Sunday, September 12, 2010

The Forgotten Coast

Some one did tell us why this part of Florida is called the Forgotten Coast, but we just can't remember the reason...

We packed the bike ready to go, but before heading off, walked down to the waterfront.to have a look at the wild life. The huge manatee Wanda glimpsed last night was there and showed himself (herself?) just as the batteries in our camera ran out. We watched as it swam away and managed to catch it in a few distant photos. It is quite large and perhaps has the volume of two people.

The Canadian goose squarked on the opposite shore. The duck family waddled across the grass, cormorants sat on the dock and a grey-brown pelican flew overhead. This place is full of life.


We met another motel resident who was out fishing. He had travelled from Daytona Beach and was enjoying a week on the other side of Florida.

When we rode north of Crystal River the landscape changed. Urban sprawl and strip malls gave way to forests and plantations of pines. This is one way of a magnificent two way road with very little traffic.

At first the weather was comfortable, with morning clouds holding back the heat. We stopped for brunch in Chiefland as the clouds burned away.

The day rapidly heated up. The road was flat and straight and while we were making good time, it seemed endless.

We had planned to travel to Medart, a town so small our GPS doesn't have any record of it. Instead we set a course for Carabelle, a further 20 miles on. Our route there took us along the Gulf Coast,

 many relatively new and expensive holiday homes, all built on stilts to mimize damge from storm surges.



It was a good choice. Carabelle is on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and a very pretty town. We arrived around 3 pm, found the Georgian Motel . We crashed for an hour or so in the cool of the room. It had a summery feel with tiled floors. Unpretentious but comfortable with glasses and dishes. Out of the way from the tourist world. After recovering our energy we walked down to the supermarket to buy dinner. On the way back we spotted Harry's Bar aound the corner from our motel. We dropped off the groceries and went back for a beer. The place had quite an atmosphere. The tops of the benches had coins set in them under a layer of clear resin, and the ceiling of the bar and some of the walls was covered in dollar bills on which people had written their names.

After dinner Wanda went out to catch the sunset.
On the decaying warf lay what looked like a dead dog tied to a rope. Distressing to say the least.

Once enlarged on the computer this was shown to be a pile of plastic bags and tin cans. Salvador Dali's optical illusions training has obviously influenced us a great deal.

No comments:

Post a Comment