Key West

To Key West and back

 

Like most riders I start planning next years trips as soon as I put the winter gas stabilizer into the tank on the Harley. It’s the only thing that stops me from going into serious depression during those long, dark winter nights. And November 2015 was particularly depressing because I was now officially semi-retired and my wife Roz and I had both purchased new bikes this past summer. A new bike always revitalizes the spirits and like any kid with new toys, we had to play. The riding would be seriously missed if we didn’t get out again til spring.

To fend off the winter blahs we decided that we would take an early, extended vacation with the bikes. How about Florida? We had been to Florida many times but had never taken the time to make the trip to Key West. We have several friends in the Clearwater to Fort Myers area and tended to stay close to there for the week we could manage away. This trip we decided to take 3 weeks away from my now part-time work.

The plan? Trailer the bikes to north Florida, find a storage place for the truck and trailer, and ride the bikes to Key West and back. Simple, right?

After many a frustrating email and phone call to the plethora of mega-chain storage places, I was getting anxious. No vacancies for short term. 3 month minimums at some and no space at many. I widened my search and found a small private place in St Augustine. Ernie’s Tools also operates a small storage facility in an old residential neighborhood. Fully fenced and monitored, lots of space and only $55 a month.  ‘No problem, glad to have you’.

Next, check out accommodations along the planned route. We travel a fair bit and usually frequent Best Westerns using as many loyalty points and travel rewards as possible. I booked St Augustine for 2 nights, Florida City for 4 nights and Key West for 2 nights; plus 1 night each way on the road down and back at Wytheville, VA.  10 nights booked out of our planned 20 nights away. Everything else we would catch as we could wherever we were. I wanted to have as much freedom of travel as possible, play it by ear. Departure day was set for December 18.

The bikes are always on the trailer. Just had to strap them down, toss in the luggage and away we go. I ride a 2014 Harley Ultra, my wife has a 2014 Spyder, ST. We bought both bikes new in 2015; got excellent deals because they were non-current models. It took some shopping around, and we had to settle for colours that might not have been our first choices, but so what.

The trip down was incident free; we have driven that road many times and the weather was clear and warm. We arrived at the Best Western in St Augustine about 2pm; settled in the room and decided to head out for a short ride. The battery on the Harley was dead. I forgot to turn off the security system. With each bump the system set the lights to flashing until it killed the battery. I called the AAA. At first they said that the service did not cover bikes. I reminded them that I was Canadian and had the super deluxe coverage that included recreational vehicles like trailers and motorcycles. ‘Oh, right, you cant buy that coverage down here. We will be right over to assist’. A quick boost and away we went. The sun was shining, it was 75F and we were riding. Life is good.

The next morning I headed over to Ernie’s Tools. It was a quaint little shop well stocked with impressive looking tools and machinery. Ernie, his son and the dog,  welcomed me in. After a quick exchange of info and money, he led me around the corner to the yard. Clean, big and secure. I parked in the middle of the yard, under a light, offloaded the Harley. Ernie gave me a special lock that he said was more secure for my trailer hitch; no charge. He reviewed the security codes and protocol and we were off. He also gave me his cell number in case I had any problems. Nice guy.

Back to the hotel, load the luggage and away we go.  My wife has a mobility problem; bad knees, and we travel with her personal mobility scooter. It folds up to about the size of a baby stroller and sits easily on the pinion seat of the Harley. It looks a little clumsy perched there in its canvas bag and it does make the bike a little top heavy, but we manage. First stop, Corbin Seats in Ormond Beach.

We had stopped at Corbin seats 3 years earlier and purchased custom seats for our previous bikes. I had a Kawasaki Voyager, Roz had a  Burgman 650 scooter.  We wanted to see what they had for these bikes. I was quite surprised when Mike, the manager at Corbin recognized us and remembered what bikes we had ridden on our last trip and what we purchased. Roz had managed to get a stock seat for the Burgman that fit her much better. I designed a custom seat for the Kawasaki that they shipped about a month later. It was a beauty.  However on this trip Corbin had nothing to offer that was any more comfy that our stock seats. I was really looking forward to some customizing so Mike offered to put some studding on the Harley seat and back rest, no charge. Thanx Mike.

Down the road, with a quick ride around Daytona Beach; stopping for the night at a B-W near Cocoa Beach. I managed to get a glimpse of tail plume from a rocket taking off from the space centre. Pretty cool. Up early the next morning and headed for Florida City on back roads.

As with all adventures on bikes, there are good times and better times. I love back-roading, not always knowing where I am. I don’t use a GPS and will only occasionally resort to checking Google Maps on my phone. I usually look at the map in the hotel room the night before and get a rough idea of where to head the next day. My wife is not so keen on ‘getting lost’. I remind her that I am never ‘lost’, I just don’t always know exactly where I am.

