Pedal-to-the-metal to La Flor-ee-da, Fernandina Beach, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”, Little Talbot Island State Park, Fort Caroline and Tinicum Preserve, Anastasia State Park, Fort Matanzas, Washington Gardens State Park, Tomoka State Park, “Pineapple Express”

(posted from Titusville Library)
(This post covers 5-10 February, 2009)
---------------------------------------------

Tuesday, 10 February-

This morning I took my store-bought shower (at the campground) then went exploring. Tomoka State Park is on lands formerly settled and farmed by Indians. A large and somewhat-foreboding monument has a very large Indian chief at the top with various braves apparently attacking from below. The Indian village, called Nocomoco, existed up to the Seminole Wars.
I walked the nature trail from the end of the little peninsula to a now-closed museum and back. Just behind the museum I jumped three deer, all very tall, slender, and healthy-looking. My walk was only about a mile this morning.
I then went looking for an internet connection. I wanted to read the papers, check email and hoped to give Labashi a call. I first drove to the Ormond Beach Library and was surprised to learn there is no wireless in the Volusia County libraries. That seems almost criminal given there’s a lineup to get online terminals and setting up wireless is so easy. I stayed for another hour-plus reading the New York Times, Miami Herald, and Wall Street Journal.
I then looked up the local Panera and had a coffee while checking email and some online news sites. I saw Labashi wasn’t logged on at home (when she’s logged on her Skype name has an ‘online’ symbol) so I called home via cell phone, hoping she just had the computer turned off. But she wasn’t home. Rats.
I decided I’d head toward Titusville and perhaps along the way I’d find a library with wireless. In New Smyrna I found a nice library but unfortunately I was still in Volusia County. But they did have a list of wi-fi hotspots in the area. I drove to a coffee shop in New Smyrna Beach but I got there too late—they were closing in a half-hour. On to Titusville.
At the Wal-mart I checked with a manager about staying in the lot and she said it was okay with them though Titusville does have a no-overnighting ordinance. I decided to stay and for the first time tried Redbox—a DVD rental vending machine. The rental is $1 per night. I rented ‘Pineapple Express’. A forgettable, stupid-fest from Seth Rogen. Can I get my dollar back?

--------------------------------------------

Monday, 9 February –

This morning I headed back to the beach. This year I bought a Florida State Parks annual pass so I can check out each park and not be put off by the day-use fee. In fact, now that I’ve bought the pass, it will be an incentive to visit parks I’d probably otherwise pass up.
So this morning I used the pass at Anastasia State Park, right on the ocean at St. Augustine Beach. I parked in the beach parking lot and walked to the strand just for the view and then returned for a bit of lunch. I then drove down A1A to Fort Matanzas National Monument. This Fort sits on the bank of the St. John River, guarding the water entrance to St. Augustine. We took a ferryboat to the site and there listened to a French-army-clad ranger tell us the history of the fort. And in the rooms of the fort, everything is in place just as if the men had stepped out for a few minutes.
After the fort, I walked the nature trail, a very pleasant little boardwalk stroll of about a mile.
I then drove on south to Washington Gardens State Park. This is one of those I’d have bypassed without the annual pass.
But I loved it! The park is situated in the most spectacular grove of live oaks, all festooned with Spanish moss. The formal gardens are a very nice mix of citrus orchards, formal gardens, and the grounds of the original owner’s home. (It seems very odd to have just been in such cold temperatures and here I see oranges and grapefruits on the trees!).
And this garden obviously wasn’t planned as a garden for tourists. The land had been owned by a distant relative of George Washington and handed down through time until the point where it was sold for development. But the timing was bad (or good, as it turned out). Land sales crashed in 1924 and it sat idle until the large parcel was purchased by an industrialist and his wife. They created the gardens around the citrus orchards and the artesian well which had been dug in the mid 1800s for the orchards. As the couple neared death, they arranged for the property to be donated to the state for preservation in its then-current state.
After the formal gardens, I walked the four miles of nature trails of the property. I saw four huge pileated woodpeckers, each at least a foot high and traveling in pairs.
I then drove on south and checked out the Wal-mart at Palm Coast. But it looked like a zoo. The parking lot was small and way too crowded. I saw there were no-overnighting signs but may have been able to stay. I saw Gamble-Rogers State Park on the map and thought I’d give it a try but the campground was full. I remembered trying this same campground a few years ago and it was full then, too.
I drove on to Tomoka State Park which was inland from the beaches and they had plenty of sites. This is my first pay-night for camping-- $22.50.
After settling in I walked through the campground and met a guy named Evander . I praised the beautiful job he had done on shining up his 1974 Airstream trailer. It looks like a new one. He says he put 800 hours into stripping off the old clear finish and polishing the aluminum until it shines like a mirror. He says he has to apply a polish and wax every other year and that takes 40 hours (!!!!). I can’t imagine.
Evander told me he took his rig to Alaska two summers ago so we had a lot to talk about—we had been to many of the same places.
Later in the evening I walked over to the shower house and there met an interesting good-ole-bwa from Jaw-ja (as in ‘Georgia’, you know?). This gentleman began talking about growing up in a community where all the men had real jobs—like carpenter, plumber, etc. I’m not quite sure I got the point but I think it was about the economy being bad because everybody’s a banker these days. Anyway, his name was Cleveland Walker--- which he pronounced ‘WAL-kuh’--- and I very much enjoyed our chat. Mr. Walker has done quite a bit of traveling and we had a common experience there. I love conversations like that.
I spent the rest of the evening catching up the blog and reading. It is SO nice to be down here.

