Day 4: Coral Gables to Florida City

February 6, 2015

We made the best of the breakfast offered at the Gables Inn. This consisted of toasted "bagels" or sandwich bread, Tang, and/or milk, and cold cereal. We definitely are not in Germany!

Back out under the Metro Rail, the "M" trail got even trickier to follow. The problems came mostly at the stations, where chaotic design reigned and signs were rare. At one station, with no signs, Dodie turned right where I would have turned left. No problem, I thought. After all, the path goes under an elevated trackway, it's impossible to miss that. Well yes, you can't miss it, but can you get to it? There are roads running in every which direction, and providing ways to cross them is not a top priority for planners. This set me off speculating on what percentage of this landscape is actually devoted to roads and parking lots. Our preliminary estimate is 75%.

We were making little progress as we noodled through the various M Path mazes. But things changed dramatically when the train line ended and the path morphed into the South Dade Trail. Here, following beside a bus road was a wide and uninterrupted straight shot bikeway towards Homestead.

By this time, the high rise apartments, construction, dodgy and/or upscale neighbourhoods, etc.of Miami were far behind, and things had settled out to the strangely comforting standard American pattern of mile after mile of fast food places, pet stores, banks, nail spas, chiropractors, etc. etc. all strung out along the highway. Anything (in the world) you may need will probably be coming up in a mile or two (except camping gaz!!).

This bike shop is right by the M Path. From motels to nail spas, almost every supply or service is close at hand here.

Since the path is underneath the elevated Metro Rail track, how hard could it be to follow it? Well first, you have to get through this fence. Oh, what about right in front of the fence, you say?

Turn right, by the fence above, and you see this.

The path crosses several small waterways. Identifiable by its curved beak, this is an Ibis.

Many Muscovy ducks can be seen around. We used to raise Muscovies, a great meat breed, for Sunday dinners!

The South Dade path. Here we go, nothing to stop us now!

This is not big farming country, but here is one harvest going on.

We had the idea of putting some canned peas in our noodles tonight, and stopped here to look for them. Aldi is a major brand in Germany, and this felt like old times. Also like old times, Dodie reminded me, they did not have what we were looking for.

We rolled easily into Homestead, around lunchtime. We immediately headed for what we consider to be a tourism stop: The Golden Corral. Golden Corral is an all you can eat buffet that distinguishes itself by offering very high quality food. Behind the counters you will see staff cutting up fruits and vegetables, and there is someone at a grill, making chicken or steak. This is a wide variety of cooked vegetable dishes, and the dessert area often features something like a chocolate fountain, as well as ice cream and assorted cakes and squares.

Golden Corral is a tourist stop for us because it illustrates aspects of American abundance. For about $10 you get unlimited access to all the nutritious food you could want. Individually the choices seem quite healthful, though not a lot of them were created with low calories as a top objective. Still, unlike at McDonald's, you could dine at Golden Corral daily and easily grow only strong and healthy. What's more, your $10 can buy lots more than the same amount of money at the grocery store. It's an illustration of the power of central purchasing and organization, not to mention the productive power of the American economy generally.

The trick comes, however, from the very abundance that in general we strive for. Once you have put down your $10 there is no limit to what you can eat. How many people can face that and just take a little salad and chicken, with maybe a small cookie and some coffee? We can confidently say not us, and not one American that we saw in the place. In our case, we think we inhaled a day's worth of nutrition in the first ten minutes. Around us, there were some real professional eaters. We could tell this from their heaped plates and groaning chairs. What's more, they had brought their kids in for training. At the next table, one pre-teen put away two huge plates of macaroni and cheese, before going back for some pizza and dessert. The work of the staff cutting up those fruits and vegetables was completely ignored.

Fuelled up with thousands of healthful calories, we negotiated the remaining 2 km to the Everglades Hostel. This is just the most fantastic place. It occupies a lot right on US 1 and the M Path that is nonetheless very secluded by fences, trees, and foliage. Inside, there is a mind boggling assortment of gazebos, shelters, tent sites, electrical outlets, lounges, and a well equipped kitchen. There are private and semi private rooms, and dorm beds. There is wifi throughout, and one available PC.

We put our tent out on the grounds ($18 each), under a suspended tarp, and have now retired to one lounge just off the kitchen. The kitchen has a full range of cooking utensils, and we understand that from 4 a.m. there is unlimited pancake on offer.

So here we are, uncharacteristically early in the day, and with all our needed daily calories loaded in. All that remains to do is to watch the large screen TV perhaps, and rest up for our long day tomorrow heading down into the Keys.

That is turkey breast on the carving board. It felt like Thanksgiving to be here.

More harvesters. We were a little too distant to see what they were picking.

The Everglades Hostel, right on the way to the Keys.

Currencies from many countries in the hostel office. We are new here, but can sense this place has a long and proud history.

Today's ride: 42 km (26 miles)
Total: 99 km (61 miles)

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