October 9, 2015
Miles Today: 42
Total Miles So Far: 265.5
With the Mount Dora Bicycle Festival kicking off this morning, The Adora Inn and all its’ guests are up early, preparing to ride in the day’s events. I’m right there with them, packing up my stuff, then sitting down to a wonderful breakfast prepared ahead by Arther.
The other riders are all on a strict timetable – their chosen events all start at specific times from the downtown rally point – so I let them go ahead of me, while I hang back and enjoy the hospitality and the luxury of a warm bed and a ready breakfast.
A Short Day
I can afford to take it a bit easy this morning, as I have a short day planned. I’m aiming for the town of DeLand this morning – only a short 40 miles away. I’d like to ride further today, but the route past DeLand takes me through some empty countryside, and I have not been able to figure out anyplace good to stay the night. So I plan a shortened day today, and then a longer day tomorrow.
Hill Time
The ride out of Mount Dora is very pleasant. I’m heading away from down town, so I avoid all the craziness associated with the Bicycle Festival. A few cyclists pass me going the other direction as I head north away from the city. The weather is nice and cool, I am well rested and fed, and this promises to be an excellent day of cycling.
It becomes clear immediately that I’m now firmly in central Florida’s hill country. When I turn on roads with names like ‘Thrill Hill Road’, I know not to expect a flat ride.
I pull up a couple of steep climbs, and get to enjoy rolling down the other sides. I’ve really missed this kind of riding. Southern California is full of exciting hills to climb, and my recumbent friends and I would take mad pleasure in seeking out the steepest hills we could find to climb over. Southern Florida is sadly lacking in hills, and I have missed them. But today I greet the hills like old friends, pushing up the slopes and soaring down the backside, It’s a perfect morning, the roads are good and the traffic almost non-existent.
Lake County Road 439
The route takes me north on Lake Count Road 439. It’s a fine road with a great shoulder. This is really good riding.
The Road Turns East
439 takes me to county road 42 heading easy toward Paisley
42 is much like 439. Very little traffic, nice rolling hills, and hardly any homes or buildings.
Ocala National Forest
The road travels along the edge of the Ocala National Forest. It is the second largest nationally protected forest in Florida. It covers 607 square miles. The Ocala National Forest, established in 1908, is the oldest national forest east of the Mississippi, and the southernmost national forest in the U.S. I could camp here if I wanted – but that would be to short a day.
The riding through here is beautiful. Big hardwood trees on both sides of the road, lots of aerial roots. And it’s quiet – the sound of my chain rolling of the sprockets is the loudest sound I hear. Lots of birds and crickets chirping are the musical accompaniment for this stretch of the ride.
The Short Cut
Just after the Clearwater Recreation Area, and just before Paisley, the road makes a wide loop to the north, only to return back south again about 10 miles later. When I was planning the route, I noticed this, and thought I would save myself a few miles by skipping the loop, and cutting directly across. I had the Garmin pre-programmed to take this shortcut, and I obediently follow when it tells me to turn off County Road 42.
I ride though a gorgeous residential area for a mile or so, then the Garmin directs me left to Blue Moon Road.
Uuuh-oooh. This doesn’t look good. Blue Moon Road is unpaved, and it is festooned with signs that say ‘No Outlet’ and ‘Private Property’. I should turn around at this point, but I am filled with confidence at my brilliant route planning skills. “It must go through”, I say to myself, “Google Maps shows it!”
An unpaved road in Florida means sand. I love my recumbent trike, but sand is perhaps the worst possible surface on which to ride a trike. The rear wheel spins and looses traction, then digs into the loose sand causing the rider to get stuck. Hard packed sand helps – if it’s hard packed the tire will not loose traction – but dry sand does not hard pack very well.
I set off down Blue Moon Road. The trike digs in, I get out and push. I ride some more, push some, pass some more “Private Property” signs. The further I go, the looser the sand gets. Pretty soon I’m just pushing, no more riding.
Eventually I come to a gate across the road. The gate is closed. The gate is locked. On the other side of the gate is a driveway and a small house. On the porch of the house is elderly man. It’s hard to tell, because he seems to be missing a few teeth, but I don’t think he is amused.
