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Welaka, Florida

by Mike Miller
(Naples, Florida)

Welaka Airstream

Welaka Sign Board

Welaka Old Weathered Building

Welaka is on the east bank of the St. Johns River about halfway between Palatka and Deland. It is not on the main highway, so you have to work a bit to find it.

The little village is on the east bank of the St. Johns River between Satsuma and Georgetown. This part of northeast Florida is still pretty much like it used to be in the old days.

The Florida back roads leading into Welaka are beautiful, many of them canopied with old oak trees showing grey beards of hanging Spanish Moss.

There are a couple of little motels and restaurants that are worth visiting. Welaka is a vacation spot for fishermen who love to go for the big bass in the river.

Streets are lined with old buildings to please the eye, most of them not restored and some even empty. The town doesn't get much traffic, and you will get a good feeling of old Florida tranquility.

The last time I was there, I saw a young man working on restoring an old Airstream trailer. A beautiful ship's figurehead was supervising the work from the front of the shop.

A new restaurant that gets good reviews is Waters Edge Pub & Grill, 10 Boston Street, Welaka, FL 32193. Anderson's Lodge is a fishing resort where the Waters Edge is located.

Comments for Welaka, Florida

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Jun 06, 2016

We love Welaka
by: Linda N

We love visiting backroadsin Florida and found Welaka over a year ago. The Welaka Lodge and RV resort is a great place to stay. They have wonderful cottages and a limited amount of rv spots. They also have a dock with boat rentals. Great town for exploring by bike too. We loved the restaurant called Shrimp R Us and there's a fairly new BBQ place. We're ready to go back!

Feb 16, 2015

Mr. Miller
by: john victor

Wow!!! That was a small space for my favorite teacher at MHS for five years...I had the same dream ...I even almost purchased the RV. I bought the thick RV Directory...realized the cost to park in the RV Parks...the dream left me...was disappointed.

Dec 04, 2009

Love those Airstreams!
by: Nancy Miller

I have always loved the look of Airstream trailers! My parents had a 31' model that they lived in for 5 years after my dad retired from teaching. In 1972 they sold their house and all of their possessions and took off for sites to be determined! They would stay in Florida for most of the winter, and made stops at all of their kids homes Up North in Michigan and Wisconsin in the summer.
I loved the series of books called the Boxcar Children when I was growing up, the tales of how these orphaned siblings would gather up whatever they could find and outfitted an abandoned boxcar to make it their home. I was fascinated by how they got by with so little (I also wondered where they went potty but the book was written in the days before we had to read about all that!), and in such a small space.
I currently live in a 700 square foot cottage right on the Bay of Green Bay, so I know how to exist in a small space. But not quite as small as a 31' x 8' trailer! I daydream about buying an old Airstream and doing just what the fellow in the picture is doing. I sure wish I had bought my parent's trailer when it was available!

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