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Discovering America on the back roads with Back Roads Richard (BRR)

NOVA SCOTIA TO FLORIDA AND BACK AGAIN

On my round trip I took two different routes, one route is far better than the other.

See page 5 for the best motorcycle route directions to Florida from the East Coast of Canada.

In early October 2008 I sat down at my kitchen table to plan my trip to Florida, it was going to be 6 months of lying in the sun, swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, eating Grouper sandwiches and checking out Florida culture.

A year earlier I had retired from 25 years in the motorcycle business; I was planning to live the “Life of Riley”, 6 months in Florida and then return to spend 6 months in my Nova Scotia home.

What more could an Old Geezer like me ask for?

On a dark stretch of Thunder Highway I found out that fate had other plans for me.

My first task was to map out a scenic, less traveled road to get to Florida. I wanted to bypass the big cities, bypass as many tourist trap towns and neon lit streets as I possibly could.

My plan was to see rural, small town America, the America that I remembered from when I crisscrossed it as a young man.

That was the America before the 4 and 6 lane interstate highways and toll roads came along.

Our first stop along the way was near Amherst Nova Scotia to see the 1774 original settlement of my great, great, great, great grandfather.

A local road near his original settlement.

I was going to hit the road and try real hard to forget about all the grey economic news that had been causing such a stir in the fall of 2008.

What, me worry?

Many years ago a friend of mine had said that the Mad Magazine character “Alfred E. Newman” whose favorite expression “what me worry” fitted my outlook on life.

What, me worry?

I do worry a bit, from time to time.

Little did I know how those grey economic clouds looming on the horizon in October 2008 would turn into the dark clouds of a financial perfect storm that would end up causing world wide panic along with destroying the finances, the lives and the retirement savings of millions of people in the process.

Throughout October and into November the storm picked up momentum and by late November the largest countries in the world would be brought to their knees, forced to see the folly of their old ways of doing business with no regard for the future of the planet or of its inhabitants.

We tried our best to avoid it, but on the way to Florida we ended up on some very busy highways, it wasn’t to our liking.

Our trip to Florida took us through Nova Scotia, then to New Brunswick where we stayed the first night at a B&B outside of St. Stephen N.B.

The second day we took a slow ride along the coast of Maine on Highway 1 South to Ogunquit where we stayed one night at the Beachmere Inn.

The third day we took the 95 South a short distance through New Hampshire and then we connected to the 495 South to Lowell Massachusetts.

Diane and I didn’t want to drive on any of the big highways or get near any large cities so we headed west towards Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania where we connected to Highway 81 South passing through West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia on our way to Florida.

At a rest stop near Columbia South Carolina I met and talked with Michael Patrick on the left of me and Paul Howard on the right.

Both of them are Freemasons and Harley Davidson owners.

Paul’s son died on this 2008 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic and it is his son’s picture in the middle of the Harley decal on his rear window.

Paul fixed the bike after the accident with the intention of making it his ride.

Heading to Florida for some winter riding are Michael, Micca and Paul, all from Eastern Kentucky. Micca is Michael’s wife and Paul’s daughter; she rides this 2005 Harley Davidson Fat Boy.

Seen in the slow lane in Georgia, heading south.	Finally, Florida.
Blue skies and warm weather in the Orlando area.	Heading south.

Some Florida bikers ride in shorts, running shoes and without a helmet.

In a perfect world, that makes sense.

Page 1 - BRR – May 2009.

GO TO PAGE 2 - THE BEST ROUTE SOUTH TO FLORIDA

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