Thunder Beach AL May 4 2007

Thunderbeach will be the first Motorcycle Rally that I have been to. Generally I like to avoid crowds and prefer to ride alone or with a small compatible group, but as good a reason as any to ride and I wanted to see what a motorcycle rally was all about anyway.

We were to meet Brendan and Jeff in Dothan Alabama at midday. As Alabama is an hour behind Georgia we picked up an hour, we figured if we left at eight in the morning we would have plenty of time to cover the 225 miles to Dothan.

I met Kelsey at the Waffle House and after a good breakfast we set sail at eight thirty and headed west on I-20, to find the early morning traffic lighter than we expected, cut round Atlanta on 285, typical fast moving Atlanta traffic, and south on I-85.

Interstate riding is pretty boring and Kelsey and I had agreed to ride easy and try and hold the speed down to 70 mph and just enjoy the weather which was beautiful.

Turned off on I-185 and stopped for gas. We met the first group of riders also headed for Panama City. Kelsey had his guitar strapped to the top of his luggage and this caused some comment! After an exchange of pleasantries we left them at the gas station and headed south.

We expected some slow going once we turned on to 431, but 431 turned out to be a four lane almost all the way to Dothan. This was a pretty ride especially around Eufala, which was a beautiful southern town with a tree canopy that covered the street.

Brendan and Jeff were on time and we headed down 231 to ride the last 80 miles to Panama City. As soon as we crossed the state line into Florida, Kelsey pulled into the rest area and took his helmet off. Florida is not a helmet state and he had been looking forward to not wearing a helmet the whole trip down. He started off down the highway wearing a doorag, but that also soon came off.

We arrived in St Andrews campground, soon had the tents pitched and headed back to the strip. We had not seen many bikes on the way down, but the strip was packed with bikes.

Cruising down the strip we saw a parking lot packed with bikes and people drinking beer, so stopped in. One hell of a party getting going and we thought this was it.

After an hour or so we headed back down the strip to discover that there were many parking lots like that, each packed with motorcycles, vendors and beer. By dark the strip was so full of motorcycles and the sidewalks so packed with people that it was difficult to move.

One of Kelsey’s buddies knew Karen of Full Throttle magazine and some inquiries indicated that she was at the Sandpiper’s Tiki Bar holding some function. Took hours to get there through the crowd, We arrived to find the parking so crammed with bikes it was almost impossible to find a sliver of space to squeeze a bike into. The Tiki Bar was also jammed, as was the beach area it bled out onto. Karen was just getting a wet T shirt contest going (Can you call a contest in which the girls do not wear tops and only panties a “Wet T Shirt Contest”?) so never did get to meet her.

We got back to the campground at two in the morning to find the road into the campground completely blocked by a herd of deer. Amazing. Just sand, scrubby grass and seascape bushes right on the edge of the strip, and deer.

The next morning after breakfast found us in the Winn Dixie parking lot with a bike that would not run. Brendan’s Vulcan’s battery was dead. Kelsey and I went for a battery. While Brendan was putting the battery in, I went up to Lynn, one of Winn Dixie’s cashiers out on a smoke break, and asked her where would be a great ride. She suggested riding out to Apalachicola and recommended the restaurant in town as having the “best fried oyster sandwich ever!”

Sounded like a great ride and we headed out on 98. What an incredible ride. There road goes through Mexico Beach, Port St Joes and the Tyndall Air force Base. A lot of people knew this road as we passed large groups of bikes coming back. In places the road follows the beach and riding along the seashore lined with palms with the wind blowing through your hair and the sun on your arms is as close to heaven as you can get on this earth. Incredible.

Apalachicola is a picturesque little fishing village and the restaurant Lynn had recommended had great seafood With fresh shucked oysters at $4.99 a dozen, Kelsey had two dozen and I could not resist a dozen after my open fish sandwich. Great food at great prices. If you are ever in Apalachicola, make sure its around lunchtime and be sure to stop in. Its the only eating place in the center of town, so you cannot miss it. Be sure to tell Wendy we sent y’all.

The ride back included a walk on the beach and we arrived back in camp and soon had a campfire going. Kesley produced a bottle of Ole Grandad bourbon and the John Deere salesman next door produced a cooler of beer. Kesley unleashed the guitar and we sang and told lies until we were hungry enough to go and look for a Waffle House in the early morning hours.

Had to pack up camp the next morning and head home. There may have not been many motorcycles on the road on the way down, but the ride out of Panama City was packed with motorcycles, trucks with bikes on the back, truck with trailers with bikes and cars full of people who just came to party. We left Brendan and Jeff in Dothan as they headed back to Birmingham and Kelsey and I retraced our steps back to Conyers.

What a great weekend. Panama City is only a 300 mile easy 6 hour ride from Conyers and the weather was perfect. Riding without a helmet was something I had not done in years and had forgotten how great it felt.

A great place to go, with plenty of places to ride when you get there.