Hanna Park to Anastasia State Park - Rose Pedals in Florida - CycleBlaze

December 5, 2021

Hanna Park to Anastasia State Park

Sunrise on the beach

Let's start the day off right with coffee on the beach at sunrise!
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I woke up to the smell of coffee, salt air and the sound of waves crashing in the beach. I asked Matt if he'd like to go to the beach at first light and he said yes, but first coffee. He brought me a cup while I was still in my hammock. I thought to myself, where did I find this gentleman? Pondering, I finished my first cup and we were soon our way to the beach.

First light at Hanna Park, Jacksonville, FL
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As we sat and watched the sun come up, we talked about our day of cycling and routing. Matt grabbed my hand and asked if he could take me to dinner tonight.  How could I say no?  It would be a long day in the saddle, but completely worth a beautiful end to a beautiful start to a great day on adventure. So we made our way back to camp via a trail and began to pack up.

A moss filled down tree in Hanna Park
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I'm glad I met my match for getting going in the morning...slow and steady pace. Haha! We still made it out by a reasonable hour. We toodled down to Saint Augustine via A1A and side streets. 

Saint Augustine!
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We made a stop at Flagler Hospital to see my sister in law and her mom who recently fell ill.

Shortly we were back on the road to Anastasia State Park. We rolled in just before dark. As we set up camp, we contemplated a rain check on our dinner reservations and quickly decided against it. We grabbed showers and headed out for dinner.

Both Matt and I had pretty big appetites from riding today.

We devoured some amazingly delicious appetizers and dinner. 

Beef! Its what's for dinner!
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To say we were ready for bed afterwards is an understatement. 

We got back to camp to find the Ricky the Raccoon had unzippered my lunch box with his crafty thumbs and ate our tortillas and fresh olive bread. Little bastard! Lol. We hung our gear and cleaned up the mess.

With a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from a day well spent, we finally climbed into our hammocks 

Swaying back and forth under the stars, I soon fell asleep thinking what a beautiful end to a beautiful day.

Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 439 miles (707 km)

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