自我介绍

Although I trained and worked in public health for several decades in Seattle, I am from California and recently moved to Cedar Key Florida. Having meticulously restored a 1957 mid-Century modern 3-bedroom home and after restoring a 1972 Airstream Overlander International called “The Breeze,” my husband, Darrin, and I travelled in the Breeze--two grown men and a dog in 125 square feet--for nearly year looking across the country searching for a new home and a new life. We found Cedar Key and the cottages formerly known as Mermaid’s Landing. We are intent on preserving this unique 1950’s property on the Gulf of Mexico and sharing it and the magnificent ecological and recreational environment surrounding it with you. The pace and peace in Cedar Key is the perfect antidote for karmic congestion of modern city life. Darrin and I bring a bit of Bali to Firefly Cottages. We lived in Indonesia for a period and the culture and spirit of Bali got into us. We are planting an Indonesian kitchen garden on the property and may use it to help create spectacular Indonesian foods we will happily share with you if you are here. You might hear Gamelan music and smell ceremonial incense. We enjoy kayaking off the property to outer Keys and among the mangroves around the property and watching the birds and dolphins feed off the fish in our backyard (the property extends about 80 feet into the Gulf waters and we hope soon to rebuild the deck and dock for our own and our guests' enjoyment). Bali also taught us a little about our place in nature and our role in protecting it. We are designing Firefly Cottages to have as small an environmental impact as possible. Living, as we do, on the ecological fringe in an area dependent on pristine tidal waters, we are sensitive to the environment and the effects our species is having on it and the climate. In lieu of plastic bottled water, we provide an unlimited supply of purified drinking water to each guest daily. We do love the local seafood! Our famous Cedar Key clams, oysters, stone crabs, blue crabs, shrimp and the local catches are so fresh you'll want to slap them! We can help you find great sources for meals and have kits for several local and seasonal specialties you can make in your own cottages. We loved eating our way across the USA on our way to Florida in 2017-2018. We trusted we would know our place when we got there. We found it when we got here. We were drawn to its natural beauty, diverse community, and mild winter climate and opportunity to share this place with others. We hope our guests will appreciate Cedar Key for some of the same reasons we do, come to love it themselves, and return again year after year. From our lives and travels we have come to value hospitality above all things. As your hosts we want you to be comfortable and relaxed, surrounded by beauty and good vibes, feeling welcome and in balance with the area so you can take it all in. We will strive to make that desire a reality. Our motto in life? "Have tickets!" (Interpret broadly.)