Boat Covers Daytona Beach
The motorcycle road trips in northern Florida
With bike week just around the corner, bikers from all over the country are pulling their motorcycles out of winter storage and cleaning their leathers in anticipation of a motorcycle rally like no other. While Daytona is definitely the place to be the week of March 5, Florida offers some great stretches of road through pristine landscapes to some great biker destinations.
About an hour and a half north of Daytona on A1A lies the community the busy beach of Jacksonville Beach, which will be our focus point, because, well, that's where I am! On any given day you'll find bikers and their bikes parked in the parking lot and leave Jax Beach Pier. Across the street is the famed biker bar Mango's, a great place for bikers to meet, have some good food home and shoot some pool. Summer weekends will generally find some heavy metal band performing outside on the covered deck.
Our journey begins in the first Day Jax Beach and head north on A1A to Fernandina Beach, a picturesque little island town with its own unique attitude. If you follow A1A north, after giving left at Naval Station Mayport, you will be cruising through the mangroves at the mouth of the St. Johns River and come to a dead end at the ferry in Mayport Village. Fishing craft village, this is where most of North Florida gets the seafood. Shrimp boats, party and deep sea charters line the docks, and you can still take a cruise from here to play. If you're hungry, there's an old wooden shack sitting on the water that serves some of the best seafood available. Singletons not much to look at, but he was there forever and people drive for miles to sit in the water enjoying the freshest seafood in Florida, while attending to steal pelicans, because of them.
Taking the ferry across the river, you will pick up again A1A heading north. To your right you will soon see a huge shoal sterile, which was formed by the north jetty at the mouth of St. Johns. On the eastern edge are the jetties, the Atlantic Ocean and a sandy beach that is packed with girls of all shapes and sizes. The western side has a lagoon and the Fort George River entrance. A very wide beach at low tide, the vehicles were swept away and swallowed by the Atlantic because of people parking a little too close to the water, and take a walk on the dunes. A great place for jet skiing, swimming, fishing and surfing, Huguenot Park also has a campground with primitive and RV campsites and showers.
For the next several miles, you will be traveling through some of the purest wetlands and pristine in Florida. Island hopping through little and big Talbot Islands and the Timacuan Preserve, this coastal area is one of the few in Florida untouched by development, and will theoretically remain that way. Flora and fauna, and nature lovers flock to the area in kayaks and rafts to navigate the interior in search of trout and redfish.
The position around the Nassau Sound Bridge to Florida's barrier island to the north, the developments once again start to appear. World famous Amelia Island Plantation resort has vast areas of condominiums, single-family houses, an Inn rivaled by none, and a huge convention center that attracts entrepreneurs from around the world. The community itself, the Plantation strives, and has done a good job of preserving the natural habitat.
Not to be outdone, the Ritz Carlton is only a few miles north and is also a magnet for well done, with a golf course and all the pampering the Ritz is known for!
Almost there, we we take A1A into downtown Fernandina Beach. An old fishing village like Mayport, Fernandina is much larger and has many unique and historic buildings. The sea is dotted with shrimp boats and letters from depth, and Brent is the restaurant on the pier. Fernandina Beach also an annual festival of shrimp in the first week of May.
End with our motorcycle excursion from Jacksonville Beach (about an hour non-stop), our last stop is a very popular bar for cyclists and local residents. The Hall of the Palace existed since 1878, and although it burned in 1999, was restored to its original 18th century decoration in wood. More a bar than a restaurant, this is where you get to know the locals, many of which are in the hospitality industry and definitely know how to party hardy! With live bands, dancing, flirting and drinking, The Palace Lounge is the place to party in Fernandina Beach!
In my next article trip, we go south on A1A to our nations oldest city. Founded by Ponce de Leon in 1513 and home to the fountain of youth, this place is just a little drinking town with a fishing problem!
About the Author
Michael Talbert lives, works, and plays in
Jacksonville
Beach
and is the owner/operator of
Biker
Leather Ltd.
Daytona Beach Circa (1995 Part 1 of 5)
