Day 264
A 5-mile bridge
After yesterday’s mega ride we both felt better than we expected. Still, we only had 55 miles(!) to ride today so we had a bit of a lie-in and a grand US breakfast. We had treated ourselves to a hotel due to the bad weather, but will have to toughen up as we are spending a lot, the US is more expensive than we had realised.
Our route was pretty simple, keep the water on our left, the swamp on our right, turn left after 50 miles then straight over the bridge!
It really was that simple. The rain pretty much stayed away. We passed a beach that was used as practice for D-Day and a petrified forest. Then Tom spotted the Crooked River Lighthouse. It was built in 1895 to replace the lighthouse on Dog Island, which had been destroyed and rebuilt three times. They wisely decided this was a better spot, and this lighthouse was in operation for 100 years. The door of the lighthouse was open, and before you could say, ‘Bob’s your Uncle’ Tom was inside and climbing up! I soon followed, and boy it was quite a climb, the view was fantastic but the descent was nerve-wracking.
Pleased to be back on solid ground, we hit the road again. We were heading to the John Gorrie Memorial Bridge. At five miles long, it connects Apalachicola to East Point. The first bridge was built in 1935, replacing a ferry service, the current bridge replaced it in 1988. Mr Gorrie (1803-1855) was an American physicist and scientist who is credited as the inventor of the electric fridge. What a man, he definitely deserves his bridge! As we cycled through the historical centre of Apalachicola it felt as if we had arrived in another country. Can’t wait to explore tomorrow!
