This morning I stopped on the Apalachicola river. The significance of this fact, other than having to check very carefully that I spelled it right, is that while standing strategically on the bridge I was able to spit at 11:21.07 and not have the spit land until 12:21.08, an hour later.
Yes, I'm crossing into the Eastern Time Zone. There's one thing about my temporal magic spit trick.... you would think that by now, after having a headwind almost the entire trip, I would've figured out what happens when you spit into the wind. In reality, it landed at 11:21.08, and barely missed my foot.
For lunch I stopped in Chattahoochie at the first place I saw. It was called The Filling Station, a cafe that has been converted from a defunct gas station. Jackie, the owner, had just opened five days ago and hadn't even had an "official" opening yet. She was just having a trial run to see how things were going to go. My turkey sandwich (not fried!) tasted great.
Jackie and Ann:
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As I was climbing onto my bike to leave a couple of gentlemen asked me some questions about my trip.
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Almost everyone I meet makes a comment like, "I couldn't ride my bike around the block!" My response is generally the same. "I couldn't either... at first. You just have to work up to it. I'm not a great athlete or anything - it's just a matter of sitting on the saddle and getting used to it."
The man on the right, 65 years old, bought a brand new bike several years ago. When he got home he climbed on it and pedaled a few miles down the road. His brother-in-law happened to be driving by and asked him if he wanted a ride. He threw the bike in the back of the truck and hasn't ridden it since. He said he's just waiting for his grandson to get old enough to ride it.
"I'm too old to ride," he complained, playing the age card. I rebutted with Susan and Hewes Agnew, telling him about what they're doing. Hewes is 71, and Susan is about 67. The guy was pretty impressed, thought about it a bit and, with some encouragement from his friend, decided to pull his bicycle out and start ridng again.
I continued riding, but for most of the day it felt like someone had filled my legs with wet sand.
Regardless of how I felt, the scenery was wonderful. Here are some pictures taken today.
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Geez... one wrong turn and see what happens???
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There are some magnificent massive trees here.
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I did a double take trying to figure out what the sign was for. From a distance it's harder to tell.
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Of course, today and always, there's the omnipresent headwind. My original plan was to ride 71 miles into Tallahassee today, but I changed my mind and decided to stop in Quincy instead.
When I called the three places in town, the cheapest place to stay also turned out to be the coolest... The Allison House B&B.
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When I arrived I was greeted by Stuart Johnson, who co-owns it with his wife, Eileen. According to Stuart, she "has a real job" while he gets to play around the house all day.
Stuart managed luxury hotels all over the country for about thirty years before retiring and buying the Allison House. He really loves being able to run his own B&B, although he has a couple of other hobbies: sailing and driving around in his 1965 MG.
The Allison House Inn was built in 1843 and converted to a bed and breakfast in 1990. It was built by A.K. Allison who, in 1865, became Governor of Florida. He was somewhat notorious in that he was one of the people who pushed for secession from the Union early on. He also signed the peace treaty, ending Florida's role in the Civil War. The Confedereate leaders were convicted for their part in the war but Allison didn't spend any time in prison for it. At least, not for THAT crime.
He was imprisoned a few months for "intimidating voters." Apparently, if you shoot and kill a black man in the South it's considered "intimidation" and you'll go to jail for a few months. At least, that's how it was in the 1800s. I'm not sure about now.
Originally, Allison's house was next door. When it was first built it was only one story. In the 1920s his house was picked up and placed on top of the house on this lot, making this a two-story house... Allison's house is actually the second story of the original house on this lot.
I enjoyed my evening there. Stuart offered free soft drinks and a half-full decanter of cognac. There were several books available to read, both in the breakfast room and on the back porch. I sat in the rocking chair on the back porch for a while.
My room was a little, uh, pink, but I slept great and, of course, the price was right.
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52.24 miles
11.9 average
27.4 maximum
4:22:45
2533.0 total
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