Good Morning Kossacks and Welcome to Morning Open Thread
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Today's Morning Open Thread diary began as a comment on another diary two days ago. I thought it might be an interesting topic for the Morning Open Thread. So follow me past the early morning pastry below for the story about the St. Marks Rail Trail in Florida.
Back in the mid 1980's, I became heavily involved in running and was a decent competitive runner on the local level. A number of my running friends were also involved in triathlons and they encouraged me to try one. Triathlons involve swimming, cycling, and running, usually in that order.
Because I was very worried about the swimming part, I signed up for a swim conditioning class at FSU that was aimed at adult swimmers in the community. Then I invested in a bike for the cycling part of the triathlon. Swimming came naturally, but cycling did not. So I gave up on the idea of triathlons as a competition, but continued to ride for fun since I had already invested in a bike. One of my favorite places to ride was on the St. Marks Rail Trail.
In the 1980's, the state of Florida acquired the majority of an abandoned 16 mile long rail line running south of Tallahassee to the sleepy little port town of St. Marks located where the St. Marks River meets the Gulf of Mexico. The St. Marks Rail Trail was developed as a state demonstration project for converting abandoned rail lines into linear parks. Completed in 1989, it was the first rail trail in the state of Florida. The embedded link above contains some great pictures and a wonderful commentary about the St. Marks Rail Trail.
The trail has a paved area that is about eight feet wide. There are cleared areas off each side for horseback riders too. No motorized vehicles are permitted. The majority of the usage for the full length of the trail is by cyclists and runners. However in the residential areas along the rail trail, the trail gets a lot of use by walkers.
From the first year it opened, every year on Christmas Eve morning, members of our local track club held a run down to Posey's restaurant in St. Marks where they would eat oysters and drink beer afterwards. The above link captures the essence of what the Run to Posey's was about. I was there for the first one. We met early that morning and put out water every three miles along the trail for those who chose to run it. It was a spontaneous happening that first year.
Posey's was an old fashioned oyster bar located on the St. Marks River. The rail trail literally ended at Posey's parking lot. Sadly in 2005, Posey's was badly damaged from a six foot deep storm surge from hurricane Dennis that inundated the town of St. Marks. While most of St. Marks was able to recover, the rustic building in which Posey's was located was too badly damaged to re-open.
I was fortunate enough to participate in the original opening day ride on the St. Marks Rail Trail in 1989. Back then, there were no facilities, trail still had two gaps where land had not yet been acquired, and the trail head parking area was unpaved. But we all could see just how special this trail would become in the future. Since then many amenities have been added, such as paved parking, water fountains, restrooms and even a park along the way. In recent years, a major off road mountain bike trail has been developed in the national forest off the St. Marks rail trail.
I hope you enjoyed this little slice of history about the first rails to trail conversion in Florida. From the first day, the St. Marks Rail Trail was a great success. Since then, many more have been developed throughout the state. Rails to trails and linear parks, in general, are a very cost efficient and successful way to provide recreational opportunities.
What is on your mind this morning?