Back to the North

Made the best use of my time in Florida from Feb 25 to March 5 rolling around my usual haunts including an extended exploration along 30A west of Seaside. It was the first time in several years (since 2008) that I had wandered around the Watercolors community streets. This is a high end development by the St. Joe Company that was just heavy into its construction phase when the crash of 07/08 hit. Things there kind of ground to a halt for a few years but now seem to be rolling again. It was interesting to see how the streets, boardwalks, houses and landscaping have weathered 10 years of Panhandle climate.

Trees and other plants have matured and may have been neglected but are nicely cleaned up now. Boardwalks suffered from the weather and deterioration is obvious, but a lot of planking has been recently replaced. Most of the asphalt streets are fine with the odd exception where poor quality asphalt and roadbed prep is showing significant deterioration. The whole project was put together very quickly and some  shortcuts are becoming evident. Another year or so will show how good the remediation will be. It is a great community to cycle around

St. Joe, per their website has ambitious plans for this area of NW Florida in Bay and Walton Counties with seniors retirement communities including 170,000 residential units as well several million square feet of retail and commercial development. Currently construction activity in the area could best be described as frenetic.

From a cycling standpoint, the bike path paralleling 30A makes for a leisurely, safe ride with a a host of boutique restaurants and shops. There are dozens of places you can rent a bike, but no bent trikes ...yet. Rover II and I received a lot of looks and folks stopping to make more inquiries. If you need some cycle service out here at Grayton Beach, Big Daddy's Bike Shop - www.bigdaddysbikes.com -has a well equipped shop, some expert mechanics, and even a mobile repair shop. While your waiting for the work to be completed, La Loba's Bakery - www.lalobasbakery.com - in the same building has some great baked goods, coffee and a pleasant patio. Their moto "Real Food for Real People"

That about does it for my winter in PCB. Before dawn on March 5 we pointed our noses north and headed back to Canada. The Flex was packed with two cycles hanging off the back, and a roof top bag also stuffed with treasures. According to my wife all we needed was a rocking chair on the roof and a few buckets tied to the roof rack rails to make us a modern day Snowbird Hillbillies.

A new use for old bike wheels- La Loba's Patio

La Loba's Bakery, Blue Mountain Beach, Fl"Real Food for Real People"