Day 6 – Friday 6/3/22

Marianna, Florida to DeFuniak Springs, Florida – 63.2 Miles

I got a fast start this morning. Turned left onto Highway 90 and stayed on it all day. It’s a perfect road for riding, passing regularly through small towns for access to supplies and services, and providing a direct line to where I want to be from where I am.

Marianna has about 7,000 residents, but since it’s an older town, founded in 1828 by a man who named it after his daughters, there are several attractive buildings and architectural relics to see.

After ten miles, I stopped at the Shell station in Cottondale. As I paid for my drinks and snacks, one of the two ladies behind the counter asked, “Where’d you come from and where’re you goin'”. I gave her the standard response, expecting to explain the details of the ride next. She threw me a curve with the next question. “Have you got lights on that bicycle?” It was almost 9:00 AM, the sun was shining and it seemed like an odd question to pose. I said “No. I don’t ride at night, but do have a headlight, if needed.” That’s when the name “Barney Fife” was dropped into the conversation, and it started to make sense.

Apparently, a local cyclist was using a flashing blue light on his bicycle in order to be visible to other vehicles. The local policeman, now forever known as “Barney Fife”, wrote him a ticket because use of a blue light is the prerogative of law enforcement. As the story was being told to me, the ladies traded quips about “Barney” like it was a Rap Battle, with one overreach of authority example after another. In the end, the cyclist stood on a street corner in Cottondale with a protest sign for days, until the charge was dropped. Just to be safe, I skedaddled out of town while I could.

You never know what you’ll see next. For a few seconds it looked like I was back home again in Indiana.

As I was growing up, we sometimes visited relatives living in Chipley, so it was a given that I’d spend some time exploring it while passing through. The town has grown over the last 40 or so years, and there are places that are worth another look on my next visit.

If your town is low on population or resources, it has to attract attention by promoting differences or attractions that can’t be found elsewhere. I thought that Sopchoppy, Florida had exclusive rights to this sporting event, but Caryville must be trying to steal their thunder. Driving a stake into the ground and vibrating it to annoy worms so much that they come to the surface is never going to be an Olympic sport. However, if the event will attract competitors and tourists to a town of 250 people, that’s all that matters.

West of Caryville, I crossed the Choctawhatchee River. Lots of them flow to the Gulf of Mexico.

As I approached DeFuniak Springs, it looked like it was about to rain. I did a quick tour of downtown, then headed to the hotel. The weekend traffic to the beaches was forming rapidly, so I avoided them by riding on sidewalks and over grass. I checked in and missed the first raindrops by 15 minutes. Zaxby’s Fried Chicken was on the menu tonight, but I left feeling it was overrated. Will hit DeFuniak Springs in the morning and head towards Pensacola tomorrow.