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Published: July 27th 2009
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We left the Florida Keys early in the morning in an unsuccessful attempt to dodge some of the South Florida heat and rode out of the keys and up the Atlantic coast into the glitzy and very cosmopolitan city of Miami where we wondered at the megahomes, yachts and expensive cars. The south Atlantic Coast of Florida (Coconut Grove, Miami, North Miami, Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, etc.) has the smell of money everywhere with uncountable high rise condos marching up and down every beach.
Of course we were caught in a couple of Florida thunderstorms which we rode out under freeway underpasses and the loading dock of a convention center. The thunder, lightning and rain were so intense that we couldn’t imagine being out in the open during one of these storms.
We spent a day at the Kennedy Space Center touring the exhibits, launch pads and all the other really amazing stuff that send people into space. We just missed the latest launch of Endeavour by a couple days. THAT would have been cool to see! Of course there was another thunderstorm while we were touring the space center and Dan had to run out to the
bike to cover our gear. He was soaked to the skin instantly and spent the rest of the afternoon squishing through the Space Center.
Onward up the Atlantic coast we entered Georgia and rode Highway 17 to Savannah where we spent an evening on the riverfront meeting some very cool people. Savannah was beautiful, with long, tree lined residential streets and many, many beautiful classic Southern homes. The temperature and humidity was much more moderate than Florida.
Out of Georgia and into South Carolina, still on Highway 17, we stopped at Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie where the civil war fighting began. All along our ride there is civil war history and roadside plaques depicting who fought, how many died, etc. We are seeing the huge scope of that terrible war all along our ride.
We had a couple nights R&R in the very popular resort town of Myrtle Beach, SC. If you love miniature golf and gaudy beachwear then this is the town for you. There had to be at least twenty miniature golf courses in town, each one more elaborate than the last, with huge waterfalls and smoking volcanoes. The beachwear shops were even more
prolific, with at least one every block for miles and miles.
We camped the next night in Ocrakokee State Park, right next to the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Hatteras, where we were poured on worse than at any other point in our travels. Our gear was absolutely drenched the next morning, but our tent still kept us warm and dry. After wringing out, we moved on to North Carolina, stopping to check out Kitty Hawk and marvel over Orville and Wilbur's work. We walked the course of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first four historic flights! These two guys had no outside funding whatsoever, pursuing their dream with their own energy and money. Amazing!
In Newport News, Virginia, we woke up to a battery that wouldn't crank the bike. The battery was 8 years old and Dan was surprised it had lasted this long. Our very sweet neighbor jump-started our bike and directed us to a Honda shop less than a mile away…talk about a lucky break down! We quickly replaced the battery and were on our way to Bethesda, Maryland, again mostly on Highway 17. We stopped in Fredericksburg and did a small walking tour of the historic
battle areas. Love the old architecture and building styles!
Coming into the Washington DC metro area we used I-95 and the traffic really bogged down on the beltway. We inched along in the 90 degree heat for about ten miles before we escaped to the surface streets. We eventually arrived in Bethesda, Maryland where Dan had scored us a great deal on three days at the Hyatt hotel which we will use as our D.C. base. The train/subway system here is fabulous. We could walk out of our hotel, jump on the subway and be standing in the Washington Mall in less than a half hour. Over three days we checked out all the usual monuments and several museums at the Smithsonian. We could spend a couple weeks at the Smithsonian and still not see it all.
With 9,000 miles behind us and about 5,000 remaining in our adventure, we’re now off for Gettysburg, and then onward to Baltimore, New Jersey, New York, Boston and more of the Northeast. We’ll check back in after we collect our fourth U.S. corner at Lubec, Maine.
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Mandy
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Cool Beans
WOW! So jealous! I've seen so little of the east coast and WANT to see so much more! Really, really cool stuff you're doing. Keep having fun and loving each other along the way.