Season 2 Episode 23 (10/16): Welcome to the Sunshine State. St. Simons Island, GA to Amelia Island, FL

Season 2 Episode 23 (10/16): Welcome to the Sunshine State. St. Simons Island, GA to Amelia Island, FL – 

71 miles, 910’ climbing.

Leaving St. Simons Island, we went back over the 4-mile causeway, west towards Brunswick. I was in the dedicated bike lane we used yesterday, but now going in the other direction. I started chatting with an older rider next to me. I expressed how nice the separate bike path was. He asked why Heather riding about 50 yards ahead of us was on the main road, not using the bike lane, as there had been a number of bike deaths on the causeway. I agreed with him good question and wondered also! It was fortunately early Sunday morning with few cars.

Safely across the causeway and reunited, Heather and I rode through an economically depressed neighborhood of Brunswick with an open fire in a metal garbage can. Two women were walking towards us on the street and did not budge as we got closer. They seemed as if in a drugged state and we had to swerve to avoid hitting them. It was in that neighborhood that we were on a narrow and quiet street riding beside each other when two dogs chased us yapping away. I accelerated first and heard Heather behind me shouting NO, NO! And then a large, heavyset man appeared in front of us in the middle of the street and he loudly said “why don’t you just stop”. We weren’t sure if he was speaking to us or the dogs. But we weren’t stopping to ask or find out and sped away, though the dogs seemed to listen to him.

Thankfully there are fewer loose dogs on the east coast ride. I forgot about the closest call I had last week on our ride to Beaufort, SC where a dog was stealth-like in its quiet approach to me. Unlike all other dogs that announced their location by loudly barking at their initial steps towards me, this dog was silent until it appeared within 2 feet of my right foot. Only then did it bark and I realized it was there as I had been looking ahead and to my left. I went berserk yelling loudly "NO, NO" at the poor dog who seemed traumatized by my madness as it skulked away.

The view of Blythe Island marred by smokestacks is more like blight island.

The Saltilla River was one of many very scenic quick crossings in the Lowcountry. We do not tire of these views.

I admire the truth in advertising,

On rural backroads up in Maine and from Virginia on in the south, it’s not uncommon to see yards of some homes full of old appliances and old cars. Maybe every car the family has owned going back 4 generations.

Riding through rural Georgia, with restaurants closed on Sunday there was no place to find lunch so the IGA supermarket was our pit stop, with bike racks as our picnic table. 

And finally our last state, and our longest one. We estimate 11 days in FL and arriving in Key West on 10/26. We sang a note of gratitude for our safe arrival in FL and sent it to our kids.

Amelia Island has great long beaches for walking.

The island has a wonderful, sleepy vibe compared to South Florida. It’s a bit more like southern Georgia. In fact, Amelia was King George II’s daughter hence the name. You can still drive your 4-wheel drive right up on the beach and park with your stuff. I liked when our waitress at the pizza place bid us farewell by saying have a blessed evening. I especially like the way she pronounced blessed as a drawn out two syllables, as in bless-id instead of as one syllable sound like blest.

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