I don’t remember where we went or what roads we eventually took, but I’m sure part of it was hwy 441, 98 and then 27. It was more or less a direct route down the east side of Lake Okeechobee. At one point on a rural road I spotted a small gas bar and we decided to stop for gas and a coffee break.  The station included a small general store, a deli and a feed mill store. I went inside looking for a coffee and a snack. The deli was full of the normal meats and cheeses, as well as 2 lovely large cakes. I asked if I could have a slice of cake and the girl told me that they were for a private function, not for sale. The owner was sitting at the cash and overheard. She asked where we were from, how was the weather, etc. She instructed the girl to cut me off a generous slice. It was her birthday party, she could give a piece to whomever she wanted. Besides, she had baked them herself. ‘No charge, have a great day’. Yes it was. Thank you. As we sat on the picnic tables out back eating the cake and drinking coffee, I noticed a large building with writing on the side down along the side road. I walked over to the fence for a clearer look. ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. It was at the end of a gravel road so we didn’t chance the ride loaded down as I was  with extra luggage and gear. Makes you wonder though…..was that Lonely Street?

We were approaching Florida City from route 997 when it started to rain. It was quite warm, near 90f so the rain was not uncomfortable, but 997 was under construction and the runoff from the roadwork was a slurry of white, sandy slime. It coated the bikes, our clothes, glasses and luggage. What a mess. It stopped raining just as we pulled into the B-W parking lot. Roz headed to the shower, reminding me that first I should clean the bikes; after all, I was the one responsible for riding down that messy road. A maintenance guy provided a pail of warm water and a few old towels. I guess he had seen this a few times.  Several other bikes arrived in much the same condition. We shared the bucket and a few stories.

The next day we toured around Homestead and Florida City. Beautiful sunny weather, Just what the doctor ordered for those Canadian winter blahs. On Xmas eve we rode up Hwy 1 into South Miami, made a quick stop at the Spyder dealer the up to the Harley dealer. We just had time for a quick look around and to buy the mandatory t-shirt and cap. We had to leave because the store was closing early. On our ride back down Hwy 1 we realized that all the stores were closing for Xmas eve and all the last-minute shoppers were now forced out onto the roadway. Traffic was stopped dead several times. And it was hot, about 95F.

Xmas day we rode out to EverGlades park; took a boat ride out into the bay. Very Interesting. We learned lots of fascinating stuff about local sea life; which of course we immediately forgot.  Following the suggestion of a fellow rider, we stopped at ‘Robert is Here’ fruit market on the way back into town. The store is located at the corner of SW344 St and Hwy 9336. It was packed. This is not your average corner fruit market. Its huge. The biggest attraction though was their milkshakes. An assortment of fresh fruit flavours, absolutely delicious, made with real ice cream . I recommend the mango-strawberry.

Boxing day we headed down Hwy 1 to Key West. Not a long ride, only about 225kms but it took us almost 6 hours. The traffic was terrible. And it was hot, about 100f by mid afternoon. Not fun when you are sitting in traffic. It took over half an hour just to cross the island of Marathon.

Key West is a zoo. Jamb packed with sun worshipping partiers. Our B-W was right downtown. We parked the bikes in the back, put the tarps on and decided not to touch them til we were ready to leave. I broke out Roz’s scooter and we headed into party land. The main street is narrow and clogged solid with cafes, bars, tourist shops, souvenirs, and weird folk of every description;  a people watchers paradise. We had dinner at Jimmy Buffets. Then, following the loud rock music we stopped for beer at the Green Parrot, the place where Jimmy Buffet got his start. The Green Parrot is a must do. The live band was great, with beer cold and characters extreme. All in a wonderful friendly, party kind of way.

The next day was spent walking around the sites, breakfast at an outdoor café, checked out the marker for ’90 miles to Cuba’, past Ernest Hemingways home, lunch at the marina restaurant watching larger than life fish swimming between the boats on the quay. Beer at the patio of the hotel on the main pier, checked out a few tourist shops, bought a t-shirt at the Harley outlet, dinner at an outdoor café and final call at the Green Parrot. It’s a wonderful way to spend a couple of days, and a lot of money.  Aint nothing cheap in Key West. Time to ride north.

A more leisurely ride north back to Florida City with stops at a few of the Keys on the way. Rolled up my pant legs and strolled in the shallow waters. Stopped for a beer at the bar in Key Largo where they filmed that famous Bogey movie.

