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By JENNIFER GOLDBLATT
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 7, 2001
Ispent much of last week cycling and stomping through forests of sabal palms and towering slash pines and cruising into the gulf, with the setting sun in my gaze and a fishing pole in my hands.
The best part? I was getting paid for it. Even better? I did it all within a few miles of U.S. 19, where I spend most other workdays trapped behind a conga line of sluggish sedans and cement trucks.
In honor of National Tourism Week, I had been challenged to dispel the myth "There is nothing to do here." As hard as my boss tried to persuade me that jumping out of a plane -- without the parachute -- would be a really good way to do that, I chose to go hiking, biking and fishing instead.
Convincing locals and visitors that Pasco offers a high-quality recreational life is crucial to getting people to visit, move and stay here. Convincing them to do those things will ultimately plump up the county's tax base.
In the interest of full disclosure, I started this assignment a bit skeptical that there was any myth to be dispelled.
But as soon as I got just a few feet into the Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park, my mind started to change. Here are more than 8,000 acres of scrub oaks, longleaf pines, cedars, and palmettos hug campgrounds, hiking, biking and horseback riding trails.
My tour guides were Frank and Trey Starkey, avid cyclists, grandsons of the pioneering rancher Jay B. Starkey Sr. and developers of Longleaf, a 568-acre community at the southwest end of the family's original ranch.
I had driven past the park countless times on my way out of Pasco in pursuit of something to do. But as we pedaled down its paved path, I was stunned at how completely enveloping the greenness and the quiet are -- just enough to make you forget that you are a stone's throw from strip shopping centers.
A path is in the works that would connect the back of the Starkey park trail to the 29-mile bike trail that runs parallel to the Suncoast Parkway. The connector would meet the parkway path between S.R. 54 and Ridge Road and could be open by next year.
The parkway's bike path now stretches from SR 50 to Lutz-Lake Fern Road. We boarded it at the SR 54 trail head and headed north.
While I wasn't entirely oblivious to the whooshing of passing trucks and cars, I wasn't overwhelmed by it either. There is just enough space and fencing to keep the aroma and sight of oncoming traffic at a comfortable distance. The Department of Transportation bought 6,800 acres that line the western part of the trail for mitigation, so that part will remain undeveloped forever. There are parts where trees completely surround the path, and it is entirely possible to forget about the traffic.
The Starkeys also showed me the rolling roadways of San Antonio. The hills, the tranquility and the light loads of cyclist-friendly traffic have earned the area a national reputation as a cycling hot spot. There are enough different hill sizes that it is a great destination whether you want to huff and puff up steep inclines or just take a breezy, sweatless ride. There are plenty of places in town to stop for nourishment, and Glenn and Sarah Weber, owners of San Antonio Cyclery, can provide maps and recommend routes. They're planning to start renting bikes and leading guided tours later this summer.
Pasco County is putting together complete maps of biking trails and other self-guided tours that will be available soon.
The newest place to bike and hike is the 3,400 acres that is being shaped into Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park. The trail head off Scenic Drive in Port Richey opens into a maze of sabal palms, ferns, magnolias, longleaf pines and live oaks. Park ranger Rob Wakeland, who led me through it, said that he has spotted gopher tortoises, osprey, otters, gray squirrels and pygmy rattlesnakes there.
Towering trees -- including a 115-year-old slash pine -- arch into a leafy cathedral ceiling over the path. As we hiked over dry uplands and wet areas, the whiff of magnolia blooms filled our noses and the sound of the breeze shuffling through the treetops filled our ears.
It was pretty hard to believe that this qualified as "work."
Next year, the entry to this wild kingdom will be just behind the Sears Service Center at Gulf View Square Mall.
Volunteers and park rangers are now clearing what will be 20 miles of hiking and biking trails and launches for canoeing and kayaking.
For my fishing adventure, I set out from Gulf Harbors with Captain Jere Smith, owner of Al's Flats Fishing charters, at about 6:30 p.m.
As we motored into the silvery expanse of water and sky, the evening seemed full of promise: The mullet were jumping, bait was splashing around, and the pelicans were careening beak-first into the water on fishing trips of their own.
Mind you, I wouldn't know a snook from a skate, but Smith, who is also vice president of the Pasco Coastal Conservation Association, assured me that he regularly catches snook, redfish, trout, tarpon and cobia in the area.
Of course, he also said that fishing is 70 percent skill and 30 percent luck.
Because I had none of the former and little of the latter, I returned to shore fishless.
"Well," he said. "they don't call it going catching."
Nevertheless, after spending a few hours out on the shimmering water with a front seat to watch the sun descend and the moon and stars rise to pierce the night sky, I certainly didn't feel like my fishing trip was altogether fruitless.
And I returned to the office feeling like Pasco is a nice place to visit -- even if you live here.