Thursday, July 07, 2005
The Final Day -- To St. Augustine
Eric left the Best Western in Palatka for his final day of riding. I would not meet him for lunch on that day because it would only be a 42-mile ride. I didn't have very much time to fiddle around in Palatka because the ride was so short. I checked out of the hotel, after having breakfast with Eric and repacking the car, and drove on towards St. Augustine. Actually, I almost didn't have breakfast with Eric because even in the small space of the dining area at the Best Western, my bleary-eyed, tired self couldn't seem to find Eric, who merely was sitting at another table. It was odd. Then he was like, "are you planning on sitting with me?" And I was like, "Oh, well, yes -- I thought you'd gone to the bathroom."
My drive was relatively uneventful. Eric called me when I was about 10 minutes from where we were supposed to meet and I made my way to the central historic district in St. Augustine, which is a beautiful city by the ocean with a very elegant and old center of town. I parked right on the road by the intercoastal waterway and soon Eric rode up, hoisted his bike above his head, and then posed for some pictures at the finale of his ride. It was very exciting and I was so proud of him. Still am.
Eric lifts his bike aloft!
However, as soon as the ride and the picture-taking was done, we decided to tool around St. Augustine for a few hours, go to the beach, and then start the four-hour drive down to West Palm Beach to Eric's mom's place. In St. Augustine we walked toward Flagler College, but I really needed to use the bathroom so we ducked into an office building that claimed to have a coffee shop in the foyer. They had no bathroom for the public, according to a man flanked by his two young daughters. The man clearly worked in the building. But another business man chimed in, perhaps spurred by the intensity of my "I-have-to-pee" look, and said, "but there is one on the fifth floor," which he then took us to, to the seeming chagrin of the man with his daughters, who maybe thought we were riff-raff. The man who took us to the fifth floor had an office in that building and it was a beautiful old office building from perhaps the 1920s; it was undergoing remodeling. I used the men's bathroom; it had a heavy door and marble walls, like you see in some old schools in cities.
We went over to Flagler College after that and looked at the beautiful buildings and ceiling and overheard a student leading a tour. I wasn't jazzed enough about it to want to go on a tour, but I did recognize its uniqueness and appeal. We walked towards an old building further down that road, which was an exact replica of a Moorish castle in Spain. It has been build by some early tycoon in St. Augustine. Later it was used as some kind of hotel, but it didn't appear to be used for anything right now. At this point, I was very excited to get to the beach. But we did stop for coffee in a gorgeous hotel and the barrista was so impressed that Eric had ridden across the country, and had finished just then. I told everyone we encoutnered nearly of his accomplishment. I even had told the man who showed us to the forbidden bathroom in the office building. After I drank my coffee and bought some postcards, we headed to the beach. It was midday, sunny, warm, and the beach wasn't too crowded. We sat next to a couple celebrating their sixtieth wedding anniversary. They thought we were honeymooners. I think they thought that if we had been, we would've been fitting beach neighbors for them on that day. The water was very warm and had a current that was pretty strong; it scared me a little and really filled my bathing suit up with sand. I kept getting turned around and getting smacked in the back of the head with waves. I got out before too long and sat on the shore. I was a fun day though. The only not fun part of the beach jaunt was that it only lasted an hour and that getting out of my wet bathing suit, getting myself unsanded, and getting into dry clothes in the bathroom was a huge challenge. I wasn't very coordinated and it was hot and humid.
We drove down to West Palm Beach and made it in about four hours. Eric's mom was in her building's circular driveway when we pulled up and she told us where to put the car. Once we were up at her place, we celebrated Eric's accomplishment with a class of strawberry Andre and a huge salad. His mom was so happy to see us and was very relieved that we had made it safely all the way across the nation and didn't get swept away by an bad weather or other misfortunes. She was glad that Eric wasn't going to be on his bike the next day. That night we went to bed exhausted, both of us happy, with a sense that a challenging journey was complete.
Dorothy, me, and Eric -- cheers!
My drive was relatively uneventful. Eric called me when I was about 10 minutes from where we were supposed to meet and I made my way to the central historic district in St. Augustine, which is a beautiful city by the ocean with a very elegant and old center of town. I parked right on the road by the intercoastal waterway and soon Eric rode up, hoisted his bike above his head, and then posed for some pictures at the finale of his ride. It was very exciting and I was so proud of him. Still am.
Eric lifts his bike aloft!
However, as soon as the ride and the picture-taking was done, we decided to tool around St. Augustine for a few hours, go to the beach, and then start the four-hour drive down to West Palm Beach to Eric's mom's place. In St. Augustine we walked toward Flagler College, but I really needed to use the bathroom so we ducked into an office building that claimed to have a coffee shop in the foyer. They had no bathroom for the public, according to a man flanked by his two young daughters. The man clearly worked in the building. But another business man chimed in, perhaps spurred by the intensity of my "I-have-to-pee" look, and said, "but there is one on the fifth floor," which he then took us to, to the seeming chagrin of the man with his daughters, who maybe thought we were riff-raff. The man who took us to the fifth floor had an office in that building and it was a beautiful old office building from perhaps the 1920s; it was undergoing remodeling. I used the men's bathroom; it had a heavy door and marble walls, like you see in some old schools in cities.
We went over to Flagler College after that and looked at the beautiful buildings and ceiling and overheard a student leading a tour. I wasn't jazzed enough about it to want to go on a tour, but I did recognize its uniqueness and appeal. We walked towards an old building further down that road, which was an exact replica of a Moorish castle in Spain. It has been build by some early tycoon in St. Augustine. Later it was used as some kind of hotel, but it didn't appear to be used for anything right now. At this point, I was very excited to get to the beach. But we did stop for coffee in a gorgeous hotel and the barrista was so impressed that Eric had ridden across the country, and had finished just then. I told everyone we encoutnered nearly of his accomplishment. I even had told the man who showed us to the forbidden bathroom in the office building. After I drank my coffee and bought some postcards, we headed to the beach. It was midday, sunny, warm, and the beach wasn't too crowded. We sat next to a couple celebrating their sixtieth wedding anniversary. They thought we were honeymooners. I think they thought that if we had been, we would've been fitting beach neighbors for them on that day. The water was very warm and had a current that was pretty strong; it scared me a little and really filled my bathing suit up with sand. I kept getting turned around and getting smacked in the back of the head with waves. I got out before too long and sat on the shore. I was a fun day though. The only not fun part of the beach jaunt was that it only lasted an hour and that getting out of my wet bathing suit, getting myself unsanded, and getting into dry clothes in the bathroom was a huge challenge. I wasn't very coordinated and it was hot and humid.
We drove down to West Palm Beach and made it in about four hours. Eric's mom was in her building's circular driveway when we pulled up and she told us where to put the car. Once we were up at her place, we celebrated Eric's accomplishment with a class of strawberry Andre and a huge salad. His mom was so happy to see us and was very relieved that we had made it safely all the way across the nation and didn't get swept away by an bad weather or other misfortunes. She was glad that Eric wasn't going to be on his bike the next day. That night we went to bed exhausted, both of us happy, with a sense that a challenging journey was complete.
Dorothy, me, and Eric -- cheers!
# posted by jnewwave @ 1:16 PM 
