Following the Florida Gulf Coast brought us to the area around Cross City and the Suwannee River as it flows in to the Gulf. Beautiful forest areas and clear springs flow to a fantastic coastal area. This stop brought out all of the toys by air, land and sea. Let's start with a video.
We stayed at a great little park called Suwannee River Hideaway RV Resort. It was exactly as described. We had a huge spot that gave us a front yard for Nellie to hang out in. It also offered a unique boardwalk to the river through a creepy swamp. When leaving someone forgot to lift the winch on the trailer and it took some heavy tools to get it fixed. I blame the dog!
One of the key attractions for the area for us was the Nature Coast State Trail. This was an old rail line that has been transformed in to hike/bike trail that covers multiple counties. The trail crosses the Suwannee river in Old Town making for a fun morning and some beautiful scenery.
As the Suwannee River flows to the Gulf the last area it passes is the town of Suwannee right on the coast. There is almost nothing for miles until you get to the town. That is pretty remote. The town is full of canals where fishing boats can be tied up right behind a home. We took the boat out and explored the canals and even found a little island that will go unnamed. Turns out it was an area we were not supposed to visit. But without signs how were we to know?
The flying tour took us further south around Cedar Key following the coast. Quite a fun airport to visit as both ends of the runway end in water. There were plenty of small islands and one with a large home all to itself.
A dinner at Old Town's Suwannee Belle Landing offered some great food and fantastic views of the Suwannee river winding by.
The airport at Cross City was very accommodating and worked to make the stay there easy. During the week we were there the airport had a fly-in and they asked if we would be willing to show our rig to the attendees. It was a lot of fun talking to people about what we do and showing them aerial videos of where they lived. Most had no idea what their town or surrounding area looked like from the air. We also broke out the flight simulator for the first time and some of the local youth were able to try their hand at controlling a plane. One of them actually landed the Space Shuttle on his first try. That is no easy thing to do. Who knows, maybe we put the flying bug in the future Mars Mission Commander.
