Sitting still for any length of time does not suit either one of us, but sitting still for three days, not knowing what we are doing or when we can do it, has been a bit……..excruciating.

We sat by the pool,watched the birds, walked the very darling townof Cocoa Village and enjoyed the  park, situated on the Indian River.The area is host to many outdoor summer concerts. It also boasts two memorials for local Medal of Honor recipients, Emory Lawrence Bennett and  Staff Sergeant Melvin Morris; their accomplishments are below in the day’s gallery and should be a MUST READ for all.  Remember….

We even managed to squeeze in The Best Massage we have ever had on tour.  So good, that we will put Cocoa on our list of places to explore further, in the future.

Of course, the days were not without eating and drinking.  You would think we had ridden a 100 miles each day, by the amount of food we consumed.

But good news from the bike shop today, we “should” be ready by tomorrow mid-day.  So if our tracker shows movement, we are on our way; if it does not, best not to try to contact us as we will be…….not happy!

We are truly blessed!

If our biggest problem is being stuck in a hotel room waiting for a bike part and whining about it…..we are one of the lucky ones!  We reflect on where we were exactly a year ago and how far we have come.  Then we consider what people face in their day to day lives that are monumental, to the little inconvenience we experienced.  We have our health and the ability and resources to do these tours; sorry to all that we complained to.

Our ducky doctor, Jason, at Village Cycle was amazing.  He started working on the bikes as soon as the part arrived this morning, added a few important tweaks and had our duckies purring. While we waited, we browsed an amazing old fashioned hardware store, S.F. Travis Company, est. 1885; like stepping back in time.

All loaded up, we pushed away at 11:30 this morning, usually about the time we are winding up our daily ride.  We missed three cool days of biking, but were ecstatic to be back on the road and moving forward.

Our ride started on the shaded waterfront road filled with beautiful homes, that we had backtracked on Saturday.  The views and shade lasted less than eight miles and then we were out on Route 1.

The day had gotten hot as we rode the highway with no shade to protect us.  We had planned on a stop at about twenty miles, but did not want fast food.  In historic Titusville, we found the perfect lunch stop.  Little did we know, that this darling cafe would have such amazing food.  Worth a stop if you are ever anywhere close.

Our long stretch of road was peppered with small areas of civilization and miles of trees and sparse farms.  It was not long before our feet were baking in the heat radiating from the pavement.  We stopped as often as we could find a bit of shade to try to cool ourselves in the searing heat.

Fifty two miles complete, we pulled into our hotel exactly at 5:00; it had been a hot ride and we were happy to tuck inside air conditioning.

Dinner was going to be a half mile away in either direction, but Cheryl at the hotel recommended Alberto’s Pizzeria.  This third generation restaurant, Sicilian immigrants opened their first restaurant in Pennsylvania and since moved to Florida, is Amazing.  Today was a wonderful gastronomic experience.

A block from our hotel, we rejoined our course on Riverside Drive.  A wonderful scenic ride on this cool, 72°, low humidity morning.  There was a slight north (in our face) breeze, but for the moment we were enjoying the coolness it provided.  The homes along the Indian River were very eclectic, but like yesterday, this little piece of real estate did not last.  Route 1, however, was not that busy, it offered either a bike lane or unused street parking, as well as, places we were glad we had not bookeda flea market, nice views and beautiful homes.  Most impressive, though, were the amazing, huge Live Oak trees, meticulously trimmed with branches covering an entire yard.

A flat tire spoiled our fun; normally a quick fix, but not today.  Apparently our tire pump decided we’d had way too many flats and quit on us.  Half a block away was a gas station to get the tire filled enough to ride to the nearest bike shop that was only 1/2 a mile away; could not have worked out better.  A good fill and a new pump and we were on our way. Two blocks later, Mark flagged us down; a fellow touring biker from Daytona.  We traded stories on rides and he suggested an alternate to the route we were on.  It took us an hour to go one mile, but it was fun to share experiences.  We biked the beautiful Daytona promenade,past a very impressive Indian Cycle Shop (motorcycles are Big in this area) and even more impressive condo on the Halifax River.  It was only 11:30, but the next leg of our course offered no refreshment, so we stopped for a delicious lunch.  Having learned from yesterday’s over abundance of food, we decided to split our meal, a Mahi BLT…..fabulous.  After a couple more ridiculously large homes facing the water, we turned on Mark’s recommended course through several State Parks.  The scenery was gorgeous and the shade from the tunnel of trees, welcome.  Though the humidity had remained low, the temps were still in the 90’s, it was hot.  Ten miles of the amazing state parks and we were back on A1A.  As expected the beaches and water was breathtaking.  It was another few miles of  quiet road through another park, before homes and condos began to appear. Forty eight miles later, we arrived at our hotel.  We really wanted to take a dip in the ocean directly across from our hotel, but they were reinforcing the berm that kept the sea from encroaching on the highway, so we settled for the pool.  Refreshed and showered, we enjoyed happy hour with cool breeze and view of the sea.  A few hours later, in our same seats, we enjoyed an amazing dinner, oh, and some wine.Another good day!

