Today we departed our Sarasota base and headed inland into Central Florida. This is sad since it means our holiday is starting to draw to a close. However, on with the tour!
After two blissful nights at a most wonderful B&B with our hosts Nina and Vicky we set off to find Soloman’s Castle in a teeny place called Ona. Endless back roads ensue- all devoid of traffic but meandering nicely through Orange groves, cattle meadows and other orchards. We were truly in the middle of nowhere with Deliverance style homes ,occasionally and precariously still standing, at the side of the roads.
Did I mention the flies??? Big black things and swarms of the critters. It’s the first time the bike and Mr Fogg are covered (I kept ducking behind him tee hee). Picture Jim Carey in Me Myself and Irene with a face full of dead black things!
Ah to Solomons Castle then and a 9 mile detour down smaller and smaller roads, to our destination. Only to find- Closed on Mondays. Hmm.
Ah well, not to worry we said, we’ll just follow this nice narrow road East and we are bound to find a main route to our next destination. Nope- no main routes, just more teeny roads, pretty fields, beautiful river crossings and NO cars or people.
An hour later we hit the main roads and sped on to our revised destination of Sebring. Another usual road town full of shopping malls, drive thru food stops and all the usual chain hotels, so we picked something a bit different. Right on the lake. Very nice too.
I loved Sarosota, such a nice feel to the place. And the road trip today was a nice slice of rural Florida.
Other things I learnt today:
If you need lawyers in Sarasota you can ask Dozier and Dozier to help you. This tickled me , sorry .
When big flies hit you on a bike it hurts!
Floridians drive like nutters.
Armadillos die on their backs in the middle of roads.
Tiny children make huge splashes when they jump into tiny swimming pools. And then they keep doing it.
Road End means quite literally road end.
Despite being told there is no such thing as a gravel road in Florida, we found them. They are to be found left and right of Deliverance corner, right next to the Dead End and up the road from Wrong Turn (for those sad like me, these are all movies).
There are at least two Churches to every American. Each church has an invented name. Eternal Utilitarianist Church, Episcopal Evangelical Church, churches of Latter Day Saints, monumental baptist church. The list is endless- and the names get odder the further into the sticks you get.
Bikers have their own hand signal greetings. You can buy a book. The favourite is a downward peace sign.
It’s not street cred to wave at moped drivers- only fellow grisly bikers.
Don’t sneeze into your helmet. It’s a bugga to clean.
And finally……Mr Fogg may need new bike jeans after this trip. Thick denim and Kevlar jeans don’t go well with 82 degrees temperatures.
