Camping in the Florida Keys-Big Pine Key- 2008
We had plenty of motivation to get on the road in January. Early snows had blanketed Michigan in what turned out to be a winter of record snow and driving misery. Since retirement four years ago we head south to the tropical part of United States- the lower keys. As expected the daily highs were in the 80's, the fishing was good, and the camping experience was excellent.
Even the beauty of a scene like this outside our home couldn't convince us to spend the winter in Ann Arbor
We usually make it well south of Knoxville on the first day and stay near Valdosta on the second. We wanted to to visit my sister Lana in Jacksonville so we checked in the State campground at Little Talbot Island before going to her home. The campground is on the "river" side of the road across from the extensive and beautiful beaches. It was a very fine place and I caught a redfish in the river and had good running but we felt the same about Little Talbot as other places we have visited and that is, we like the keys the best for deep winter.
No shoveling snow on this day as we head to the reef off Big Pine Key
I landed this red grouper but in the entire month I lost all the big ones. I upgraded the hardware to a 6/0 Penn for next year. It's hard to believe I couldn't stop the grouper from getting in their holes with a rod and reel with which I landed 150# tarpon.
On this day we drove the three miles to Bahia Honda State Park and spent the afternoon at the beach. The water was warm and great for swimming.
Bahia Honda has camping but it's extremely competitive to get in and you are limited in time. The booking sharks know how to get their places. Another nearby campground called Sunshine seems to only allow big campers.
On this day, Michigan was ripped with a winter storm
My neighbor cat, Miss Kitty, allowed this little key deer button buck to clean her ears. If she got out of position the buck would gently put his hoof on her.
This is a view from the top of my Lance of the "Hungarian Dinner" cooked by Eva in the tent on the left. She makes many gallons of Vermouth and food for all of us. This is the non-electric area of the camp so it's quite a feat.
Many evenings various players would come out for a pleasant seranade
We ate a lot of seafood and never got tired of it.
We went into Key West and enjoyed the touristy places like Sloppy Joe's....
...and sunset pier
Frank's got this mahi mahi after a night fishing far offshore by himself. His dad was a shrimper and he was taken along on many nights, learning confidence in being offshore. The normal routine is to get in to the cleaning station by four and let happy hour unfold. For me, a tall tumbler with vodka, OJ, and a lot of ice made fish cleaning fun.
Kary bought this orchid at the local flea market last year and hauled it back down for some sun. A key deer spotted it at once and got a good bite out of it before I tied this "found object" shelf in a mangrove tree where it safely thrived.
Waste not is my friend JIm's view. Most people abhor getting a moray. Jim saw dinner when I hauled in this one. After wrestling it off the hook and a bloody slaughter on the deck, Jim filleted it. Nobody thought too highly of this at the cleaning station. The meat looked great and Jim said it was very good. Last year he steaked and smoked a little shark and I did like that.
Lulu and Sam's party featuring a fish stew. My rig is on the right. The marina is right behind the mangroves. They are moving to electric so this will be my spot next year because it has better access, nice shade, and a better view of the marina. It's only after many years that you get offered an electric site. We are going solar and will stay indefinitely.
Kary and I had our best keys visit ever. It takes years to know all the local restaurants, places to visit, flea markets, stores, fishing places, running paths, biking trails and so on. The friendly people at camp are very willing to share their experiences. January through March the neighbors are stable and then the place becomes a revolving door and campers thin out to become more of a Florida place.
We already miss our feathered neighbors
Camping in Florida During February 2007
We were excited to get on the road to Florida as the mercury dipped below ten degrees on the night we left at the end of January. We usually stay at a Tennessee State Campground on the Hiawassee River but we decided to try out one of those campgrounds that have hookups and pull-throughs and are far enough enough off I-75 to be quiet. It met our needs. We got into a hellacious rain storm on I-10 as we made our way to Peninsula State park near Apalachicola. The storm generated some tornadoes that were lethal in central FL. The PSD just bulled through the headwinds with no problems. The truck and camper got a power wash, removing all the grime and salt. We had to get the combination from the park and decided to go to a favorite seafood restaurant on the gulf to celebrate the month long opportunities.
The beaches at St. Joseph Peninsula remind me of the beaches near my home town of Muskegon, MI on Lake Michigan.
I used my fly rod on the bay side but the cool weather and storm had things shut down.
The whiting were running so I switched to bait and caught several meals worth.
Before......
After.....
I cooked them up in peanut oil and cracker crumbs. They tasted great!
We enjoyed walking the beaches and just relaxing and talking to the other campers. We took side trips to Panama City and St. George Island State Park. We enjoyed both trips. We are ever on the lookout for new places. The St. George Island campground was too far away from the ocean and the bay for us and the hurricanes of 2005 scoured the area pretty well. Kary scored four pounds of shrimp on the island for $6.50/ lb. We enjoyed watching the professional and amateur oyster fisherman in the bay and it whetted our appetite for the Wednesday $2.00/ dozen oyster special at a local eatery.
