Bicycling the Southern Tier

​Finished!  It was truly a magical journey - had outstanding weather throughout (except the headwinds!), met many nice and interesting people along the way, both the body and the bicycle performed well, enjoyed fantastic local cuisines, blessed by courteous drivers, did many fun and interesting activities, and enjoyed great scenery! Oh, and many amusing Bad Attorney Billboards.  Today’s Bad Attorney Billboard was fittingly climactic. It’s from Ron Sholes, whose slogan is, “YOU HURT? WE FIGHT!”. Mr. Sholes has even managed to secure a portion of this catchy slogan for his phone number. And his award winning Billboard features a scowling man, whom I assume to be Mr. Sholes, rolling up his shirt sleeve, apparently in preparation for a fight. This is a contender for the Bad Attorney Billboard of the entire trip! Now that I have at long last arrived in St Augustine, I am going to set out to find the Fountain of Youth!

​It was so windy today that I saw vehicles with surfboards. That must mean the ocean is near. Yes, tomorrow I have a short 25 mile ride to St Augustine, where I will meet my wife, Sheila, and dip my front tire in the Atlantic Ocean. Much of the ride today, and most of the ride tomorrow, will be on a paved bicycle trail, which on the southern tier is an exceptionally rare luxury. I am staying tonight in a bed and breakfast in a home constructed in 1885-1886 by Civil War Major Sherman Conant of the Union Army. Major Sherman led a most interesting life. You can read about it on Wikipedia. One thing his Wikipedia entry does not say is that Maj, Consnt had a secret, very well concealed underground tunnel leading from the basement of his house to the heavily traveled St.John’s River, about 600 feet away. The proprietor and local historians believe the tunnel was used to smuggle imports illegally into the U.S. without paying tariffs.

​The Southern Tier is saving its best for the last partod my tour. The natural springs in this region are absolutely gorgeous, the wildflowers are peaking, and the weather has been perfect. I am tempted to take a swim in one of the springs but haven’t yet come to terms with the idea of swimming with alligators! Locals assure me there is nothing to worry about. I arrived in Gainesville in plenty of time to take in the University of Florida versus Stetson baseball game tonight. It was an exciting game played in front of a very enthusiastic crowd.

​I had another fantastic ride through the “real Florida” today! Saw lots of wildflowers and Spanish moss. Stopped for fried chicken and collard greens and passed over the Suannee River (or the Swannee  River, as Stephen Foster called it). I rode 84 miles today, which is one of my longest rides of this entire trip in terms of distance. Camping tonight  but wishing I were sleeping in that feather bed I slept in last night! I was so deep in the sticks today that I did not see any attorney billboards at all. It was great!

​I spent a delightful Easter Sunday pedaling through the deep forests, bayous and rolling hills of northern Florida. This is a part of Florida that most visitors never see. Most zip up and down interstates 75 and 95 or across interstate 10. Around here they call this area the “real Florida “.   I spent the evening in a magnificent bed and breakfast owned and operated by a very kind and caring hostess. I will always remember sitting on her splendid porch looking out as thunderstorms rolled through from the west. And I loved sleeping on a feather bed! Greenville was the boyhood home of the great Ray Charles. A number of years ago the town erected a statue of Ray in the park. His daughter sang at the commemoration and stayed in the same bed and breakfast at which I stayed. The Bad Attorney Billboard award for the day goes to the many deserving attorneys at Morgan & Morgan. There were a number of things about their billboard that I found disturbing, starting their use of the word “...

​Today was the first day on this entire trip where I’ve had to ride in the rain. Periodic showers that always seem to hit when there was no place to take refuge resulted in a very wet and damp ride. But the rain had stopped by the time I arrived in Tallahassee and I very much enjoyed riding through the FSU campus. On the outskirts of the campus I happened upon a very good jazz concert at an outdoor amphitheater. Great way to wrap up the day!  The Bad Attorney Billboard of the day actually is not so bad. On its billboard the law firm of  Fasig Brooks advises viewers to “Expect more from your attorneys.” It is the first attorney billboard I have seen in a while that includes a female attorney, so maybe that is a good start.

​I did more socializing than riding today. First I received a phone call from an old friend from RFC (Really Fun Company), who is now living in the FL panhandle. We talked about the good old days at RFC and current events, mostly related to health, family and travel. When we finished talking it was already almost noon; so I went over to a deli in downtown Chipley. There I met a local bicyclist who insisted on buying my lunch. We had a delightful chat over lunch about bicycling and life in the deep South. By the time lunch was finished, the heat, humidity and headwinds had all ticked up significantly. Not in the mood to deal with those 3 H’s, I stopped about 35 miles into my ride at a budget motel that had a great swimming pool.  At the pool, I met two German fellows who are bicycling westward on the southern tier. Like the two Dutch riders I ran into a few days ago, they were relying heavily on the hospitality of Warmshowers hosts, which often led them off route. It is always inter...

