April 02, 1998 - Campground-hopping through Florida6A • The Suffolk Times • April 2, 1996
Campground- hopping through Florida
On the road again; this time we're
heading east across the state of Florida.
We'll stop at the Army Corps' Ortona
Lock, where two years ago we spent the
winter months working with the endan-
gered manatees.
It was good to Focus
look up old
friends and bike ON
once more
around that fa- NATURE
miliar area. No by Paul
sooner had we Stoutenburo
pulled into our
site than the familiar song of the mead-
owlark greeted us. Nowhere else have
we found these colorful yellow- breasted
ground feeders as common as they are
here: We'd often see them along the
roadway sitting on a fence post with
their heads thrown back calling their
cheery songs, for now is the time to
show off in front of the seemingly unin-
terested female, who scurries about
below. Later, when paired off, they'll
build a hidden nest in the grasses of the
pasture where they'll raise their young.
We were anxious to see if the bald
eagle was still using its nest in the big
oak to the east of the entrance road.
When we got there we found it had
moved to the opposite side of the road.
I wondered why. Could it be the new
cellular phone structure that's recently
been put up near its old nest? It surely
looks menacing, what with its maze of
guy wires and its tall tower. Our glasses
came out and we picked up the white
head of this impressive bird on the nest
but we couldn't see any young. Yet we
were told by others in the park that
they've had their young. We looked
again more closely, but no, they must
have been settled down out of sight. All
we could see was the adult bird.
Ortona Lock, with its fishing pier,
attracts a good number of fishermen
and seeing this was Sunday lots of
"locals" with their pickups were there
trying their luck. Snook is what they're
all hoping for. It's a good eating fish and
grows to a nice size while giving a terrif-
ic fight once hooked. The Caloosa-
hatchee River that flows across Florida
has a series of locks to regulate the
water level in Lake Okeechobee, the
second largest freshwater lake in the
country. Lately, with all the rain they've
had here, the flood gates have been
wide open and the water was roaring
through, heading for the Gulf. This river
is part of the intercoastal waterway that
cuts off, going all the way around
Florida's south end to get to the Gulf of
Mexico. It's a real short cut. We watch
from our campsite the many private
boats that pass through. There's a small
amount of commercial traffic but the
majority are pleasure boats and what
pleasure boats they are: everything from
a souped -up outboard to jazzy power
and sailboats that run into the hundreds
of thousands of dollars. We were invited
to stay for the month
of April and again
work with the mana-
tees but we said no,
perhaps next year.
Crossing Florida
Next day we headed
for Jonathan Dickin-
son State Park on the
east coast. We traveled
across the straight, flat
Route 80 that cuts
across Florida. There
are a few orange
groves but they are
soon swallowed up by
an endless prairie of
sugar cane as far as the
eye can see. Then, like
some western frontier
town, there appeared
Clewiston, the so-
called sugar capitol of
the world. This town
owes its very existence
to the sweet, white,
powdery stuff. It's a
mix of old and new that reminds me of
Riverhead and its predicament with the
big new stores moving in on the out-
skirts of town and the old established
stores dying and going out of business.
As we drove along there was a contin-
ual blue haze in the air from the burning
off of the leafy parts of the sugar cane.
This fire is deliberately set and once it
passes through, huge combines — six,
seven or even more at a time — cut and
chop the cane so that it can be conveyed
into moving trucks. Then these trucks
take their load of cane to the refineries
that look like huge highrises off in the
distance. Sugar is definitely big business
down here in south Florida.
We kept leading east until we hit
Route 1, which runs north and south
along the coast. This is called the Gold
Coast, for here is where the wealth and
the big estates and homes are. We
pulled into Jonathan Dickinson State
Park and got situated for the evening
but before that we wanted to visit the
local preserve called Hobe Sound
Wildlife Refuge. It has a half -mile
nature trail that takes you through the
unique scrub habitat. It reminds us of
our own pine barrens back home in
many ways: poor sandy soil, dry, with its
plants and animals that have adapted to
be lost. There are, of course, many
plants and animals that we do not have,
like their wild rosemary (no relation to
the herb), their burrowing gopher tur-
tles and their scurrying skinks.
From there we went to Jupiter Island,
where we traveled down a narrow road
of heavily landscaped estates along the
shores of this outer island. Our destina-
tion was the Nature Conservancy's
Blowing Rocks Preserve, a unique rock
formation running along the water's
edge that was formed millions of years
ago. No matter where we go we see the
good work of the
Nature Conservancy
preserving these special
parcels of land and the
unique habitat that goes
with them. This Blowing
Rocks Preserve is nes-
tled amongst some of
the most valuable real
estate in Florida, and to
think it was given by
someone who felt others
should enjoy its splen-
dor as the mighty At-
lantic waves roll ashore,
hitting these rocky lime-
stone buttresses and
spewing spray high in
the air. Our day was full
so sleep came easily
among the tall Aus-
tralian pines that made
up the campground.
