BIKERS STORM JAY

I was in Jay this week and stopped by Dura Med Soda Shop for one of Miss Laura's tasty tuna fish salad sandwiches. I was bearing down on it as orders were being delivered at a nearby table. Tables were open for the first time in a month but only a few tables could be occupied yet. Rona Rules -.

The folks at the table asked a few questions and someone asked "You not from around here, are you?"

This began a storm of conversation about their purpose in Jay as Bikers. It was soon discovered they were just cruising the outer limits of their range from Palm Coast, Florida, where they live. They were in search of real Americans. Some of the farmers up here are searching for the same thing - so there was common ground.



We learned that the big guy, Lou - was a veteran biker who has all of Route 66 and many other well worn trails under his Harley.

 Frank and Tiffany run a restaurant in Palm Coast called "386". They took this lull in economic activity to join Lou in their very first introduction to the biker life.

So far, they are liking it a lot. Meeting people. Learning new things. Maybe one day they will write a book like our friend who wrote "Ghosts in the Wind - The Footsteps of Lewis and Clark" . Most of the really interesting people in Chuck's book were long dead though. Even Clark is dead. And Clark's Newfie dog, named "Seaman". He is dead too.

The "386 Palm Coast" is a fine dining establishment.
 I think, next time we are over that way, it will be a destination.


All of the biker gang are originally from Salem County, NJ. That county is very similar to our own since it is a part of the geographical feature of the Coastal Plains. It is maybe 80 miles South of Philadelphia and sits in the New Jersey Pinelands. So riding through this part of Florida is a lot like home to them.

I invited them to take a quick tour of the Jay Museum. We have some interesting things in there, like high school pictures and  ancient digital books about the area, some rocks, rusty tools and a jar of buttons. People are fascinated by these things. (really!)

Lou got stuck on the high school pictures from my era and remarked the women were particularly good looking. I noted this is a feature of the county. It traps many a wanderer - as they pass this way. Some are found. Not all are lost.

They made a donation and and I gave them one of our cookbooks - "Tastes and Tales of the Great Pine Level" . I wonder if the recipe from Jim McCaskill will find its way to the feature menu at the 386 Palm Coast. Who knows?

These bikers had miles to go before they sleep and probably to a meal down in Navarre. But this road here ... is less travelled.

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WELL NOW
THAT IS
12ponder.com


Lectures on History every month (outside of quarantines) at the Museum
Watch for dates. Richard Wood spoke recently of mystery murders.
He has a fascinating blog at judgingshaddows.blogspot.com

There is always a bet somewhere if or not I will mention FORT MIMS in any conversation about our area.  Well.. I did... FORTMIMS.org  - a key event in the history of the entire Southeast - because a gate left open led to a massacre and events that nobody imagined beforehand.

 And Andrew Jackson was here because of the massacre and ended up being in position to talk to the British in New Orleans in 1814-15.