23: headwind, castle otttis, mailboxes, guana, floaters, schwing, brett, courage

April 9, 2025

St. Augustine to Jacksonville Beach

an advertisement for The Old Jail, seen on the way out of town

Today was all headwind, and at 16 mph/25.7 kph it was a slog. However, after almost two full weeks of mostly tailwinds, I don't feel I have a right to complain for at least fourteen days about this stupid headwind.

When I first saw this sign I thought it was related to wind warnings, mainly because the red flags were snapping and popping from being blasted, or possibly because it seems there should be a wind warning on the water. On the contrary, it's about the riptide and the currents.

As I pedaled past the above structure, I thought "Huh. That's interesting. I wonder what it is," and snapped a quick picture. At the street just up the road there wasn't any indication of what it might be... no sign, no billboard... nothing. Later, when I was going through my pictures I saw it and did some research. Now, knowing what I do, I wish I had investigated further.

Castle Otttis (yes, three ‘t’s) was built by Ottis Sadler and Rusty Ickes in the 1980s. Based on Irish castles from 1,000 years ago, it was designed to be a landscape sculpture, open to the elements and rising up more than 50 feet.

When they began work on the castle, it was never intended to be a residence or a business. Their ultimate aim was to create a work of art, one that would invoke the spirit of an old Irish abbey or Christian church. The two men did all the masonry themselves with no additional paid labor. Once they had built the walls high enough to be easily noticed, they were told they needed a construction permit.

Due to a clerical error, the building was accidentally designated as a garage…. to be specific, a garage built of split-face concrete blocks, reinforced steel rods, and poured concrete weighing an estimated 7 million pounds. With ramparts. And 88 window openings, left without glass to allow the elements into the castle. Just like my garage.

Once they had completed the main structure of the castle, they hired one man to do all of the interior work, Lee Carpenter. He continued another three years, mainly working with cypress wood and some old southern heart-pine. Between 1988 and 1991, Carpenter built eight elaborate staircases, an altar, a pulpit, a series of pews, a choir loft, and a bishop’s chair.

The final result is a cool-looking castle on the side of one of Florida's roads. It was officially recognized by the American Institute of Architects in 1992, and can be rented as a venue for weddings and other occasions.

Heading over the bridge. At least the shoulder looks good.

A missed opportunity: They should've used the tail as a flag or, better yet, the back leg. This one has a jaunty beret.

Most of this style of mailbox was painted this color.

However, this one and the following mailbox were painted red. They're the only two red ones I've seen on my entire trip, and they're within a mile of each other.

unplanted palms - surprisingly not much of a root system at this point

I did a double take on this. It's NOT Guano River. That would be pretty gross.

I passed this portapotty and saw the word "Floater" on it and had a chuckle that the parent company which probably sells a large number of sanitation items and services happened to be called "Floater." Then I kept reading. That's WHY they named it that. They just do portapotties. Their motto: "You float 'm, we tote 'm." They're even available 24/7 for those scatological emergencies!

This is what a lot of my day looked like. The shoulder was nice, and the traffic was minimal, but so was the scenery.

I only got a glimpse of the ocean on occasion

I passed this and my inner 10-year-old-boy got a laugh. I decided not to take a picture of it....

...until I saw this, literally 20 feet away, so I turned around. The juxtaposition was just too powerful.

I've always said when you're riding, the limiting factor is your butt. That's what determines how long you can ride for the day. However, today my legs were giving out before my butt.

After attempting to stay at a Warm Showers host up the entire coast, I finally got a response. In fact, Brett responded almost immediately, then waited out in his driveway for me to show up.

I was fortunate, because tomorrow he and his 14-year-old son, Alan, are leaving for a bike trip of their own. He rides significantly farther than me, typically 130-160 miles a day on his gravel bike.

We ended up having a lot in common besides cycling, among them a love of sci-fi and The Princess Bride (Heather and I have a 30-year tradition of eating a pizza while watching it every Valentine's Day). You might also be interested in Brett's Dog Defense Mechanism: a rubber ducky attached to his handlebars. He said when he squeaks it, whatever the dog was doing changes to being a game.

He rode in the 50th anniversary of RAGBRAI.

I'm the 71st person he's hosted since he signed up with Warm Showers a few years ago. He noted that after Americans, the most common nationality is French, followed by Canadian.

For dinner, he prepared a delicious chicken wrap, and even made an extra one for me to eat tomorrow at lunch.

I really enjoyed visiting with my first Warm Showers host, and hope there will be more like him.

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Today's ride: 29 miles (47 km)
Total: 601 miles (967 km)

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Gregory GarceauI see you're getting close to the end of Florida. Before I head off on my own bike trip, I just want to send a compliment. I've read several touring journals set in Florida over the years, but yours is the only one that ever made me want to ride there. Well done!

Re: Princess Bride. One would have to be a bitter, humorless curmudgeon to not like that film. The casting choice of Andre the Wrestling Giant was icing on the cake.
Reply to this comment
15 hours ago

Mark BinghamThanks, Greg!
Regarding The Princess Bride and Andre the Giant: wholeheartedly agree, and overwhelmingly agree.
I been reading yure journal and am lookin' forward to more, Cowboy Graig.
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15 hours ago

Lyle McLeodFloaters, phallus (how do you make that plural???) and all weird things Floridian! Another great read.
Keep pedalling!
We’ve got a few days left in Italy before we catch a boat to Croatia
Re Warm Showers, hope you have more great encounters. Where we live in Canmore Alberta we are at the crossroads of 99% of the people who ride the Great Divide route and Cross Canada riders. We’ve hosted over 200 people and 99% of those were great to meet, only 2 that we can think of that were ‘meh’, but ok to put up for a night.
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6 hours ago