Another beautiful
day greeted us as we
awoke on Tuesday. The
whiff of ham and eggs
brought me out of the doldrums as
Barbara prepared breakfast. It didn't
take us long to unhook water and elec-
tricity and be on the road by 9. We
passed through Indian River County on
the east coast of Florida, where we
could smell orange blossoms as we
whizzed by grove after grove of these
blossoming trees. This is the famous
Indian River orange country and sights
of its importance were everywhere —
packing houses, grading sheds, trucks
with oranges and grapefruit. This was
really citrus country but our destination
was still further north.
We were headed for Sebastian Inlet
Recreation Area with our fingers
crossed, as this ocean campground is in
high demand and usually full this time of
year. We'd take a chance. Luck was rid-
ing with us, for we got the last spot and
what a spot it was, right on the water
where we watched sleek gray dolphins
cruising just a hundred feet off shore.
Later we'd travel the area on our
bikes and walk out on the jetty where
people were fishing. Pangs of home
came rolling in as small pound- and -a-
half bluefish were being brought in.
How I longed for just one of those fillets
broiled with butter and lemon.
As we watched that worldwide travel-
er, the turnstone, ran along the jetty in
front of us. It seems we find these shore-
birds almost everywhere we go, their lit-
tle black, white and brown bodies iden-
tifying them. Overhead royal terns
searched for bait fish, while every once
in a while a pure white gannet with its
black wing tips would swing in to see if
fishing was better here at the inlet. Off
shore a flock of 30 or more of these
ocean birds plummeted into the water
after their "catch of the day." In all,
Sebastian is a delightful campground
and anyone who camps in this neck of
the woods should try for it, but call
ahead and ask for a reservation.
Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
One of the most common birds seen sitting on fenceposts along the pas-
turelands of Florida Is this bright yellow- breasted meadowlark with its
cheery song.
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75 Years Ago
March 30, 1923
Unload Hootch at Orient: A rum boat landed at Orient
in the night recently and unloaded 350 cases of liquor.
When the speedy power boats brought the rum from the
vessel outside the three -mile limit, two big trucks were
waiting there to rush it to the city. When an officer heard
of it he rushed to Orient, but too late to make an arrest.
Small and fast power boats are used to land hootch from
the rum vessels outside the three -mile limit to the Long
Island shores. These rum - running power boats, it is said,
never make landings twice in the same place.
Local Gleanings: A horse owned by former Assem-
blyman John T. Downs of Cutchogue, which is reported to
have been 57 years of age and one of the oldest horses in
the county, died recently.
50 Years Ago
April 2, 1948
Quadruple Treat in Greenport?: Four is a lucky number
for little Vincent Dwight Raynor of Third Street. He was
born at four o'clock on the fourth day of the fourth month
of the 44th year. A birthday table will be set for four with
four guests on Sunday, April 4, in honor of his birthday.
Gym Demonstration at Greenport School: The third
this harsh environment. Like our pine
barrens it has its indigenous shallow -
rooted oaks that quickly absorb the
rainfall as it passes through the sandy
soil. Right now the prickly pear cactus is
blooming with its waxy yellow flower
like our own. By the way, the best place
to see our native cactus is out at Orient
Beach State Park. On the white sandy
ground we found the familiar reindeer
moss lichen plus another ball -like moss
called cushion lichen.
Their "scrub," like our pine barrens,
needs catastrophic fires every so often
to clear out the dead plant material and
kill the unwanted invading plants.
Without these fires, the invaders would
take over and the unique scrub would
annual gym demonstration will be held in the Greenport
High School gymnasium and will consist of demonstrations
in marching, Danish gymnastics, tumbling, apparatus and
girls' basketball. As an added feature, there will be a skit
entitled "When Grandmother Went to Physical Training,"
enacted by girls representing the various classes.
25 Years Ago
March 26, 1973
Street Signs Will Slow Summer Traffic: By next sum-
mer some 400 new signs will be placed throughout the
town marking 30, 35 and 45 mile speed zones for areas
where 55 miles an hour, the present speed limit, "is just too
fast," said Deputy Supervisor Louis Demarest at Tuesday's
Town Board meeting.
Library News: At a recent monthly meeting the Board of
Trustees of the Cutchogue Free Library unanimously
accepted the recommendation of departing librarian Mrs.
Harry Calnan and appointed Mrs. John Minerva director
of the Cutchogue Free Library beginning April 1, 1973.
Trustees present at the meeting included Walter Fried,
presiding; Mrs. Calnan, Mrs. Donald Robinson, Mrs.
George Bailey, Dorville Finkle, Miss Nancy Carley, Mrs.
Albert Richmond and Emil Rosenfeld. [Taken from Feb.
22, 1973]