Day #2 March 14 - Perry to Tallahassee - 56 miles

It was 56 highway miles from Perry, FL to Tallahassee.  We went this way.

Keeping the blog current is more difficult than the biking.  By the time we drop-bike at our next destination, clean up and eat, it's time to turn in.

Anyway, Tallahassee...if you're ever thinking about biking into this bicycle-hostile city, I offer these three words.

Before we drew close to the city, the roads were long, flat and pretty quiet.  We stopped at one touristy road-side stand for a break.  I have a special fondness for tupelo honey...not the song (which I never liked that much), but the honey made from the nectar of the flowering Tupelo tree that grows in the FL panhandle.  Perhaps you recall the 1997 movie Ulee's Gold, where Ulee is a beekeeper whose "gold" is tupelo honey.  Then, perhaps not.

Anyway, the sample I tried was the best tupelo I've had.   I would have bought a gallon, but settled for a small bottle:



Lani removes each and every item from the shelf, one at a time, to inspect them.

Tupelo honey, like any honey, is wonderful on vanilla ice cream or vanilla frozen yogurt.  Or, on a spoon.

There was a nice selection of honey, molasses and other syrupy edibles targeting the tourist population. 

Now loaded down with a pound of honey and after a snack, we were back on the highway shoulder, heading toward the state capitol.

Behind a long fenced area there appeared to be a controlled burn. 

With no major population centers, businesses were far and few and those that had found a home, were small.

Best deal?  Really?  Okay...if you say so.  I'll take two.

Lani and I both have flag poles on our bikes.  Lani's flags are hand-made, including a stylized US flag, a "Free Tibet" flag" and a "just keep pedaling" flag.  I went with three flags: basic U.S., an historic flag and the classic black POW-MIA, the goal being maximum visibility and, if it were even possible to make a statement: "Please don't hit me!"

Like amulets, whose purpose is to keep cars and trucks at a safe distance.

The highway started rocking and rolling...a hundred feet up, a hundred feet down...imperceptible if you're in a car, but screamingly perceptible on a bicycle, especially if you're not yet conditioned for rollers. 

After arriving in Tallahassee, we had some errands, including Sports Authority for some gear and to the ATT store to replace Lani's cellphone which somehow got flooded with Gatorade from her leaking Camelbak.  Anyway, not yet conditioned for them, the hills were pretty brutal and we were beat.  Lani sort of lost it on a steep sidewalk.

45 pound panniers make the bicycle topple easily if you move away from the vertical.  Lani is anything but vertical.

We were supposed to stay with a friend of Lani's and arrived early, letting ourselves in with the hidden key.  The decor was funky and we were to sleep on a fold-out couch just inches away from the bed of Lani's friend. 

Yeah, I don't think so...maybe if I were a few decades younger, but not tonight.

As we were exhausted, we weren't keen on biking too far to the next cheap motel.  Wielding the power of the  series of tubes that form our internets, I harnessed the Google and found another motel barely 250 yards away.  It wasn't listed on TripAdvisor...ominous, for sure...but we were highly motivated.

Our bicycles actually enhanced the interior decor.

At $30, the Prince Murat Motel was actually overpriced.   I cannot recall a less savory motel that I've had the misfortune to spend a night.  If you're ever looking for a budget motel in Tallahassee and happen to come across this budget option, I again offer three words.

Anyway, we dropped gear, cleaned up, and took a walk to a nearby Italian restaurant where we enjoyed a nice dinner, toasting to our success on the rolling hills.