No blood. (I count that as a good day.)
Today we hit the gym, then headed out on our mountain bikes. Our destination was again the Rickenbacker. Today, though, we were rewarding ourselves. Our only serious thinking would be deciding where to have lunch. It was a glorious day. The waters of Biscayne Bay were crowded with sailboats, compliments of Miami Sail Week. We were happy and feeling very frisky. A roadie passed us on the way, and we chased him down and dogged his tail for a good while. We let him go (we have a liberal catch and release program for roadies), and I stopped to take a couple of pictures.
We toured about Key Biscayne, checking out each and every restaurant. Several were interesting, but we weren't totally pleased so we pedaled on. Finally we ran out of island. We were at the very end of the island, where the road enters Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. Remembering that there were two restaurants inside the park, we pedaled in. The park comprises a third of the island, and has a nifty lighthouse (the oldest structure in the greater Miami area). We ended up at the restaurant by the lighthouse, appropriately named the Lighthouse Cafe. It is an open-air patio on stilts, shaded from the sun, away from but overlooking the park's wonderful beach. The crowd at this restaurant is always a delight. We listened to conversations in at least 5 different languages as locals and tourists mingled over espresso, smoothies, and sandwiches.
We headed home at a more sedate pace. Until the last raised bridge of the causeway. Coming to the top, we did a giddy-up-go maneuver, then flattened into a low aero crouch. It was fun breaking the speed limit on the descent. Even a Miami-Dade cop laughed when we roared passed him (OK, so I encouraged him by doing a little smile-and-finger-wave as we swooped by...)
On the last stretch home, Al was following me down the road. He got a bit steamed when I braked suddenly without any signal to him. Long-term relationships are all about compromise and accommodation. I let him chew me out while I positioned myself behind him for the rest of the ride home. He had almost crashed into me, and he was simply being a tad more emotional than usual. Nobody crashed, and this would smooth over quickly.
No blood, no foul.
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| The Cape Florida lighthouse is a popular with tourist. |
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| A sailboat passes between Cape Florida State Park and Stiltsville, a group of houses on stilts out in Biscayne Bay. |
