Onward | Power of the people helps save Florida's real magic - for now

rsz_honeymoonisland_landscape — Honeymoon Island shoreline | Photo | Michele Miller

By Michele Miller
What’sWhat New Port Richey

I thought I’d be writing a different column when I snapped a photo of the protestors waving signs at the entrance of Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin.

On Sunday, August 25, we were on our way out of the park from what’s been a weekly breakfast ritual when I stopped to say “thanks,” and tell them I had already signed the petition. And I wanted to get the word out about the proposed changes which included erecting pickleball courts at one of my favorite spots in the world and golf courses, lodgings, and other not-so-natural amenities at nine of the 175 Florida State Parks.

I get it. Pickleball is popular these days. But beyond the thought that marring what’s left of Florida’s most pristine green spaces is a very shortsighted idea, does anyone remember the racquetball rage of the 1980s?

As a long-time resident, I know well that the New Port Richey and Pasco County’s estuary coastline has its own delightful charm and purpose. Fishing, boating, beautiful gulf sunsets, and natural mangroves offer protection from storms and serve as a haven and fish nursery of sorts for growing an essential food source and a way to earn a living for some locals.

But when it comes to “beaching it” Honeymoon Island has been a frequent and well-loved destination ever since we moved here from the Massachusetts south shore in 1991. Visiting this park alone on a regular basis is worth every penny of the Florida State Parks Pass, never mind the entry it allows to all state parks including the not-too-distant Weeki Wachee and Homosassa Springs State Parks.

Seagull at Honeymoon Island in Dunedin, Florida PHOTO | MICHELE MILLER

Over the years, we’ve witnessed nature’s harsh changes to the island wrought by intense storms that barrel through, altering the rock-strewn shoreline. Hurricane Idalia and the storms that followed this past spring carved a new waterway through the island’s northernmost part. More recently Tropical Storm Debby whipped up her own kind of damage. Costly refurbishments to stem erosion and keep the turtle nests protected typically follow.

You can’t beat Mother Nature for sure, but when it comes to the human destruction and development of a state and national treasure, well we should have a say.

Honeymoon Island State Park has garnered numerous accolades despite the seasonal beatings. It’s Florida’s most visited park. Several times it’s been touted on Dr. Beach’s list Top Ten List and also boasts a ferry launch and easy access to nearby Caledisi Island which came in at #4 on the Best Beach list in 2024.

It’s the kind of place that makes you feel like you’re getting away from it all even though home is a car ride north up a busy highway you’d rather not travel – a nearby respite that can wash worries in the waves.

A place to pitch a temporary lean-to to relax under – to meditate, read, or simply melt into the sand and listen for a while as the gulf ebbs and flows and hangry gulls squawk amid the delightful sounds of a child’s unbridled glee when a manatee and her cub raise a snout or with the sudden appearance of a dolphin’s rolling dorsal fin.

Why mess with real magic?

That’s what enough people thought and said – LOUDLY. And so the plans that came as a surprise to many were met with a harsh, bipartisan rebuke.

The governor has since put distance between himself and the ill-advised plans more or less kicking the can down the road with the promise to address it next year.

So maybe we’re not done.

But what I and I’m expecting others thought would be a protracted fight, turned into a near-immediate reprieve rendered by the power of the people who hold dear what is inarguably the best part of what Florida has to offer.

Keep it up.

Now onward.