Three hours north of Pinellas County, at the end of a two lane road just below the mouth of the Suwannee River,  Cedar Key farmers make their living. They don’t farm sugar cane or cotton or any of Florida’s other crops.

No, on Cedar Key they do their farming in the Gulf of Mexico. In Cedar Key, they farm clams.

WHAT

Cedar Key has reinvented itself more than once. Railroad magnate and Senator David Yulee dreamed of a railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Key. Just before the Civil War, Cedar Key, not Tampa Bay, had the starring role in Gulf shipping. During the Civil War the Union overtook the key and shut down the rail line.

Just after the war, Eberhard Faber (of pencil fame) took advantage of then-abundant cedar. Repairs to the railroad allowed for commerce to return to the shipping port, but in 1886 Henry Plant’s railroad made Tampa, not Cedar Key, the major depot. Hurricanes and fire proved too much for the key’s tiny economy and the locals turned to fishing and then, less than 20 years ago, to clams.

Today, Cedar Key exists as part clam village, part tourist center. Although the large boardwalk at the edge of the key lures tourists, some of the best places to shop and eat are towards the center of the island. Coming into town you’re assaulted with signs for fresh produce and clams. Downtown you’ll find an assortment of local art galleries and shops housed in the business district (Dock and 2nd streets). The architecture downtown combines gingerbread with weathered wood and whimsy, painting a colorful collage of a Florida fishing village.