I think I hear dueling banjos playing at this point. Supreme confidence in my route planning skills is wavering. As politely as possible I ask the gentlemen if there is a way through here back to County Road 42. He’s not very talkative – mostly one word answers in the negative.
OK – I drag my trike a couple of miles back to the start of Blue Moon Road, cycle back to SR 42, and continue on my way. Luckily, I know how to get back on route. If this had gone a little different, it might have been a disaster. As it is, all I’ve done is loose and hour or two.
Paisley
The road takes me through Paisley. Not much to see, just a few more houses and farms than usual along the road. But there is a convenience store where I stop for some chocolate milk and to give Nancy a call to let her know I’m still OK.
Lake Kathryn
Another 8-10 miles down the road is Lake Kathryn. Lake Kathryn is the biggest town along this road. With a population of 845 it’s a booming metropolis! Still not much to see, houses, farms, a couple of side streets.
But it is the beginning of the end of beautiful County Road 42. The hills have started to flatten out already, and there is slightly more traffic than earlier. Just a couple more miles brings me to the intersection with State Road 44, and the road to DeLand.
DeLand
I ride on SR444 only long enough to cross the St. John’s River, less than a mile. There is a drawbridge over the river, and, as I approach, it starts to open. I stop and have a few minutes to read the historical marker on the bride. I learn that the St. Johns River is the longest river in Florida. It is 310 miles long, and it winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than 30 feet so it has a very low flow rate, 0.3 mph (0.13 m/s), and is often described as “lazy”. It is one of the few rivers in the U.S. that flows north.
As soon as the bridge lowers, I ride across the river and then immediately turn off of 44 to Old New York Road. This nice quiet side street keeps me off the busy SR44 for about 5 miles into down-town DeLand
Lunch at The Dally In The Alley Bistro
My first order of business is finding some lunch, then a place to stay the night. Using my phone to scope out restaurants in the downtown area, I stumble upon the Dally in the Alley Bistro. This is a perfect place for me to stop for a while and enjoy a relaxing meal. It’s air-conditioned (of course), it’s pretty quiet (although I get there just at lunch time and it is very busy), and it is the kind of place that I ought to love. They emphasize farm-to-table control over their ingredients, the menu changes regularly to showcase seasonal ingredients, and it’s all served in a causal, relaxing atmosphere.
I am seated and ask for lots of water. They happily oblige, and this sparks a conversation about my trip and the trike and what I am doing. I start with one of the daily specials – a watermelon salad. It is delicious – crisp, cool and refreshing.
Next I order one of the regular menu items – the Corn Bread Grilled Cheese, with pickled sand pear relish, gouda, caramelized red onions, and jalapeno chive cornbread. This is a dish I ought to love, and I am really looking forward to it. When it comes, it looks and smells delicious.
But after I take the first bite, my head nearly explodes! The corn bread is so loaded with jalapeno that I can’t eat it. I like spicy food well enough, but this is over the top! I notice another diner at a different table has ordered the same thing, and appears to have the same difficulty. We exchange a knowing smile with each other. I am able to get down another bite or two, but after that I just can’t make myself put any more into my burning mouth.
This is totally disappointing. I really want to like this place. It is the kind of restaurant I should completely love. Many of the other dishes coming out of the kitchen look terrific. The dish I ordered just is not to my taste.
I’m sure I could send it back and get something else, but I don’t feel like spending the time. I need to get on with finding a place to stay and getting settled in for the night. But at another time, I would absolutely give The Dally in the Alley Bistro another chance.
The DeLand Country Inn
After making a few phone calls, I settle on The DeLand Country Inn. I choose it because it’s very close to down town – so I can walk to dinner – and they offer me a room at a reasonable rate ($89).
A nice fellow from England (Mark) runs the Inn. He and his family have run the place for over 10 years. The place is a little run down, and I would not call it a luxury B&B. But the room is clean, the shower is hot and the bed looks comfy enough.
The Inn has a wrap-around porch, and I park my trike on the porch right next to the separate private entrance to my room. Very nice. I unpack my things and head for the shower.
