Floyd

Our morning started with an early breakfast at a café in Stuart. It was the kind of café that our friend HP loves and always finds when he cycles with us. We walked into its tiny dinning room and were greeted by several local men who spent several minutes checking us out. It wasn’t long before they warmed up and started asking questions about our trip.

From Stuart, Floyd is only 26 miles away. Since it was a short day we decided to cycle to Fairy Stone State Park. According to local literature, fair stone crosses are only found here. Joe being a “rock hound” could not miss this stop. Jeff’s wife has had a fairy stone cross “forever” and Jeff has always been skeptical that these crosses are found in nature. After we got to the park, we saw a sign that directed us to a digging site 3 miles further off our route. Back on our bikes we cycled on to our new destination. We searched the site for about half an hour but did not receive instant gratification. We went into the nearby rock shop and saw a craftsman transforming the crystals into the crosses. While we could see the crosses in the rough stone, it looked nothing like the stone crosses being sold in local shops.

To get back on route our GPSs directed us to short cut route that soon turned into a poor man’s gravel driveway. We ended up back tracking to the main highway which made our 26 mile short day into a 50 mile day. To get to Floyd we had to cross the Blue Ride Parkway which meant a 6 mile climb that at times was12 percent. Once we conquered this climb we looked forward to a great down hill. However, there was none! We dropped some but had 6 miles of rolling hills to get to Floyd.

We are staying at the Hotel Floyd. It is fantastic hotel that did not cost us much more than some of the less desirable hotels we stayed in. The rooms are spacious and have natural oak doors and trim. Each room was individually decorated by a different community group—i.e. a winery, music store, and the Crooked Road. All furnishings and art are local. Our room is the “holistic room”. Inside the room we found lotus blossom paintings, yoga pads, books, and other amenities that convey peacefulness. Check out their web page for more details (www.hotelfloyd.com).

The hotel is shaped like an “L” with an open air amphitheater inside the L. At 5 p.m. we were able to purchase our dinner from a barbeque vendor set up in the parking lot and sit outside our room eating and listening to a local blue grass group. They played until 8 p.m. which was about the time our beer ran out. What a great climax to our day! Tomorrow, we cycle the last leg of our Crook Road Tour and will end up in Roanoke.

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