FLorida Part 1: Daytona Beach to Miami

FL is a big and diverse state. I am still in FL, writing from Tallahassee, and have done over 1,200 miles of riding here. I haven't been keeping the blog updated, but that was for the best now that I have a more complete picture of FL. Before I got north of Tampa I was sure FL was a giant over developed over landscaped beach town with too many Publix grocery stores.  That turns out not to be the case.  The east coast beach towns,  the southwest beach towns, the greater Miami area mostly fit that description, but the Keys, and especially north FL are much different. First, the east coast beach towns and Miami.


From Daytona Beach I rode south, mostly on A1A, toward Key West via Cocoa Beach, Ft Pierce, Jupiter, Boca Raton, and then into Miami.  There are some undeveloped areas north of Jupiter, but I found the riding and scenery to be monotonous either way.   It is flat, straight, and there is not much to see other than beach and beach houses.  Temps were in the 80s every day and I had strong ESE headwinds, so an afternoon jump in the ocean became routine.  The public access to the beach along with showers to rinse off is one thing the coasts have going for them. On the other hand, the beach towns and surrounding areas are mind bogglingly over developed, especially south of Jupiter.  And in my opinion most of the towns have little character.  They have very similar landscaping and boring architecture, and differentiating them in my memory is difficult.

The people I stayed with did not lack character.  In Cocoa Beach I stayed with a great WS host, John, who is one of the few people I met that is actually from FL.  John lives and breathes the ocean.  He is doing a post-doc at the FL Institute of Tech with his Ocean Engineering degree, has sailed all over the world, and has more surf boards in his garage than I could count.  He and his girlfriend, Stephanie, took me out for a great meal and drinks and then he let me have his house to myself for the evening.

Next stop was Fort Pierce, where I stayed with Cheryl and Dan, the neighbors of WS host that arranged for me to stay with them.  They were out when I arrived so they left the door open for me.   I was exhausted by the end of the day and slightly worried I was sitting in the wrong living room when they arrived.  After  I got a shower we had a great vegetarian meal accompanied by adventure stories. Cheryl and Dan drove all over the Americas in a VW bus at one point and Cheryl finished a solo thru hike of the Appalachian Trail this year at age 63: http://trailjournals.com/clinker.

In Jupiter I made my first visit to someone from my hometown, Torrington, CT.  Michelle and I went to school together for many years, and she saw my last blog post on Facebook.  She sent me a message offering assistance if i was passing through Jupiter.  Not only did I get a very comfortable bed to sleep in, but I got a great meal and good conversation.  I learned a bit about building helicopters too, as Michelle worked for Sikorsky before taking a job with FL Power and Light.  Great to see a familiar face from the past.

Michelle with Lennox, Lizzie, and Sassy.

  

Riding south from Jupiter through West Palm Beach and into Boca Raton is continuous beach town and houses.  My WS host in Boca Raton, Clarence, was one of the most unique hosts to date, and another trusting person inviting me into the house before arriving home himself. He is a professor of dance at FL Atlantic University and had a long successful career as a professional dancer. My favorite thing I learned about Clarence is his habit of planting plastic cockroaches to surprise his friends and family. A warm hearted kind person, he has already set me up with a place to stay in Seattle.

Clarence wishing me farewell. 

After Boca I made my way through greater Miami.  The closer you get the more $100K+ cars, $50,000,000 boats, and sculpted/augmented bodies you see.  There is an unbelievable amount of wealth in this area and it is hard to believe that so many people have so much money.  All of the craziness of FL culminates at Miami Beach. The beach is find white sand, the water is 80, crystal clear, and calm. Great for swimming and people watching.  And there is no shortage of interesting characters in Miami to watch.  This was a surprisingly welcomed change after the monotony and blandness of the towns to the north. I rode through Miami during rush hour to get to my WS host in Coconut Grove, south of downtown.  Miami is bustling.  New high rise buildings are going up and the traffic is horrible.  I was glad to be passing through on my bike.

 My WS host, Annie, wrote me back last minute saying she just returned from a 6 month bike trip to Peru, so I was in luck.When Annie is not traveling the world, she is usually living on a boat in a marina in exchange for looking after it and refinishing wood work.  I got to sleep in the front cabin of "Why Knot", her current home.  Annie has biked and sailed all over the world, and as you might imagine has some great stories to go along with her unique way of life.  She says she lives off the waste of wealthy people and figure there is never harm in asking for something.  She seemed to know everyone in the marina, from the homeless people in the nearby park to the folks down the road at the sailing club.

Annie telling story on the dock by Why Knot and her bike.

I ended up staying 2 nights to get some rest, explore, and plan. I rode out to Key Biscayne, which has a couple beautiful state parks, and a whole lot of wealthy people.  I spent the afternoon at Crandon Park and nearly had the entire beach to myself.  On the ride back I got soaked by a rainstorm, which was almost welcomed given how hot it was.  Whe I retunred Annie set me up with her friend, Lee, in key Largo.  She told me with a big smile that Lee has a huge house and would treat me well.  She was right about that.  Next blog installment: the FL Keys.

Miami skyline in a thunderstorm on the way back from Key Biscayne