Mayport/Jacksonville, FL to Palm Coast, FL 68 miles total miles 988 Day 14, it’s hard to believe we’ve been pedaling for 14 days straight, it seems we’ve been on the road and away from our families longer than that. It certainly helps when we meet up with old friends and meet new ones. We departed the Jacksonville area before dawn with temps in the high 50’s, no long sleeves today, well OK, Vinny put his jacket on, but not for long. Dave took us from Rt.1 to some neighborhood streets to the ocean front, which is much more pleasant than riding along Rt.1 during rush hour. We crossed an intersection one block from the oceanfront and the temperature rose dramatically, probably 6-8 degrees, that’s when Vinny’s jacket came off. We stopped at a beach access just in time to catch a magnificent sunrise, we took a few photos and continued until our neighborhood streets gave way to A1A, our route for most of the day. The ride along A1A was the most pleasant of the trip, we passed beautiful homes, condos and resort complexes, all on a nice dedicated bike lane. We passed through the towns of Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach and Ponte Vedra Beach on our way to St. Augustine where we planned to stop for lunch. The ride today was smooth and fast as we were blessed with a north wind which helped boost our speed. There were some very nice views of the Atlantic Ocean and portions of A1A reminded me of Island Beach State Park. We arrived in St. Augustine and Dave again took us through neighborhood tree lined streets canopied with Spanish Moss, we just happened to find the Fountain of Youth on one of the streets. We made our way to Old Town and had lunch at one of my favorite Florida restaurants; Columbia Restaurant. I have been to the Sarasota location and have always enjoyed great food and service, the St. Augustine location did not disappoint, Dave and Vinny also enjoyed their lunches. If you’re in Florida it’s worth checking out, they have several locations. Prior to leaving the restaurant I met Dean, he asked if I was riding the bike which then started a conversation about the trip, turns out Dean is from Deptford, NJ. Our route continued down A1A, again with nice bike lanes, which the great thing about Florida, very bike friendly. We eventually turned off to make our way to our final destination at the Holiday Inn Express in Palm Coast, our home for two nights as Wednesday with be a much needed rest day for all us. Dave went out to dinner with his brother in law and nephew, matter of fact he returned to Columbia Restaurant. Vinny and I went to Bella’s Tomato Pie, located next door to the hotel. We met the owner Ann, the chef, Pina and our server Kathy and talked about our trip. Ann is from the Bronx via Staten Island to Palm Coast 20 years ago, Pina is from Brooklyn, we knew right away she wasn’t from Florida, Kathy is born Floridian. Once again southern hospitality was at its best, we received our check and Pina said she gave us the coupon special, 2 for 1 dinners even though we didn’t have a coupon. Thank you again! Tomorrow we intend to meet up with a couple of retired brother officers for lunch. Next Stop: Titusville, FL Photos at: craztguyonabike/doc/13117
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 04:05:28 +0000
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