By Ben |

I started out the day by riding north into Palatka.  I stopped for lunch at a Huddle House, which turned out to be pretty much what it looked like: an imitation of Waffle House, but with about twice as many items on the menu.  Their chicken sandwich couldn't compare.  If I eat there again, I'll order something I can't get at Waffle House!

I rode pretty hard all afternoon to reach St. Augustine.  When I crossed US-1 I started giggling... here's this modest, normal-looking highway that goes all the way from the tip of Maine to Key West, and here I am crossing it on my bicycle!  Then I got to state highway A1A, made infamous by the song "Ice Ice Baby," and followed it along the coast to Anastasia State Park.

I had high expectations for this park right on the shore, but when I heard it would be $25 a night, I decided to stay only one night instead of two.  Come to find out it has only one dumpster for 139 campsites... judging by the assertiveness of the squirrels, a lot of campers don't make the trek to the dumpster before bed.

While I was looking at the ocean, a squirrel chewed a hole in my canvas saddlebag and made off with the empty Nutella jar I was planning to wash and use for storing fragile things.  I got back and found the squirrel busily gnawing through the plastic jar to get the dregs of Nutella!

But the sound of the ocean is nice, and once people stop driving around I'll be able to hear it better.

54.9 mi