy shores, we sampled the clam strips and sushi from the local bars and restaurants that sit perched along Cedar Key’s single pier. If you enjoy strong drinks and live music, you can spend a few hours bouncing from one loud dive marked by rope and colorful old water buoys to another.

Our favorite part of the getaway was playing catch with a group of pelicans that gathered along the beachy path behind our Airbnb every afternoon. After a long day of scooping up fish, several of the large-billed birds would line up along the sandbar like a group of office mates bellied up to a Chili’s counter after a long Monday on the job. We enjoyed throwing sticks into the water and watching the pelicans dive in after them! Teasing the pelicans allowed us to get some creative shots with the Nikon.

I also brought the camera on our walks downtown and was was inspired by some graffiti wall art which incorporated some clever poetry about what can happen when starting with a grey wall:

“A gray wall is a good canvas! Splash some paint of any color, every color of the rainbow. In a small town, in a big world, it brings the joy of life, all starting on a gray wall.”

Cedar Key was definitely brimming with the bold blues, greens and greys of the gulf coast, which inspired me to mint a series of NFTs, which you can view on OpenSea.