The planned ride to St George Island almost got ditched because of the prediction of rain. I called Dan and Winston at 8 am yesterday morning after looking at the latest radar and we decided to make a run at it. Anita and I left out heading south to meet up with Winston and Shirley at Two Egg, FL then on to Grand Ridge, FL to hook up with Tom then to Blountstown to meet Dan, Sharon and David from Sea Grove Beach and Freeport. No rain so far.
After some tire kicking and tall tales, we mounted up and headed into the Eastern Time Zone. We took Hwy 20 across the Apalachicola River to Bristol then turned right on 12 and headed south through the Apalachicola National Forest. We didn't see another vehicle for about 35 miles of great roads and nothing else but pine forest. I bet there is some great bird hunting along with dear, bear, cougar (Florida Panther).
We finally found the rain about a mile before hitting hwy 65 at Sumatra. I took a quick glance to the right, the direction we'd be going, to get a read on the clouds and rain. Seeing only the black cloud we were under I decided to make a go of it. We ran out of the light shower in about another mile down the road and didn't see any more rain the rest of the day. North of where we rode got soaked, we got sunburned on any exposed skin.
We made our way out to St George Island under windy conditions and found the Blue Parrot very inviting. We had been warned that the recent reviews on the food were not too high so we discussed going on into Apalachicola for oyesters and seafood. The lure of the cool Gulf breeze, the shade of the beach side deck and the bikinis got the best of us, well some of us. So Blue Parrot give us your best.
Between the 8 of us we had a good variety of dishes with no complaints. I had the grouper basket which was very good. Anita had shrimp, Sharon had fried oysters, Dan and Tom had burgers (go figure), Shirley had the seafood platter (she had pulled an all nighter at the hospital), and Winston had a combo platter. (Forgot what David had.) All fresh from the Gulf which we had fixed our gaze upon. It's hard to stare out into the vast blue expanse of the sea surrounded by friends and not feel totally blessed. What a blessing of a great ride, friends and food. What more can I say.
BTW, we got in 267 miles yesterday and another 100+ miles for today. Only had light showers for about 45 miles today.
Dan & Sharon. I met Dan last year at CFC Bikefest which I help with in Dothan. He has a black I/S and was looking for the owner of the black I/S parked just across the parking lot from his. We have spent several weekends with this great couple since then and have become best of friends.
I met Winston a couple years ago and hadn't had the opportunity to ride with him till yesterday, and I got to meet his lovely wife, Shirley. They belong to a Valk Standard.
Tom rides a wing and eats like Hard 6. He had the double cheese burger that was big enough to feed us all. It pretty much covered the plate.
David had to be the odd ball and show up on this beautiful Victory. Dan tried picking on him but I think he was jealous over the beautiful stock paint job.
Pretty content; full belly, good friends and a cool Gulf Breeze.
