I left Tampa almost a year ago and, embarrassingly, I must admit that I haven’t ridden much since. So when a friend still in Tampa suggested we all get together and ride down to Everglade city for a few days I was in.
I packed up my BMW and rode the 600 miles down to Tampa on the I-75. The weather was fine…though the traffic wasn’t. But everything was fine once I got together with everyone and was able to catch up. It was so nice to be back among my friends Paul, Ralph and the other Paul.
We left on a Sunday at about noon. While we had planned to ride our bikes down—two big Harleys, my BMW, and a sweet Moto Guzzi—the Guzzi was being finicky—like Italian models are prone to be—and its rider, Paul, decided to just drive his Mercedes down instead. A small glitch, but nobody minded.
We left the south Tampa area and broke away from the traffic fairly quickly. Paul had planned a nice route through some classic Florida back roads as none of us wanted to be on the main highways.
We passed through some cool little towns on the fairly quick and easy 160-mile ride. There was Arcadia, Tucker’s Corner, Sunniland, Verandah and Copeland. Did I mention that the weather was perfect? April is a great time to ride in South Florida as it’ll be smoking hot and humid come summer.
Once we arrived and checked into our hotel, we all grabbed drinks and headed for the pool. After soaking in the cool water, the sun dried us out in no time. We walked over to a local diner and the Cuban owners took good care of us.
The next day consisted of an air boat ride through the area’s mangrove swamps, and what an experience that was. We found a couple spots for drinks and lunch.
A word about Everglades City: It was mainly developed in the mid to late 1800’s as a trapping and lumber center. Though the rail lines that transported the cypress north are long gone, the remnants remain. Now catering mostly to fishermen, the town appears to be stuck in the 1920’s. There doesn’t appear to have been any infrastructure upgrades in decades. Homes on stilts are owned by families who’ve lived there for over 100 years. It’s quaint but there’s not a lot to do except fish and rode the airboats. Nuff said.
On our final day, we loaded up the bikes, gassed up and stopped for breakfast at a small diner. Tasty food, generous portions and reasonable prices made it that much better.
Seeing a big gator smiling lazily in a canal as we rode out of town was just a perfect goodbye.
Paul led us back via a similar route and we arrived in 3 hours, the weather and traffic cooperating to make the ride fun and easy.
After a brief rest, I pointed the big Beemer toward home and fought accident and construction traffic on the I-75 northbound for over 9 hours. It is what it is…
