Day 51 - Dessert For Breakfast (July 22nd, 2024)
City To City: Sebree - McDaniels
Miles: 77
Miles Total: 3,399
Flats: 10
The youth pastor, Will, told us that the dairy bar was the place for ice cream right after the youth group ended. He told us that they had really good milkshakes. But since we were full after a good dinner and had already had some ice cream that night, we didn't go and instead decided to go the next morning.
So, we got up and ate breakfast. As we were packing up, Henry, thinking about those milkshakes, nudged my dad and me to go faster.
When we ordered milkshakes, Henry got a large one! But since we needed to get going, we did have to slurp them down fast. Of course, I had to slurp it down faster than my dad and Henry did, even though I got a medium one.
No dogs came for us during the entire day, and along the morning stretch, we kept an eye out for a grocery store to get lunch and dinner. Around lunchtime, we came to a little grocery store the size of a small house, and we stopped for groceries. A woman said this was the last good place on the trail to get good quality hamburgers. As we were dismounting from our bikes, a middle-aged man and a young man about seven feet tall came to talk with us. They asked what we were doing, and once we told them about the trail, the younger man's face lit up with understanding because he had seen all these bicyclists go by but didn't know why. The older man said, "Well, I only ride my e-bike, and that's why I have this." He patted his rounded tummy. We laughed, and they went into the store, the younger man barely making it through the door. We followed them shortly afterward.
We got our groceries, but since all the employees were busy making food, we just left it at the counter and ordered our burgers.
Soon after we had sat down, more farmhands came in for lunch. All different kinds of farmhands entered. There were the experienced farmhands who had long ago had their faces kissed by the sun. Then there were the younger men, some married and some not, but all following in the farming industry. Finally, there were the teenage farmhands who worked with their fathers and brothers and enthusiastically wolfed down their lunch.
The entire restaurant / grocery / hardware store had odds and ends. There was the food and the cooked meals, with a kitchen in the back. Then there were the homemade baked goods with shark bite plumping pieces next to them. Where the dining area was, the wall next to the tables had shelves filled with hardware things. Just odds and ends. But it was a community where everyone knew everyone.
After we paid for groceries and got on our bikes again, we passed by the tall man's house, and they waved as we passed.
As the afternoon passed, we saw the rain clouds approaching us. We stopped under a shelter near the church as it started to rain. It was late in the day, and so we decided to camp right then and there. So, we ate dinner, and when the rain stopped, we biked down to the Shell station to change and use the restroom. They didn't have public restrooms, so Henry searched Google Maps for another place and found a dollar tree. Well, the dollar tree was right next door! So, we went there, changed, and returned to the shelter. Then my dad returned with a half gallon of ice cream! So, we had ice cream with some cupcakes and homemade cookies for dessert. Someone had left the cupcakes and cookies, which still looked fresh, so we ate them. We had waited a long time for someone to swing by and pick them up, but no one came. Then, we set up our tent under the shelter and stayed perfectly dry.
I've been to that area before, and that restaurant/grocery/hardware place sounds just like Berea😁It's a fun place!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a super charming town 😊
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