January 2022 - John and Carol Visit - Part 3 (Making a Fire and Pine Island/Sams House Hike)

Kostrzewa Brothers Build a Fire

John and Carol’s visit wasn’t just about John and I doing hikes.  We spent a lot of time with them and our brother Walt and his wife Terry doing stuff like watching rocket launches, eating out and just spending time together.  We ate at a few places around Cape Canaveral and the Port and also made our annual visit to Salt and Sweet Polish restaurant in Melbourne.

One day, after meeting up for lunch and drinks we all went back to our house.  We decided to try to christen my new firepit that I had gotten for Christmas.  I had accumulated some wood from trimming our Japanese Blueberry tree but, as it turns out, that is not great fuel for a fire.  Still, with Walt’s expertise as an ax man to chop the wood into smaller pieces and John’s Boy Scout skills in fire building, they got a pretty decent fire going.

Walt chopping wood	John and Walt relaxing by the fire	The Kostrzewa brothers enjoying the fireside

Sams House and Pine Island Conservation Area

The third and final hike John and I took on his visit was at Sams House and Pine Island Conservation Area on Merritt Island.  Sams House and its surroundings is another property preserved under the county’s Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) program.  The EEL site connects to the Pine Island land purchased by the state’s St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), making the jointly-owned area an 880-acre preserve.

Sams House Nature Sanctuary

Sams House—by the way, Sams is the former owners last name--is actually believed to be the oldest remaining dwelling in Brevard County, dating back to 1875.  The restored original 600-foot log cabin structure and the larger house that was built later contain various historical, educational displays and a gift shop.

Sams House Historical Marker	Sams House (original and addition)

The grounds around the building include an ancient burial mound and a nature walk with interpretive learning stations.  For some reason, I have very few pictures from this hike (I was either too lazy to take them or deleted them by mistake) so I’m showing some pictures from the Brevard County and Florida Hikes websites.

Indigenous Peoples Burial Mound	(Not real) Giant Sloth and Armadillo (or something) on Nature Trail

Walking the nature loop and all the trails that take you over boardwalks through hammocks and along the Indian River Lagoon add up to about 2.8 miles of hiking on the Sams property.

Sams House Hammock Loop	Sams House Hammock Loop	Sams House Lagoon Trail

A short distance from Sams House we met up with a local college professor who was leading a group of out-of-town college students who were doing some environmental research.  I remembered them being from Europe or Australia but John said they were from Alabama.  I’d trust his memory better than mine but, either way, let’s say they were from some strange far-away place that I know little or nothing about.  In any case, the professor pointed out a Bard owl perched in one of the trees above us.  I got a picture of the owl, but it’s pretty hard to see.  Rather than make you "Where's Waldo" it, I circled it in red.

Bard Owl in a Tree

The Sams House trails connect to the Garnet Trail, which goes through a marsh, eventually coming to an open area along a small body of water.  You walk along the dike adjacent to the water, where we spotted some wildlife, including a racoon and a ubiquitous Florida alligator.

Marsh on the Garnet Trail	Racoon on Pine Island	Gator next to the Garnet Trail

We eventually arrived at the parking area for the Pine Island Conservation Area.  Once there, we met up with the professor and students again who had “cheated” by driving to the parking lot to which we had hiked a total of about three quarters of mile.

I had a conversation with the professor who explained that, before being preserved, this property was slated to become an upscale housing development.  The houses would have been built on the dike we walked on and would have abutted the water body.  The water, in fact, was likely created by draining the area on which the houses would have been built.  In case, deteriorating financial conditions years ago (possibly during the late 2000s financial crisis) ended plans for the development and provided the opportunity to save the property.

This was a pretty good, diverse outing to wrap up John’s and my adventures for this trip.