Around the Big O (Lake Okeechobee)

[Lets_Play_Two]

My son has been after to me to do an extended ride with him. Since he began riding in the early summer, his rides have been generally short and close to home. We decided to make a trip around Lake Okeechobee, about 175 miles, with an early stop for Sunday Brunch. We left home about 9 am and headed north toward Indiantown, FL and the Seminole Inn. For $13.95 even a 17 year old boy can get filled up...everything from the typical breakfast fare to fried chicken, corn on the cob, biscuits and gravy, turkey, pork, ham and prime rib. It is a favorite stop for locals including motorcycle riders. After eating too much we continued our trip around the Lake. Because of the dike around the Lake you seldom get much of a view of anything other than the rim canal. The ride goes through south Florida "country" including cattle ranches and sugar cane fields as well as the many fish camps along the Lake. My son rides a Suzuki SV650 so I planned stops about every 60 miles (he was complaining about the seat). This picture was taken along one of the canals that serve as entrances to the Lake.

 

 

We continued around the Lake with another stop outside of Roland Martin's motel and fishing emporium (sorry, no pictures).

 

It was a great day with temps about 75' and perfect for a ride with my son.

[BeamieToo]

Nice treat for both of you and a good opportunity to create a day for future remenberance (I think that's a valid word). I have family and friends both in Sarasota and Palm Bch and have traveled through those places on several occasions. Much better than the Alley. Nice and laid back ! Maybe a "Mesh" jacket for an upcoming birthday present?

[Lets_Play_Two]

He has a jacket...it was on the motorcycle!!

[David]

That's really great, Bill! How's he coming along as a rider?

[BFish]

cool bill....any water in the lake?

[Lets_Play_Two]

That's really great, Bill! How's he coming along as a rider?

 

He is very safety conscious. He has taken two MSF courses and is generally a really good rider.

[David]

That's great. I found that it makes riding with your son a lot more relaxing because of that trust factor.

[Lets_Play_Two]

cool bill....any water in the lake?

 

Considerably more than last year. We could not even see water at this canal last year, now you can see in the picture that it is well up into the grassy areas.

[flars]

I rode down to Ft Lauderdale last year and went around the East side of the lake going down, and on the West side coming back. There is some kind of bird on the West side that exists in great abundance, and has an interesting habit of flying right in front of all the vehicles. And I mean RIGHT in front of you. And I mean A BUNCH of birds. In a 20 mile stretch, hundreds of birds dart in front of all the cars - sometimes a dozen of them at the same time. Almost unnerving, but they apparently are good at what they do, because I didn't see any little carcasses lying around on the roads (maybe because the slow ones were stuck in grills?).