Kary buys fresh shrimp on St. George Island
We added two days to our stay and reluctantly left for the keys. I enjoyed my fishing buddy JIm, whom I met surf fishing. I liked just sitting on the beautiful beach and waiting for hits. It was a welcome relief from the concentration and skill demands and suffering that goes with steelhead fishing in Michigan.
Kary loves to visit the everglades so we always plan a day or two at Collier Seminole State Park on the Tamiami (Tampa to Miami) road. Neither one of us can get enough of the alligators, eagles, anhingas, manatees, and myriad swamp creatures that we see at the many pull-offs in the everglades.
Here's the view from the seven mile bridge as we head to Big Pine Key
Crossing the bridge above, our truck thermometer registered 85 degrees. Neither one of us wanted to wear sunglasses because we felt starved for sunlight. We were pleased with the lot we were given right on the marina. Our neighbors were very friendly and helpful. There is a history of being friendly at this camp. Kary liked the idea that there was a dock in front of our camper and people came by while she was reading one of the ten books she read. I scored an invitation to fish several times with John from Philadelphia, whose boat was parked in front of our camper. John has been coming to the keys for 44 years and to BPFL for twenty-seven. His age mates can't hack the rocking and rolling on the reef and his wife won't let him go out five miles in the ocean alone, so we needed each other.
We were pleased to be right on the water. At night the mullet jumped and during the day the key deer and seas birds were everywhere.
The campground is part of the key deer preserve. The tiny white tailed deer are protected. Kary called this one "the rack."
It takes over six years of seniority until you qualify for hookups. Some people qualify but invest in solar arrays. They do not allow generators in the "primitive" area. At night the primitive area is quiet and restful. I did not run the Honda 2000, although I heard several big units running internal generators and cars during the day. My new battery was good for two days and we generally went out of the camp at least that much. When we visited Key West, went to local flea market, ate at Boondockers, and spent time in the No Name Key Pub, and other places, we ran the generator.
In our last trip to BPSL we did not participate in any of the activities in the club house. This time found the fishing awards and the Valentines Day dance to be a lot of fun. The owner of the campground cooked fish chowder for the awards and it was excellent. We had a rare opportunity to polka together.
A good view of the campground on our way out fishing. We fished on the reef five miles in the ocean.
A red grouper
I thought remoras only lived in a symbiotic relationship to sharks but this one hit my bait. Note the sucking unit on the top of his head.
Each day's fishing success meant spending time filleting. It was a fun time for all and a real challenge to keep the pelicans from snatching entrails that we quickly dunked in a hole in the waste barrels.
The shark bite marks on this mackerel that was attacked right at the boat made me leery of reaching down and tailing fish.
One bite....
What's the name?... you guessed it- squirrel fish.. and not good to eat
Kary relaxing at Big Pine Fishing Lodge and not freezing in Michigan
We signed up for six weeks at BPFL next year, but we will be back there in May for the tarpon fishing. We always visit my sister Lana and brother-in-law Joe in Jacksonville on the way back to MI. On the way there, we camped one night in Tomoka State Park.
I sent this shot via phone to my daughter, Marija, in LA and she sent it to us. We drove our camper on Daytona Beach and hung out for the afternoon.
While in Jacksonville we attended a private party at the St. Augustine Rod and Gun Club and it was our first authentic southern seafood pot luck. Ironically, the lynchpins of this event were Bruce Lahti and his wife Debby. They hail from Marquette, MI and still spend summers there. They used to have the event at their home but it became too large. A real Cajun band added to the ambiance of the massive fireplace and mounts on the rough hewn structure. Bruce managed the singer, Roger Whitaker, and set a high standard with his excellent conch chowder. We loved the Jambalaya but the local rustics that cooked up fifteen bushels of fresh oysters and many pounds of shrimp from the bed of their pickup kept me shucking at the cement tables outside. We danced well and had a great time, energized by excellent sips from the mason jar.
Camping near Baldwin Michigan in the Manistee National Forest for Salmon Fishing on the Pere Marquette River.
Camping in the northern part of Michigan in the fall offers the dry crisp days with the beginning of color change. It is also an opportunity to enjoy the warm days and cool sleeping nights. For the past three weeks I have been camped near Baldwin, MI fly fishing for the fall run of salmon.
This is what the salmon look like
Camping in the third growth Michigan oak forest. The sites are primitive with the typical NFS fire circle. At night the coyotes and owls make for good campfire music after a hard day of fishing.
My wife Kary enjoyed the great weather and the numerous books she read.
We had put together a great lasagna for one night and Kary did a marvelous job with the brats another night.
Camper Photos
Some times I just like to look at my camper. I'm going to pose it better in the future.
Seminole State Park FL
Manistee River MI- Mobile Fishing Cabin
Steelhead Fishing in MI
White River Hesperia MI
The lone cutomers on the Etawah River in TN on the way to FL