​I learned today that you can bring worms up from under the ground by planting a wooden stake in the ground and rubbing another object against it. That is called worm fiddling. I know this because a town I passed through today, Caryville, Florida, celebrates the practice with an annual “Worm Fiddlin’ Festival”. Good to know. Although I saw several attorney billboards today, none was deserving of the distinguished bad attorney billboard award for the day. So I instead will feature one that I saw yesterday in Pensacola. This attorney stated on his billboard the proposition that “Accountability makes all of us safer.”. In a general sense I agree with that. Plaintiffs attorneys serve an important role on the enforcement side of our regulatory infrastructure in much the same way that carp serve an important role in maintaining a healthy lake. The problem, however, is that a lake can become infested with too many carp. The analogy works well.

​The panhandle surprised me today with…hills! This is not the Texas hill country by any means, but the scenic Bluffs of Pensacola and the rolling hills, clear rivers, and deep woods of the west central panhandle reminded me a little bit of northern Minnesota. I ran into a couple of young Dutch bicyclists the other day in Bayou La Betre. Their English was excellent, but they said they were having trouble understanding what people down here are saying. I empathized. The this southern accents and  local expressions are a challenge even for me. And I don’t think I am ever going to get used to every woman I meet addressing me as, Darlin’. Pensacola and the small towns of the Florida panhandle that I pass through produced many deserving candidates for the Bad Attorney Billboard award of the day. The prize goes to Dan Stewart, Esq., whose billboard features a photo of himself with a sledge hammer next to an animated car crash and admonishes prospective clients to “Get Grit!”.  The Ca...

​I arrived at the ferry station on Dauphin Island just in time to catch the first ferry of the day across Mobile Bay to Fort Morgan. This is the location where Admiral Farragut of the Union Navy uttered the famous command, “Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead.” That pretty much captures my growing sentiments about this tour! I crossed the Florida state line this afternoon, but not before spending quality time separately with two old friends in Orange Beach. Reconnecting with friends has been a highlight of this tour. Today’s Bad Attorney Billboard award goes to the law firm of Dean & Camper - Injury Lawyers, who apparently saw no shame in claiming for themselves the domain name, “AfterTheAccident.com”.

​Shortly after crossing into Alabama today, I entered the small fishing village of Bayou La Batre, which is famously the setting for the movie Forrest Gump. This shrimping town is exactly as I recall it being depicted in the movie. I half expected to see Tom Hanks jog by. I am grateful on this windy night to be hosted by Warm Showers hosts John and Jan on Dauphin Island. Warm Showers is an international network of touring bicyclists, of which I am a member, who open up their homes to other members who are touring in their area and are in need of a place to stay. The bad attorney billboard winner for today is Alexander Shunnarrah, who holds himself out as representing people.

​Incredible change of scenery today as the Gulf of Mexico came into full view for the first time. The 25 mile, uninterrupted boardwalk along the pristine beach beginning just across the bridge from Bay St. Louis and going eastward past Gulfport and Biloxi was magical. After that I discovered the enchanting town of Ocean Springs, which appears to be an incredibly prosperous, happy and vibrant place. I stopped there for an early dinner at one of the many outdoor cafés and enjoyed good live music and met a number of the locals.

​I made my way over to the Zydeco and Seafood Festival in East New Orleans today and stayed long enough to have a delectable crab cake and listen to the opening band. Good decision. A better decision might’ve been to stay there all day and all night! It seems to me that in order to play Zydeco music a band must have a washboard player and an accordion player!  I pried myself away from the festival about 1:30 and enjoyed a gorgeous day of riding deep in the bayous of Southern Mississippi. This is shrimp country! Deep in the bayous I came upon a gaggle of vultures feeding upon the carcass of a wild boar that had recently been hit by a car. So noxious and ornery are these creatures that a local later told me that I could have collected a $5 bounty from the state of Louisiana had I cut off its tail and turned it in! The award for the bad lawyer billboard of the day goes to Edward Womac, Esq. who says, “PUT THE WOMAC ON ‘EM!”. I have no idea what that means, but I’m sure an insurance de...

​Fun day in NOLA. Frenchmen Street was decidedly rowdier on Friday night than it was on Thursday night - funkier bands, more crowded and lots of drag queens. Cuisine today was amazing. Even the laundromat had a spectacular diner attached to it. And I will be taking my bride to the Elysian Bar!

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