The Elusive Grape
After relaxing for a while at the Inn, I decide to wander into down town to check it out. I am pleasantly surprised by down town DeLand. Much Like Mount Dora – the historic down town seems to contain more restaurants and cafes than the small population should support.
As I walk around, I find a wine bar called The Elusive Grape. I decide a glass or two of nice wine might be a great way to improve on an already terrific day – so I hop in.
The place is a wine bar/retail store. Shelves line the walls with a wide variety of bottles for sale, the floor has sofas and small tables where folks can sit, at the far end is a small bar. They offer a pretty good variety of wines by the glass – I’m guessing 25 or 30 varieties. Some of the selections by the glass are impressive – such as The Mer Soliel Chardonnay – one of our perpetual favorites. It’s very unusual to see it offered by the glass.
It’s kind of early on a Friday evening, but the place is quite busy. Lots of people milling about laughing and chatting. There are several people who have brought their dogs into the bar. That seems fine, the hostesses even give them water bowls.
All the people in the bar seem to know each other, and the hostesses seem to know everybody also. They ask about each others kids, inquire about the recent trip out-of-state, and are making plans to celebrate together for one’s anniversary.
When somebody orders a glass of wine, more often that not, the hostess knows what the customer wants without them ever specifying.
I love this place! It’s like a little cocktail party going on in one of my friend’s living room. Without being invited, I feel like I’m already part of the group.
The Elusive Grape is a completely delightful surprise in DeLand. I would never expect to find anything like this place in central Florida. I know this is a place I will find my way back to at some point in the future.
Cress Restaurant
Rosa – the lovely hostess at The Elusive Grape – spent a while with me discussing all the options in town for dinner. I elected to go with the upscale option – Cress Restaurant.
Cress has won a number of critical awards and accolades. Zagat has called it the best restaurant in central Florida. Chef Hari Pulapaka has been semi-finalist for the James Beard Best Chef in The South award for several years running. Cress was chosen the Best Overall Restaurant in the 16th and 15th Annual Orlando Sentinel Dining Awards (Foodies).
Cress has two menu concepts – Taste Cress and Counter Cress. Counter Cress is a casual counter/bar menu with more limited choices than the Taste Cress menu. Taste Cress is a 3-course, 5-course, or Chefs’ Tasting dinner (with or without wine pairings). Cress claims Taste Cress requires reservations, while they will not accept reservations for Counter Cress.
Since I had no reservation, I chose to try Counter Cress. I am seated at the bar, with a nice view into the kitchen. The owners, Jennifer and Hari Pulapaka, both took time to stop by my seat and say hello.
Honestly, I think the place is a little pretentious. I like fancy, and I can put on airs with the best of them. The restaurant doesn’t feel warm or friendly. It was almost empty on a Friday night at prime dinner hour, yet they state you cannot get the full dinner service without a reservation. Seriously? Who benefits from that policy? To be fair, Jennifer did tell me they had a last-minute cancellation for a party of 10. But even with a big party inside, there would have been empty tables.
The food was unremarkable. It was not bad, just not particularly memorable. In fact, as I write this afterward, I actually cannot remember what I ordered as an appetizer. For a main I order a chicken curry – it was tasty, but nothing special. I’ve had curry from street vendors that I found much better.
I choose to forego dessert, thinking I can stop someplace for ice cream on the way back to the Inn.
All of this comes at a pretty steep price. My meal – with 2 glasses of wine – cost close to $100. I can’t say I recommend this place. Perhaps I caught it on an off day, but I found the food unremarkable and the atmosphere stuffy and pretentious. There are many other choices in historic down town DeLand that I’d try before going back here.
Of course, that’s just me. Lot’s of people seem to love this place. Heck, what do I know?
Tomorrow – To The Beach!
As I stroll away from Cress toward the DeLand Country Inn, I stop for an ice cream and the parlor on the main street. The best part of dinner, I think. Who doesn’t love ice cream?
I wander back toward the Inn, and my mind turns to tomorrow’s ride. It’s a big day tomorrow. Tomorrow I will arrive on the east coast of Florida. Tomorrow I will see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in many years! The route from DeLand to the beach looks to travel through some of the most unpopulated and empty parts of the ride so far. It should be a great ride – and I’m already looking forward to it.