November 14, 2004
Tallahassee, FL
Well, we’re back in Florida. We crossed over the border yesterday. After setting up camp, we toured the old Capitol building yesterday and was quite surprised. After visiting Oklahoma’s and Texas’ Capitols we were expecting marble and grandeur. Our state capitol (the old one) more closely resembled a plantation home with red and white striped awnings over each window and a grand staircase in the lobby. No marble, no ornate woodwork. But pretty in its simplicity. Even the stained glass in the dome was simple. The new Capitol built in 1977 is a 22-story skyscraper without a dome at all. What’s a capitol building without a dome? We weren’t able to tour the new capitol building since it was closed on the weekends. But from what we saw, if I was Jeb I’d much prefer to work in the old capitol.
Old Florida Capitol from 1902
Inside the Capitol
New Florida Capitol from 1977
After touring the capitol we walked around downtown Tallahassee for a bit. We had hoped to hit some more museums and the like, but it was after 5pm so everything was closing up. We’ll have to revisit the city another visit.
Today we took a nice long bike ride on the Tallahassee-St Marks Historic Rail Trail. Sixteen miles each way with a lunch stop in St Marks. I was happy to see that the Riverside Cafe actually offered vegetarian items in this tiny (2-cafe) fishing village near the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately it was quite chilly (high 50’s) and windy (15mph + and in our faces…both ways) making it feel even colder. So much for being in sunny Florida. But it was a nice ride on a paved bikeway with trees most of the way. At one point I was chased by a small pug shorter than my knee. Actually, I think it was more of a ‘race’ than a ‘chase’. He didn’t seem as much interested in biting me as he was in just beating me. I clocked the little guy at 20.8 mph – unbelievable for tiny little legs like his. It’s been a long time since we’ve ridden 32 miles. We’re sure we’re going to feel the pain tomorrow. Got to keep practicing though so we can keep up with Melissa when we get home to Boca!
Diandy's RV Travels from 2004 