HOW WE SPENT OUR FLORIDA VACATION…

Suwannee River

From New Iberia we jam eastward through Mississippi and spend the night just east of Mobile at the Riverside RV Resort in Robertsdale, Alabama.  When we check in we are advised that the laundry room is safe and to head inside if the weather gets violent.  We’re not interested in experiencing even a tornado watch so we get up early the next day and continue on.

Our next stop is Old Town Florida.  This tiny hamlet is on the Suwannee River made famous by Stephen Foster’s song Old Folks At Home (The Florida State Song.)  Even though the song was originally about the Pedee River in Arkansas, but changed it to Swanee at the suggestion of a friend.  Weather permits only one day to check out the area and pick up supplies. 

Here's a little something to entertain you… or not...

Piles of Shells

walkway over Turtle Mound

Continuing eastward we cross Florida and land just south of Daytona in New Smyrna Beach. Can’t go any further east so we’ll hang here for a bit till the storm passes.  We park at the Sugar Mills Ruins Travel Park.  We have a couple of sunny days before the rains and we spend them walking the beaches and visiting the Canaveral NationalSeashore, the longest expanse of pristine shore in Florida.  We hike around and over Turtle Mound, a fifty-foot midden of oyster shells left by the earliest inhabitants of the area.  It’s fun to imagine the folks sitting around the campfire, shucking oysters. “Hey pass the Tabasco… oh yeah it hasn’t been invented yet…”

After viewing all these discarded shells, WE NEED OYSTERS… so… we check our urban spoon app and head over to Off The Hook Raw Bar and Grill.  We start off with cocktails and a half dozen Louisiana oysters on the half shell.  They are fresh plump and tasty.  From the Specials menu we select the BBQ fried oysters with blue cheese.  Batter is crispy, oyster succulent and the sauces zesty.  Then the blackened Cajun oysters, no batter just tasty with lots of seasoning lightly seared.  We finish off with the Grouper bites, lightly seasoned and flash fried.  We are in Oyster seafood heaven!

After one full day of steady rain the storm finally passes (whew) and we are ready to head north…