-------------------------------------------

Sunday, 8 February-

This morning I thought I’d use my National Parks pass to visit Fort Caroline, on the St. John’s River northeast of Jax. Fort Caroline is a National Monument but my pass should still be good there.
I found Fort Caroline easily enough and learned I had timed it well—there was a 16th Century re-enactment group on site this weekend. I browsed through the re-enactment area at the fort but only chatted briefly with several of them. I then visited the fort and walked the trails.
Fort Caroline was active in the mid-1500s. It was built by the French and attacked by the Spanish, who killed over 250 Frenchmen in seizing it.
Next to Fort Caroline is the Tinicum Preserve and part of it or next to it is the Teddy Roosevelt Preserve. These large land areas were held in their natural state into the 70s by a family who then donated them to the Federal government for preservation. It’s a wonderful mix of topography and vegetation. And I had it on a perfect, mid-70s day.
All in all I walked six miles of superb trail, enjoying every minute of it. Back at the van, I had a late lunch then drove toward the ocean. At Atlantic Beach I turned south on A1A and followed it to St. Augustine, arriving there about 1600.
I found parking well out of the old town area but I didn’t mind—I had my trusty folding bike along. I set up the bike and rode into Old Town and explored the length and breadth of it. I stopped at the old re-created Taberna where Labashi and I had had a good sangria two years ago and I had another one. Excellent!
Once off the main drag through Old Town, I explored the side streets, then the residential streets and the massive stone fort. I had a great old time just buzzing around on the bike and looking at everything.
As the sun set, I headed back to the van and went to the nearest Wal-mart. This one had a no-overnight-parking sign but I’ve found that doesn’t always mean no. In this case it meant (according to two different greeters) that the police may or may not kick me out but I was welcome to try.
I was so tired from all the walking and biking I decided I’d take a nap and then decide whether to stay or move on. I knew I could drive to Palatka and stay there but that’s 30 miles away. I ended up staying the night and had no problem.

--------------------------------------------

Saturday, 7 February-

Last night was a balmy 36 and I slept very well. I did a bit of shopping for supplies at Wal-mart this morning, then headed back to Fernandina Beach to make the turn to the ocean. I spent the morning easing in and out of small ocean-side parks, did a bit of shopping at a Harris Teeter (I was looking for plantain chips but didn’t find them. On the other hand, they had a great Lebanon bologna!).
I stopped at a boat launch area as I crossed to Talbot Island, then a bit later stopped at Little Talbot Island State Park for a walk. I walked a bit over four miles, mostly through a very pretty hammock of rolling sand-hills. A red-shouldered hawk surprised me by zooming soundlessly out of the trees on my left and passing by at eye level only ten feet in front of me. I also shot some good video footage of an armadillo. I had passed him by and paused to look around only to have him (or her) start to make noise in the underbrush not eight feet away. I’ve seen these before and those were very shy. Not this one. It completely ignored me though it did try to keep it’s rear end toward me as it dug along.
About two miles in I came to a wide, very flat beach. I only stayed a few minutes, then turned and retraced my steps into the fascinating hammock of massive live-oaks, hollies, pines, palmettos, and royal and sabal palms. What a pretty walk on this sunny-and-70 day.
I made it back to Mocha Joe about 1530 and then drove through the northeast outskirts of Jax and on toward Jacksonville Beach. I saw a Wal-mart but it seemed awfully busy so I only briefly checked it out. Closer to Atlantic Beach I found another Wal-Mart and beside it an Office Depot. According to wififreespots.com, Office Depots have free wi-fi now so I thought I’d check. A middle-manager type told me they do indeed have wi-fi and I could set up in the office furniture area if I liked. But when I set up there was no public wi-fi. A geek-type told me their wi-fi hasn’t worked for weeks. But I did learn there’s a Panera down the street.
I was soon sitting at the Panera and smiling at Labashi on a Skype video call. Cool! We chatted for a half-hour or so and caught up on the email and snail-mail. I continued browsing the web and caught up on my podcast downloads as I had a sandwich and coffee.
I then returned to the nearby Wal-mart for the night and blogged away, then listened to some podcasts and music before falling asleep.

