East Coast Greenway Ride

  We awoke to a clear blue sky at our KOA in Brunswick, Ga, but as we were progressing toward the north pole, it was cold!!  45 degrees!  We had to scrape the frost from the bicycle seats! Even the local fauna was fluffed up. My coffee was almost cooling faster than I could drink it down. Soon we were in Savanah taking a tour of all 22 squares.  An excellent history lesson about the beginning of our country and especially of Georgia. The prohibition museum was a place we could have spent all day.  The beginning and end of prohibition were well documented.  The museum even had its own operating speakeasy, and the museum displays reminded me of Ken Burn's documentary titled "Prohibition."  Savanah is the home of SCAD, The Savanah College of Art and Design.  Many buildings of the college are sprinkled throughout the city.   Being a pocket door fanatic, I especially enjoyed seeing these pocket doors at the entry of one of SCAD's classroom buildin...

  The sloth riders lumber toward their "later in the morning" beach shot to begin riding the trails around Jekyll Island, Ga. The ocean side of the island sparkled while two bike riders enjoyed the solid sand next to the water. The other side of the island had long lazy forested trails that passed by historical moments from over two centuries ago. The was the old Horton house made of handmade cement consisting of shells from the area and is holding up well. Here is the home of the Dubignon family of slaveholders from the late 18th century who profited mightily growing cotton on the island. The Jekyll island museum covered two centuries of history that was new to me and had a 1949 Studebaker Champion on display, the same as my grandfather's.  His was a subdued tan color vs. this bright burgundy one. In more recent history, in Sept of 2020, a container ship with 4200 Hyundai or Kia cars and SUVs capsized in St Simeon sound next to Jekyll Island.  This "Oh Shit" mo...

Beth, Sandy, and Randy are checking the map twice.  Sandy and Beth ride the first 20 miles, then Randy and I take on the next 20.  Sarah spent the day with Jeff and Lauren. East Coast Greenway roads have narrow shoulders or no shoulders in places.  This road has an ECG sign right under the pedestrian sign.  We all chose our magic sleds for this section. The roads got better on the way to the ferry across the St. John's river and we all loaded up for the 5-minute crossing The pelicans were not that impressed but we were! Randy and I continued on trails that were a delight to ride.   One day perhaps the whole route will be this kind of trail.  Right now only about 35% of the Greenway is a trail. The views of the Atlantic were mesmerizing. Randy and I finished our ride on Amelia Island and soon we were on the road, leaving Florida and headed to our campsite in Brunswick, Ga.

As we proceeded northward in Florida, my birthday coincided with our arrival at the Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth discovered centuries ago.  It is still providing refreshment and that dream (fantasy?) of reclaiming our youth.  I was pumped! I imbibed the magic elixir and waited impatiently for my youth to return.  Then I was informed that it would take 24 hours.   It has been a long 24 hours.  Three streams were gushing from the fountain, and I chose the middle one.  I think it was the placebo. Canopied streets draped with Spanish Moss (neither Spanish nor moss) ringed the area around the 500-year-old site.   Peacocks strolled the grounds and were quite vocal about our trespassing. A demonstration of the cross-bow showed how the Spanish dominated their lands.  Explorers used older weaponry during their travels since funds were scarce and these weapons were cheap.  They had few cannon and a few powder muskets that were more finic...

  The sunrise was worth bowing to from our campsite in Melbourne on the Atlantic.  However, as sailors note, "Red sky in the morning...sailor take warning!"   As we started out in the morning in the magic sleds, the sky revealed its plans.  We were glad to be driving, and what could be better than a lighthouse tour in St. Augustine! It was a thousand steps to the top ( or maybe it was 100!), but the views of St. Augustine and nearby homes were awesome. The lighthouse museum was loaded with a history of sailing and boat models from earlier times. Here is a shop on site where boat building was performed.  Overall, a good rainy day excursion.