Gorgeous, gorgeous property with beautiful people who run it!! I'm usually not one for B&Bs, but since my 11-yr-old son had never stayed at one, I wanted him to get an idea of what they were all about & chose his Spring Break to do it. What an awesome experience! From making my reservations from Los Angeles w Sandy, to checking in w her and Alice, they were such genuine, sweet ladies who took a shine to my little guy & weren't shy about wanting to treat him like a king. They generously showed him the bottomless homemade cookie jar (whose cookies very much resembled my own grandmother's secret recipe & helped me reminisce & remember her) & they showed him the hot chocolate/tea/coffee station as well as palming him some Andes chocolate mints with a wink and a pat on the head.
We rented a golf cart for the duration of our stay and were run down the rules/given the agreement to sign by Alice, the proprietress. She explained the driver must be at least 21 & have a valid driver's license in order to operate the cart around the island. However, she kept speaking as if my son would drive it (which was absolutely what he wanted to do!) but then corrected herself as she nudged him. I myself learned to drive on my grandfather's golf cart, so I thought it an appropriate family tradition to allow him the same freedom. We found an empty parking lot & I instructed him the same way my father had instructed me: Automatic transmissions are ONLY to be driven w the RIGHT foot, always keep your eyes scanning the road & around you, & slowly curl your toes on the accelerator to begin moving. Oh, & don't panic; stay calm.
We stayed in the "Treehouse Suite" for the first 2 nights, then in "Jack's Room" for the third, bc Treehouse was already reserved for what'd be our final night. When we go back someday, we'll definitely stay in the Treehouse again. It has a small balcony overlooking the 700-yr-old tree & its swing, plus the well-manicured courtyard which has a koi pond & butterfly garden. The Treehouse also has a kitchen with full-size refrigerator that contains water & soda you may purchase for $1/ea by leaving your offerings to the beverage gods in the provided container. They use the honor system here :) There's what's referred to as a "water closet" in the Treehouse bathroom - that's a walk-in shower stall; no bathtub. Jack's Room, above the kitchen & at the top of the spiral staircase, has both a water closet & claw-footed bathtub.
Each room has maybe 10-15 satellite TV channels & a DVD player so you can play movies borrowed from the downstairs library. The library also contains books (duh) & many board games. The Treehouse also features a selection of board games. Our only complaint was the fact that the wifi in both rooms was spotty & weak at best and that the satellite TV reception was pretty snowy. However, I suspect this is simply due to the remote location of the island and is no fault of the management. So if you're hoping to binge-watch Hulu or Netflix & Chill, Cedar Key may not be the place for you. Conversely, if you want to explore the shore at low tide, or exercise some brain cells by reading, or want quality time playing checkers or cards - do not pass Go; this is where you belong.
The kind but shy maintenance man lives on the property in the shack-style room called the "Ritz Cracker." You can probably already get the pun. There's also the friendly House Cat, "BB" (which stands for, you guessed it, Bed & Breakfast). It was explained to us that he was a feral cat rescue, which made perfect sense after we explored the island a little & came upon many ferals on the island.
Each room contained the "Room Bible" which contained a detailed history of the property, its owners, old photos & anecdotes relating to their families, the island & the property. The "Bible" also has menus for pretty much every restaurant in town, as well as important phone numbers & operating hours of local businesses.
Continental-style breakfast is set out at 7 & breakfast served at 9, but seating can be limited. Either get there a bit early or make a special request of the ladies preparing the meals for u to take your breakfast to your room. They kindly obliged us twice when we requested the latter, telling us to simply leave the dirty dishes in our room and they'd collect them later.
The first day of our visit was sunny, but turned to intermittent thunderstorms for the next several days. This made activity planning difficult, so we explored the grounds of the property more than a few times. During one of our expeditions, we spotted a croquet & bocce set, which we put to use during a break in the weather. Everywhere u look, there's attention to detail; from the garden accoutrements, to the shortcut paths, to the manicured lawn & garden. Everything is well-maintained and the ladies seem to think of everything. They genuinely care abt their guests. We got big hugs upon check-in and check-out :) read more