Monday, March 11, 2014

When we mentioned to other riders that we were headed up the A1A to St. Augustine, they all had the same reaction: "Oh, we just love St. Augustine!" That seems to be the general consensus. It's referred to as "The Oldest City." Founded in September 1565 (fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock) by Don Pedro Menedez de Aviles of Spain, it is the oldest, continuously occupied city in North America. The historic district is rich in the Spanish, English and early American influences, as well as the development in the 1800's by  the railroad tycoon Henry Flagler as he built hotels to house his friends and guests as they traveled (on his railroad, of course) to escape the northeast winters.

Temperature was in the high 60's as we headed out from the hotel, and followed the A1A, the coast road along the eastern shore of Florida. With the Atlantic Ocean on our right, and for some of the route the Halifax River on our left, the blue skies and white wispy cloud cover made the trip enjoyable. We weren't the only ones, as a constant stream of motorcycles and cars streamed north and south along the way.

We crossed the Bridge of Lions into downtown St. Augustine, and turned north in an attempt to park at the Castillo de San Marcos. Construction began in 1672, and it's still an imposing landmark.

We had a destination in mind, the Panama Hat Company on St. George's Street. When we were here in December, I found a hat that actually fit my head (most hats are sized up to 7-5/8; my head is 7-7/8). Unfortunately, Linda spent too much time shopping, and I changed my mind. After the winter we had, I kept wishing I had that hat.

The parking lot at the castle was full, with several cars circling like buzzards, waiting for someone to leave. Instead of joining the flock, we turned out of the lot and headed up the block, turning into town at the City Gates, built in 1704 as part of the Cubo line, an earthen wall fortified by palmetto logs that surrounded the city, and was built to keep out invaders, Indians, and wild animals.The gates are still standing.

This is the only downside of visiting St. Augustine -- the parking situation. Free parking is limited, and restricted to patrons of the shops. Paid parking is usually full. We rode south, until I looked across and saw we were back at the bridge. I turned and went around for another pass. Finally making a turn that I thought would be a waste of time when I was forced to turn again after one block, I was forced to turn in to a small alley, that opened to a small paid parking lot where Linda saw the single "Motorcycle Parking Only" spot. After feeding the meter, we walked out to the street, which happened to be Hypolita St, one block east of St. George's!

St. George's street is now a pedestrian walkway, really to narrow to accommodate vehicles and pedestrians alike. The sun felt warm and the air fresh as we walked about a block to the hat shop. Inside, we found several different versions of the style I was looking for, and I picked out the brown leather one.

We also picked out a wide-brimmed Panama-style hat that is light-weight and vented, and best of all, FITS.

Mission accomplished, we strolled back to the motorcycles, and cruised around town a bit before we head back across the bridge to St. Augustine Beach and the Sunset Grill for lunch. Linda says their crab legs are among the best she's tasted. I ordered the Coconut Crusted Shrimp platter. We couldn't finish it all.

Afterwards, we headed back down the A1A to Daytona Beach, arriving around 3 with plenty of time to hit Main Street, Bike Week's main event.

Chrome glistening in the bright sun, motorcycles lining both sides of the street as more bikes parade up and down Main. Thousands pile onto the sidewalks and crowd into the parking lots where the bars have set up open air bars where beautiful girls tempt you with cold beer, colder Jager, and other concoctions.

We arrived at Dirty Harry's Saloon in time for the Wet T-shirt contest, where they were trolling the crowd to find girls willing to perform for (I think) a $175 prize. They had about 7 or 8 entries; I'm sure the later contests would have more as the alcohol flowed, but this was about 4 o'clock and the bikers and Spring breakers were just getting started.

One of the girls came over to Linda, and invited her to perform. The blush on her face came through her sunburn, but she was actually considering it before her modesty took hold. She told the girl she wasn't drunk enough yet. I'm not sure I've ever seen her drunk enough! But she was happy to be invited, anyway!

There were four men that paid $20 each to be the water pourers (not me), and the contest began.

We walked the full block, then crossed the street and walked back up Main to Atlantic, where we ducked into the Crusin Cafe for a break from the sun and the crowds.During the day this is a fairly tame place, where families can sit down and eat while bikers and breakers enjoy a cold one. At night, the girls dance on the bars and tempt the thirsty with body shots and such. Been there, watched that last time. Great stuff.

Main Street is a lot of fun. Dirty Harry's, Full Moon Saloon, Froggy's Saloon as well as several motorcycle clothing and accessories shops and bikini shops dominate the area, During Bike Week, the additional T-shirt and patch kiosks add to the circus atomosphere. Lots of different foods, competing bands on both sides of the street, the thunder of the cycles, people of all sizes shapes and colors, enjoying themselves -- a really great time being had by all.

The ride to St. Augustine and the walk down Main Street combined to wear us out. We returned to the hotel, ordered pizza delivery from Napoli's, and settled in to recuperate.

We know that Wednesday is probably going to crimp our style as scattered thunderstorms pass through the area, so we're trying to get in everything we can before then. We're here until Friday, and Thursday is expected to have a high in the 60's, so we're looking to hit Iron Horse Saloon on Tuesday.