--------------------------------------------

Friday, 6 February –

I got underway by 0800 and put the pedal to the metal (that’s 65 for Mocha Joe). My only stops were for gas and rest-stops so I was drinking a cup of the free orange juice they offer at the Florida Welcome Center by 1400.
As I stared at the maps in the Welcome Center parking lot, I decided I’d try something different this time. Instead of zipping around Jacksonville and making a beeline down the center of the state for Palatka, I’d head east to the ocean.
I passed a Wal-mart along the way and stopped in to ask if I could park there later tonight. I then went on to Fernandina Beach and parked a few blocks off the main drag and went for a walk around this nice little town.
Just as I entered town (near the marina) I came upon a woman who was tending to her dog. We struck up a conversation and I learned she was from Maine and she and her husband were on one of the boats in the marina. When she said Maine, I mentioned we had been there this Fall for the funeral of our sailing buddy. She knew the story of his untimely passing and we had a small-world moment.
As we chatted she recommended a local pizza place, saying it was the best pizza she had ever had. What do you do with that kind of recommendation? You have to go try it!
I thought I’d make it part of my walk but after two miles of walking and not knowing exactly where it (Moon River Pizza) was, I thought I’d better walk back to Mocha Joe and drive to it. So I did put my four miles in today. And that took me back downtown. Along the way I passed a sign for the library so thought I’d check it out. I read the papers for an hour or so and ended up closing the place at 1800.
Then I drove over to the pizza shop and had two big slices of excellent pizza. It was very, very good. A nice, thin, crispy and just-a-tiny-bit burnt crust and stacked high with grilled veggies. As I say, it was very, very good. Maybe not as good as Pontillo’s, but pretty darned good.
I drove back to the Wal-mart for the night. I had picked this one because I had seen a Blockbuster nearby. I walked over to the Blockbuster and rented “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”—a movie I’d have passed on if it were for Labashi and me. It’s a Kevin Smith movie and I know Labashi wasn’t impressed by ‘Clerks’ and ‘Clerks II’. And she wouldn’t have been impressed by ‘Zack and Miri’. If you could get by the language, the movie wasn’t THAT bad--- it was even funny some of the time. But ratchet up the slacker-sex humor in ‘Clerks’ about five times and you have ‘Zack and Miri’ (it IS about making a porno, after all). The plot didn’t make a lot of sense but it was interesting what they WOULDN’T have Miri do (language-wise and clothing-wise). The message was Zack’s foul-mouthed but good-hearted and Miri’s your sister. So if you’re thick-skinned and a Kevin Smith fan, the farthest I could go in making a recommendation is to give this one a ‘maybe’. Maybe you’re bored, you’ll watch anything. And maybe you’re not with anyone who’ll think you’re an idiot for laughing at the over-the-top, way-too-scatological humor of this one.

----------------------------------------------

Thursday, 5 February-

I finished up the prep for Florida this morning—packing up the laptop and various electronics, hooking up the boat, etc--- and departed by 1030.
Today was a good day for driving though very cold. For the last several years, I’d find the temperatures moderating quite a bit by the time I made it below Washington, DC, but not today.
I found gas prices very reasonable compared to the Alaska trip. Today I paid $1.89. Gas had just hit $4.00 a gallon as we departed for Alaska on 15 June. But with the kayak and Thule box on top and pulling the boat today, I’m only getting a little over 11 miles per gallon while I normally get around 15, sometimes 17 with a tailwind.
I had an easy time of it today and made it to my normal over-nighting place, a Wal-mart in Lumberton, SC, by 1830. I had a steak at a Texas! restaurant and decided I could drive a few more hours. I drove on to Manning, SC, arriving just before 2200. I did some quick shopping at the Wal-mart, glad to be inside on this cold night. After stowing my stuff, I cranked up the propane heater for a few minutes, then turned it off (I never sleep with that on) and settled in for the night.
I awoke around 0300 shivering. When I saw the thermometer, I knew why--- it was only 22 degrees! In South Carolina! Usually it’s near 50.
I pulled down Labashi’s big winter sleeping bag and happily crawled inside. Even then it took an hour to warm up.

********** END OF POST ***********