Southern Section
This segment provides the opportunity to bike through the Deep South and travel through back-road farmlands and swamps. Riders pass Baptist churches and develop a sense for "old-time religion." The route leaving Richmond heads south through the farmlands of Virginia and encounters swamps while crossing into North Carolina.
On an Outer Banks alternate route, riders bike along the sandy beaches of the Atlantic Ocean. The winds can be strong and sand may blow onto the road. The winds encouraged the Wright Brothers to fly their first plane here. Riders may see tools utilized by the famous Wright brothers in their bicycle shop. The Outer Banks alternate route requires two ferry rides, one of which is 2-1/4 hours long.
Heading southward, the route passes through the busy city of Wilmington, North Carolina, and takes another ferry ride into Southport, North Carolina. Next come farmlands, swamps and the Francis Marion National Forest. There is an optional 34-mile (55 km) spur into historic Charleston, South Carolina. There are more farms and swamps in Georgia. Another optional spur takes riders into Savannah, Georgia, with one of the largest national historic landmark districts in the United State. Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is four miles off route. It is one of the largest and most primitive swamps remaining in the United States. Riders can see numerous alligators of all sizes, stroll on boardwalks over the marshes, or take a boat ride through the swamp.
Heading south, the route skirts around the northeast corner of Jacksonville, Florida, into highly developed areas of Florida popular with tourists and retirees. It then turns into beach riding along the Atlantic Ocean to the distinctive Spanish architecture of St. Augustine, the oldest European settlement in the United States. From St. Augustine, the route alternates between urban and suburban conditions most of the way down the coast through Miami. Cyclists who don't wish to reverse their route back across the Keys may take a ferry from Key West to Fort Myers Beach, and return to Fort Lauderdale via the Florida Connector Bicycle Route.
Read more about this topic: Atlantic Coast Bicycle Route
Famous quotes containing the words southern and/or section:
“As it grew darker, I was startled by the honking of geese flying low over the woods, like weary travellers getting in late from Southern lakes, and indulging at last in unrestrained complaint and mutual consolation. Standing at my door, I could hear the rush of their wings; when, driving toward my house, they suddenly spied my light, and with hushed clamor wheeled and settled in the pond. So I came in, and shut the door, and passed my first spring night in the woods.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“That’s my problem, chaplain: I’m yellow. PFC Bernstein—plumb, fat coward. Hey, can you get a Section 8 for being yellow?”
—James Poe, U.S. screenwriter, and Based On Play. Robert Aldrich. Bernstein (Robert Strauss)