Day 49, Post 44, Bonifay, FL to Quincy, FL: The Panhandle is a pretty place. I imagine it looks similar to what one would see further north in Alabama or Georgia. It's very green, full of forests and fields, farms and woods. I expected to see more horse ranches like around Ocala, but that's not the case. The culture seems very Deep South. I ate lunch at a place where the waitress could have been an over the top character prototype for Dukes of Hazard. I gotta say I certainly enjoy being called sweetie and honey wherever I go. Only young men address me as "sir".

An interesting fact about the town I stopped in for the night. Quincy (its amazing what one can learn on the internet) was once rumored to be home to many millionaires due to the Coca-Cola boom. Mr. Pat Munroe, a banker, father of 18 children from two wives, and W.C. Bradley were among the stockholders of three of the banks that released 500,000 shares of new Coca-Cola common stock. They urged widows and farmers to invest for $40 each. Some did. Eventually that stock split, and made as many as 67 accounted for Quincy residents rich. (In perspective, a single share of Coca-Cola stock bought in 1919 for $40 would be worth $6.4 million today, if all dividends had been reinvested). Today, the median family income is $31,000. Lots of commercial spaces in downtown are for rent. I'm curious about what happened, but I probably won't stay long enough to get a handle on it...

Had a good ride today under partially cloudy skies and increasingly hot and humid weather. For the most part it was flat and easygoing. And I had two interesting pieces of information come at me about yesterday's post. I know a female cyclist who rides solo sometimes, who reminded me on Facebook that she did the Southern Tier with no problems at all. In addition, my entertaining lunch waitress told me that two women who were cycling the Southern Tier from San Diego had stopped in the restaurant a few days back.

Check out my road cycling activity on Garmin Connect.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1673670894

Pic 1, Couldn't resist taking a shot of this car in Chipley, FL.

Pic 2, German cyclist going west. We stopped to talk but his English and my German made for a disjointed conversation. I could tell he was having fun, though.