To Jacksonville

April 9, 2024

We heard animal screams last night, possibly raccoons fighting over who was going to plunder our campsite for food. The varmints chewed some more on Mike's top tube bag that had no food in it. Oddly, they had no interest in Barry's seat bag that was unzipped and had some tasty fig bars. This place could really use some food lockers.

The beach at Anastasia State Park is hands down the best one we've been to on this trip. I would love to come back for a longer stay. There's a lot to do - sailboat and kayak rentals, the Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, and Fort Matanzas are a few of the things I'd put on the list for next time.

We're moving on to Jacksonville with one last delicious cruise up Florida A1A by the beaches. Keeping it short here since I'm falling further behind on this journal.

Mike goes out for one last walk on the beach while Barry and I start riding. He'll have no trouble catching up; I'm the boat anchor on this crew. We start retracing yesterday's path through the island to cross the Bridge of Lions, pedal by a few more sights in old St. Augustine, and then continue north.

A closer look at the St. Augustine Lighthouse that we saw from a distance on the beach last night

Waterfront park near the Bridge of Lions

Near the city center stands Castillo de San Marcos, built by the Spanish in 1672 to defend Florida and the Atlantic trade route from pirates and the British.

North of the city we cross over the Tolomato River to get back to the A1A coastal road. From there it's a straight shot north for the next 28 miles.

I hope these beachgrass plants can survive the winds to stabilize the dunes.

A brisk tailwind pushes us on up the road.

Dune sunflowers can handle the salt and hot dry weather

Riding into the ritzy town of Ponte Vedra Beach

One of the beach bikers we saw tooling around Neptune Beach. No shirt, no shoes, no worries.

We finish up the day at the home of Dan Frye, our first WarmShowers host of the tour. Dan works as a private chef and is at his client's house for the evening, leaving us to relax in his Jacksonville apartment. Mike whips up a fabulous dinner of scallops and veggies over pasta. Wish I'd taken a picture of that.

Later on we get to know Dan better. He has cycled around Europe and worked in Germany, France and England as a beer brewer. In addition to working as a chef he makes music, has a record label, and periodically takes off to travel around jumping on freight trains. He's really an interesting guy, and so nice to take us all in. We roll out our mats and sleeping bags and drift off with no worries about raccoons or caterpillars.

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Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 619 miles (996 km)

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Rachael AndersonNice day!
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7 months ago