Old Schoolhouse, Junk Yard

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Moving Through Florida - Midway 61.2 miles

Lovely sleep in motel with cooling air-conditioning and no bugs. Bliss.  Funny, though, feel more tired with easy cycle rides and good nights sleep than when conditions were difficult. Another warm day but more overcast which made for pleasant cycling, quite a strong headwind and a few steep hills. I usually cycle on my own, in fact we all mostly cycle alone, and some days I  cover 40 miles without seeing another cyclist. I like an early start as by lunchtime my feet are swollen and hands tingling. Then I usually head into a cafe for an ice-cream milkshake and more importantly to cool down in their air conditioning. We are now in Eastern Time so moved our watches forward 1 hour. The UK is just 5 hours ahead of me now. In the USA there is Eastern Time, Central Time, Mountain Time and Pacific Time. We ate out again tonight, I had a chicken salad, couldn't face another cheeseburger, I have never known a country to have so many fast food joints. Some of the men never stop eating but that is another story! Following on from last nights post, if oranges are the states largest export, tourists have to be the number one import. Tourist levels are the result of activity that dates back to the early 1880's. Then, two rival tourism promoters, Henry Flagler and Henry Plant arrived in Florida and

were shocked by the primitive hotel accommodation. Both began building in St Augustine, Miami and Tampa Bay. To get people there Flagler bankrolled the railroad to construct along the eastern seaboard. It was the beginning of an influx of travellers from the North. Of course in the 1970's, Walt Disney, rewrote the book on Florida tourism, he purchased Florida swampland at 185 dollars an acre. When the swampland was drained and the Disney plans announced real estate values in the neighbourhood soared to 300,000 dollars an acre. Lucky for some.  The days are definitely numbered now, plans are being discussed for last night and last day so ....I'll keep loving it while it lasts....

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