There is not much to Flagler Beach,   other than the awesome beach.

 It has to be the most unpretentious, laid-back resort areas we have ever seen.  A lot of rental homes, a few condos, no high-rises and the occasional local restaurant/bar/pub.  Fisherman and surfers were the only people on the beach this morning, both waiting for “the big one”.

An hour into the ride, we had a broken spoke; of course, we could still ride, but we began to wonder if we had been alligator bit.  That and the northwest wind (that was supposed to be southwest) was wearing on us.  The headwind was about the same speed we were traveling, so while it did not slow us down, it did drain our legs with every pedal push.

We passed a long stretch of beach that the sea had reclaimed for her own, homes still hung on to precious real estate and surprisingly there were areas where very expensive homes were building on top of the sand dune.Yes, the views are amazing, but it made no sense to us, given that right down the road, homes had been washed away by the sea.  Beautiful views abound crossing the Mantanzas Inlet.

Short of St. Augustine, we stopped at a bike shop for the spoke repair and a quick cup of soup two doors down. Forty five minutes later, when we pushed away, the wind had switched to the predicted SW breeze; we traveled no faster, just easier for our last few miles.

We rode through St. Augustine Beach, overthe Bridge of Lions and into the oldest continuous city in the country; founded in 1565.  Our original plan was to take a day off in St. Augustine to see the sights, but with our long hiatus in Cocoa, we settled on the afternoon.  With not a lot of time and our legs beaten up by the wind, we opted for a trolley tour; actually a great way to get a lot inin a short amount of time.  Though we retained little of the history, this is Castillo de San Marcos National Monument,

we took a lot of pictures (waaaay too many pictures),a few are identified below.

Gates to the cityOriginally the Pounce de Leon Hotel, now Flagler College.  Flagler’s personal church.  The Original Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum and one of the two most valuable pieces in the entire worldwide Ripley collection.  Built as the Alcazar Hotel and now City Hall.  Most importantly the company that developed the chocolate kiss.

Though we entered the gates for the Fountain of Youth, we felt no younger upon leaving; in fact, we felt thirsty.  One stop later, we were in front of a local watering hole, so jumped off for a cold one and a bite to eat.

Dinner was with a view of the Matanzas River (sans the meaning of Matanzas – slaughter) and delicious, Shrimp and Grits and Chicken Piccata.  A bit of romance on our walk back to our room.

It was a hot day today and though less than 37 miles, it was tough.  Two days off would have been perfect, but four days rest set us back, so we are breaking our legs in again……but we are riding, so just as happy as this newly married couple.

A heavy sky and thick humidity joined the cool 74°, when we left the still sleeping St. Augustine.  Without people everywhere, we could see so much more of the town.  But it was only a couple of miles before we crossed the bridge to take us back to the barrier island.  Yesterday’s breeze had switched to the south, to keep us cool and lend assistance to our pedaling.  Every now and then we had a light sprinkle, not enough to get us wet, but it did drop the temperature a few degrees.

Once again, homes were precariously perched on what was left of the narrow sand dune.  At least half the homes showed some damage or repairs in the process from the sea’s wrath.The sea, within fifty feet of their back door, did not hinder the amount of money people would spend on homes insistent on a front row view of the sea.

In Ponte Vedra, home of Sawgrass and the currently playing TPC Tournament, we saw only a few of the huge homes, but the street side landscaping was luscious.Golf courses and beautiful homeswere abundant along our ride through this very exclusive area.

After 32 miles, we came into (regular) civilization to find something to supplement the coffee and juice we had for breakfast earlier.  A very popular local diner served it up just right.

We continued through quiet streets populated with only people exercising.  Condos, homes and beach cottagesall shared this pretty space by the beach.  Jacksonville Beach seamlessly merged into Neptune Beach.

We stopped for a moment through the neighborhood and were visited by this very friendly neighborhood watch cat.

In Atlantic Beach, we lost our beach ride, gained a sprinkle and rode through marshland next to the Mayport Naval Air Station.

We arrived at the St. John’s Ferry, just as it arrived.  Perfect timing as we had been concerned with cooling too much while waiting to board.  But the rain stopped and the crossing of the St. John’s River provided wonderful entertainment and a stowaway.

Once on Amelia Island, we traversed through several parks  with huge protected dunesand spectacular marshland.There was a beautiful bike lane that ducked in and out of the park, but we had no idea how far it went, so we stayed on our nice road with ample bike lane.  Every now and then the sun tried to break through, but we had a lot of shade from the large overhanging trees.

Fernandina Beach obviously has setback laws for building,  so the really nice homes had a better chance to survive.  The town also provided parking and beach access about every block; a real forward thinking, populace friendly area.

Over five hours in the saddle, we were ready to stop.  We knew we had picked the right place to stay, when we saw this painting behind the front desk.  Not long after checking in, thunder and lightening came roaring through with a downpour. A short break in the storm gave us enough time to cross the street for dinner, before the storm came through for round two.

Though the fresh local shrimp was delicious, the hush puppies, lima beans and collards (pronounced “caw lurds”) stole the show.

We justified the dessert by the 65 miles we’d pedaled today.