Once Around on a Bicycle
The Panhandle beaches have a very fine, white sand and an emerald green surf. It's a pleasure cycling beside them.
Carrabelle, on the Florida Panhandle, has the world's smallest police station. It's a phone booth. That's not a punch line. That's really a phone booth painted blue with the police logo on the windows. It's been Guinness-certified, so it must truely be the smallest. That's an old police cruiser parked next to the station/phone booth to add authenticity. But there's hardly enough room inside to swing a billy club, so I think it might just be a tourist trap.
At Saint Mark's I got onto this rail/trail that took me over 10 miles to the outskirts of Tallahassee. You gotta love the rail/trails. They shoot right through forests, fields and neighborhoods with hardly any reason to stop. They're like interstates for cyclists. This sign suggests that riders travel with a partner because parts of the trail are secluded. Having already crossed the Negev Desert, Sinai Peninsula, Australian Outback and High Desert of the US Southwest solo, I decided to risk it alone.
I did a little sightseeing at Olustee Battlefield State Historical Site on the Panhandle. One of the deadliest battles of the Civil War was fought here, near the rail line. 1,000 Confederates and 2,000 Union soldiers died. Except, down here, the Union soldiers are called Federalists. And, the Civil War is called the War Between the States. Hmmm.
I've been asked what I do when it rains. The answer is, "Usually I get wet". Sometimes, like here in Sanderson, Florida, I'm able to get under cover. I had lunch under this highway overpass while I waited for the rain to stop. Of course, not all days on the bike are this glamorous.
The sign in front of this antiques store in Waverly, Georgia says, "Dead People's Things For Sale". I think that sometimes truth in advertising is a bad thing. This would be one of those times. I was afraid to go inside for fear that there might be false teeth and prosthetic legs for sale.
This is the smallest church in America, near Riceboro, Georgia. How small is it? It's so small that God has to step outside to change your mind. Don't groan. I think that last joke was taken from Dante's 'Divine Comedy'.
Here's a couple pictures of downtown Savannah. The riverfront is being revitalized. It looks like the local governments are pumping a lot of money into that project in the hopes of luring in tourists. It worked on me. I enjoyed strolling down the old cobblestone street.
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