We left Florida City and headed west along Alligator Alley stopping at the ranger station to check out the alligators lying in the ditch out front. Stopped for lunch at the halfway restaurant, ice cold root beer and alligator bites. When we arrived the cook was taking a smoke break and sitting on his ancient Harley. The rat-cycle looked like it was being held together with the layers of rust. The cook assured me that it ran just fine and that he rode it to work almost everyday. We headed further west and visited Captain Mitch’s airboat ride. What a thrill. The Captain of our boat was full of local info and amusing tales. We took Hwy 29 down into Everglade City for a quick tour around the small marine town before heading north staying on Hwy 29. Then right on Hwy 82 into Fort Myers for the night.

The next morning we made a stop at the new Harley dealership. Very impressive place. I found a gas cap cover that matched my primary and timing covers. ‘Live to Ride, Ride to Live’ in gold. None of the dealerships near home had any in stock when I bought the other covers. Sweet.

In previous visits to the area we had travelled out to Pine Island and decided to make the return trip. So, over the Cape Coral Bridge, along Cape Coral Pkwy and up Chiquita Blvd to Hwy 78. We crossed over several small islands and causeways, over a lift bridge to the end of Hwy 78 on Pine Island. A left turn on Hwy 767 sends you down to St James City, a small older town dedicated to the marine life. We decided to have brunch at the Ragged Ass Saloon; a quaint little place with an outdoor bar, a patio on the river and 6 tables inside.  There were several bikes sitting in the parking lot and a few guys sitting at the bar. When we parked, Ron got up from his bar stool to come over to chat. He pointed out his 1985 Sportster. He lived in St James City, worked at the Marina and had only been off Pine Island 6 times in the last 10 years. His 30 year old bike had almost 25,000 miles on it. That’s a fair bit of riding up and down the one small island road.

On the way off Pine Island on Hwy 78 is Matlacha Island. If you travel along here make sure you stop on the island and wander thru the eclectic collection of stores and galleries. There are some very unusual artsy items, but the highlite for me is the Ice Cream shoppe attached to Leoma LoveGardens Gallery. The ice cream is made fresh with as many local ingredients they can find. The strawberry was the best I’ve ever tasted.

We then headed up to Arcadia to visit some newly retired friends from back home. Brian and Jane had just purchased a new trailer and pickup truck and decided to spend the winter in an RV park near Arcadia. When they heard we were riding thru Florida they invited us to visit so I booked 2 nights at the Holiday Inn in Arcadia. When we arrived mid afternoon December 30, I called Brian. I told him we were hungry and heading next door to the Wendy’s for a bite. The Wendy’s is in the Wal-Mart parking lot. They were planning a shopping trip to Wal-Mart and would join us. We finished our burgers and still no sign of them. I called. They were sitting at the corner table but they couldn’t see us. We were the only people in the Wendy’s. What up? Well apparently there is Wendy’s in the Wal-Mart parking lot down the highway about 20 miles. Their RV park is not really near Arcadia, its closer to Sarasota but the rural postal code says Arcadia. Oh well. I told them to head home and I’ll find them. We did, enjoyed a laugh over a cold beer and they invited us to BBQ with them on New Years Eve.

Before headed over to visit our friends I went out exploring the backroads in the area. Anyone who has ridden in central Florida knows that it is very flat and the roads are mostly quite straight. So flat and straight in fact, that while stopped at a rural intersection I looked in the mirror and saw almost exactly the same image as the one in front of me. A flat, straight road lined with fences, trees and farm fields.

We headed over to the RV park for about 4pm. Brian and Jane put out a great feast, where many tall tales were exchanged. Then back to the Holiday inn for a cold glass at midnight to celebrate the event.

January 1, up early and on the road back to St Augustine. About a 500km ride. Again I planned a back road excursion with several stops along the way. The best stop was the outdoor BBQ joint on hwy 19. Yummy. It is just a pit BBQ shack, take out only. The lineup was about 15 people long, but well worth it. There were cut off logs and stumps under the trees where people gathered to chow down.  The atmosphere was almost festive with tourists and locals mingling and sharing stories and napkins, etc. Unfortunately the weather gods played a trick on us and that beautiful sunny day turned ugly, the wind picked up, the sky clouded over and it rained. And it rained. We rode in steady downpour for the last hour back to St Augustine.

We spent two nights in St Augustine to finish the holiday. St Augustine is a lovely, charming old place. The downtown area is several hundred years old and packed with shops and cafes. We put Roz’s scooter to good use and did the customary tourist thing. We managed to log about 200kms on the bikes that final day just wandering around and out along Hwy1a. We did find a small ice cream shop, but it was closed for the season. I guess they didn’t know about Canadian bikers.

The next morning we packed up and headed north, one night in Wytheville and then home. A great way to start the winter, almost 3000kms riding Florida from top to bottom and back.

 

This year?????