We rolled out of Chatahootchee this morning through another lovely neighborhood, then rode great side roads most of the way to Tallahassee, stopping briefly for a smoothie and muffin in the town square of yet another town full of beautiful old homes, Quincy. It's hard to believe how many mansions there are in these parts, and how big, beautiful and well-maintained they are. The guy at the coffee shop in Quincy said that quite a few of them are owned by people who got rich years ago buying Coca Cola stock!!
Even though we hit Tallahassee around noon, traffic wasn't all that bad, and the route took us near Florida State University. The atmosphere was very cool, much like Ann Arbor or East Lansing. We stopped in a very laid back bike shop on the route to borrow a floor pump and the proprietor, Scott, pointed us to Benito's Burritos for lunch. Once again, the wisdom of asking the locals--and of picking the right kind of local to ask--was born out. Great grub, customers ranging from students to guys in suits, menu on a chalkboard (see Kathy's pic), and the building painted in various bright pastel colors.
The route took us on a 20 mile diversion after lunch. We entered Tallahassee on US 90 and we finished the day 25 miles east in Monticello, also on US 90, but the route took us 45 miles to get here--first taking us10 miles due south on a railroad bed turned into a bike path, then down a bunch of nice country roads. Along the way TWO remarkable things happened. First, the wind swung around to the southwest, giving us some actual TAILWIND. Second, this was very shortly followed by our first real rain of the entire trip. We arrived in Monticello soaked and cold. From the outside, the only motel in town brought back memories of the one in Simmisport we had to depart due to bugs and filth, so we went to a B & B we saw, but no one was home. We saw a sign for another B & B, and at first no one was there either, then a big van drove up pulling a trailer full of kayaks. It was a tour group and they had the entire B & B rented, but they knew the proprietor had another B & B, and before long not only were we set up in an otherwise empty big old home full of antique furniture eight blocks away, the tour guide had told us to come back at 7:00 and join them for dinner!!!!!
This is exactly the sort of thing that makes trips like this so wonderful--lucking into the most amazing good fortune. Here we are, wet and cold, wondering where we'er going to stay, striking out our forst two tried, then we happen onto some great people who go out of their way to take wonderful care of us! Other examples along the way that spring right to this tired mind include Ernie at Check Point Harley, the McCrackens in Los Cruces, St Francisville and Kate at DeFuniak Springs. Tonight we had beer/wine, stromboli, salad, ziti, and peach pie--all on the house, so to speak, with 11 kayakers and their guides for company!!!
One not so happy point I observe here in Flroida even more than the other deep-southern states is that in virtually every town the delineation between the haves and the haves-nots is so readily apparent--the houses are either lookiong fine or they are in really bad shape. And I needn't go knock on the door to see whether the occupant's race has much to do with it. This difference tends to be much less distinct in the country, but in town it is pretty hard to miss.
Despite the above, I still have to comment on just how many beautiful little towns we've ridden through here in the Florida panhandle. I had no idea...I guess I thought all of Florida was populated by folks who moved down from up north, but no, these towns are full of people with deep and long southern heritages.
We've ridden about 2700 miles now in 5 and a half weeks and plan to make St Augustine Saturday. I have to be the luckiest guy on earth to have a wife who not thinks doing this is a great idea, but rides at least as well and as strong as I do, puts up with me, and does our laundry every day. We both agree that we would be unlikely to undertake a trip like this all alone, and that we are for sure having more fun than we would if were were hooked up with a group of riders.
Doug
No comments:
Post a Comment