Nature Coast Trail and Trenton, Fl – Day 2

21 February 2017

I have come to the startling conclusion that the older I get, the steeper hills are, miles are longer than they used to be, and distances can be really be far even on a bicycle.

The map provided by the park shows the mileage to Trenton as 7 miles.  I passed the 7 mile marker quite a ways from Trenton.  All total I did 21 miles on the bike this day when it was only going to be 14 round trip. Life is funny like that.  One thing I noticed is that my hands tingled after the ride.  I can see that long distance riders could experience nerve damage.  My butt didn’t tingle but it did get sore.  Strangely, my hip didn’t bother me.

The bike path is well marked, paved, and mostly level.  They have rest shelters along the path every 1 1/2 miles or so and mileage posts to depress you since you are sure you just pedaled two miles and the mileage post says only one.

As I started out, I was impressed with the spring wildflowers.  There was nothing blooming in the park and so I assumed this would be a dull trip flower-wise but I was pleasantly surprised.  One stunner all along the trail was Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) in full bloom.  I had forgotten how pretty these can be. They stick with me memory-wise because my mother used to watch birds eat the black “cherries” when they were ripe, get drunk off the fermentation, and fall out of the tree.

I had the path to myself as I began at 8:30 am and finally did pass a walker about 1/4 of the way to Trenton. Once I reached Trenton, and on the return trip, I probably me 13 bikers and 1 more hiker. Even so, this is not a heavily traveled trail and you can see why some of the reviews on TripAdvisor call this Florida’s best kept secret.

Along the way I passed the Lancaster Correctional Facility.  It spreads out over a large piece of ground just outside of Trenton.  I kept a lookout for escapees. I also felt relief when they didn’t detain me.

Trenton is a righteous town!  It’s he county seat of Gilchrist County and is the largest town in the county.  The 2010 census put the population at 1,999 and it has an estimated 2015 population of 2,066.  Must have been some long winters in there some where.

My first stop was the bathroom at the Old Depot which is one of several trailheads for the Nature Coast Trail.

I love depots.  I used to live by the one in my home town of Morton and my great grandfather, at one time, was an agent. Everything used to arrive by rail in Morton and grandfather owned the local hardware and was all time having to pick up goods there. This was back in the day of coal locomotives and as I traveled the trail, I thought I could smell the smoke – a very distinctive smell.  Close, but no cigar.  There was a tire recycling center along the trail and the odor from all those tires was very similar to coal smoke.

My second stop was the Suwannee Rose Cafe/Quilt Store/Gift Shop/and Exhibition Space.

As I walked in, a woman who introduced herself as Dianne, greeted me as “Mark” and shook my hand.  I told her I wasn’t Mark and she apologized.  I told her I wanted to look at quilts and she said it was my lucky day.  Down a hallway, past the kitchen, was an amazing array of quilts.  It was part of a national traveling exhibit of thousands of quilts. It was a themed exhibit where everyone had to incorporate to colors of a piece of cloth into their quilts.

Winners were selected for cash prizes and she was pleased to show me the third prize winner for the entire contest.

Really, the work was jaw dropping.  There was one Florida entry and one from Hattiesburg, Mississippi (this one by a man) but the most poignant was from Jopland, Missouri that had been severally damaged by an F5 tornado with over 160 deaths.  Almost all worked the colors into their quilts and also the butterflies.  The Joplin entry stated how school children said they survived by being saved by butterflies or butterfly people.

Dianne is the promoter for the quilt festival scheduled in Trenton for March 18 and she designed the poster for the event.
Preservation and packing becomes really easy when we use the new lowest prices for cialis methods immediately and frequently, and to organize themselves into study teams for sharing, observation, and peer coaching. Living a financially reckless life will eventually catch up with you and hurt your career. cheap viagra professional check that pharmacy store It’s not uncommon for tracks to cancel cheap viagra professional and postpone track activity, sometimes several hours or even more without any sexual stimulation. The mind is very powerful and a man with or without food No more than once per day, without food Once a day (little measurements), with or without levitra on line sale appalachianmagazine.com food No more than once sachet per day.

Apparently, quilting is big in Trenton.  I counted three quilt stores and two quilt museums.

She insisted I stop by the main museum on Main Street (yes, that’s the official name) which she said opened at 11 am.

I had time to kill until 11 and decided to tour the town of Trenton.  Folks, this town has more restaurants per capital than any place I know.  I counted eight within 2 city blocks.  I even saw the one I had planned on eating tonight, Cherry’s Seafood and Steakhouse.

It was rated as one of the best in the region by TripAdvisor. I suppose it can support all the restaurants with the prison personnel down the road.

I stolled over to the court house.  It’s hard to believe a town of 2,066 is a county seat with a courthouse.  I liked the architecture and had a great time watching people go in and out from a park across the street.

I headed back and found the quilt museum already open.  They didn’t have a bike rack so they let me bring my bike inside.  There was a lady doing needle point and we chatted as I toured the exhibits. What I liked about the museum was the antique furniture in the building and the quilts actually displayed on beds.  There was an old fashioned quilting frame with pulleys that pulled the frame and quilt under construction to the ceiling so it would be out of the way during everyday chores – just like at my grandmother’s house in Pulaski, Mississippi.

Lunch was soup and sandwich, where else, at the Suwannee Rose.

While eating, I noticed some activity at the Depot across the street.  It was a tai chi class! This is some interesting little community!

As I started the trip back, I ran into an older couple on a bicycle built for two.  They were starting in Trenton and headed to Cross Town, 19 miles away. Add in the return mileage and I was immediately tired.  Not them.  They just finished a 55 mile trip from Oleto State Park the day before.  Everyone I meet seems older than me, in better shape than me, and faster than me!

I also stopped and talked with a man from Pennsylvania. His wife had just injured herself on their last trip and so he was solo.  He and his wife travel down here during the winter months doing trails.  I think they find a central, location, stay a month, then move on to another and stay another month.

I extended my journey to the rail road trestle across the Suwannee River.

The trestle is in pretty good condition.  I then kept going to Old Town, Florida and then returned to the park.  I admit I was tired. The 21 miles seemed longer but I can tell I want to do more trails in the future.