Tuesday

Last night we took the trike down to Main Street, where the whole Bike Week thing began 69 years ago. It was impossible to actually ride down the street, as it was jammed with bikes. For lunch we had eaten sausage dogs reminiscent of the fair; you know, the ones you love to eat, but know you’ll regret later. Oh, well, that’s what Pepcid is for! We really didn’t know what we wanted for dinner, so we cruised up the A1A (aka Atlantic Avenue), then back down again. The only thing that sounded good was the IHOP, and we had breakfast for dinner. We decided we’d have to see Main Street later.


The local news channels predicted the rain that we knew was coming, and were pretty darn accurate. By 7 am it was coming down pretty well, and you could hear occasional thunder. They expected the rain to stop by 11, and it was actually over by 10. The wind continued, blowing the rain off shore. Temps were in the sixties, and things were looking good.

At breakfast we met a few guys that are involved in motorcycle racing at the Daytona Speedway (I think with the Daytona 200), and they gave us a few tips on places to eat that we’ll try out this week. They told us that the Speedway will be better to visit tomorrow or Thursday, and that we had to walk down Main Street (he referred to it as “combat alley”) at least once.

We started out heading south to the bottom of the island, to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and Museum. It’s the tallest lighthouse in Florida, and the buildings and grounds have been well preserved. More souvenirs – we’re thinking of shipping them home!

For Bike Week, the lighthouse association had some antique motorcycles on display. All of them are only refurbished in original parts, and are in working condition!

Back to the hotel to drop off the stuff, then we took the trike up the road to Main Street. They block off the side roads and offer parking -- $5 for the day for bikes, $10 for trikes. I’m not sure why, but the guy charged us only $5, and let us park it near Main Street. I liked it as they would have an eye on it. I think he wanted it there so he could show other trike riders that they could park there. Saved me five bucks, so who cares?

We swapped our boots for sneakers for the walk. Good thing – we walked up the length of the “circus” and back again. For the most part, there are vendors for T-shirts, leather goods, patches, bike accessories and the like. There were several other venues – the local bars had set up band shells in their parking lots, and were either blasting out live rock ‘n roll, or were playing music while the bands set up. There were at least four huge areas, each set up with food and drinks. We ate lunch and took pictures of the scenery.

Most places had signs in front: “No colors, no weapons, no attitude.” Unlike most perceptions of the motorcycle crowd, these people were out there having a good time. Everyone – and I mean everyone – that we met were pleasant, friendly and laughing. While there was a police presence, it was not overbearing, and we saw nobody that was out of line. It made for a great time.

We took the advice of our breakfast partners, and sought out Barnacles for dinner. It was a bit up the road, but totally worth it. We both had the wild salmon, and shared a slice of cheesecake for dessert. Yum!