The Long Way Home

V-RodDBA on the Road

The Long Way Home

Sep 20 – 22, 2026  ·  Atlantic Route, ~1,290 mi

KEY WEST → MIAMI → JACKSONVILLE → MACON → LAFAYETTE no escort, bike on trailer, home Tuesday

BEGIN TRANSACTION
Three days home. Bike gets one last ride — Key West to Miami on Sunday — and then it goes on the trailer for good. The Gulf Coast dealer run got scrapped for a straight shot up I-95 through Jacksonville instead, which turned Monday into more of a fuel-and-food day than a dealer day: a Costco in Palm Beach Gardens, Buc-ee's in Daytona and again in St. Augustine, a late lunch at Angie's Sub Shop in Jacksonville, then west on I-10 to I-75 and a fill-up at the Warner Robins Buc-ee's before Macon. No challenge coin on this leg — that's for when the bike's actually on the road, not the trailer. Tuesday is straight home, no detour through Nashville this time.

Sunday · Sep 20

Back to Miami

~160 mi · 🏍️ Last ride · No H-D stops

🏍 Last morning in Key West. One more time down Duval — swing by Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Records studio while you're at it — fill the tank, head north on US-1. The Overseas Highway on a Sunday is about as good as it gets.

📍 Pigeon Key — MM 47. Pull off at Knight's Key and walk the old Seven Mile Bridge — cars aren't allowed on the original span, so it's foot traffic and turquoise water on both sides. Historic Flagler railway workers' island at the far end. 20 minutes.

📍 Whaling Wall #95 Mural — MM 52, Marathon. Giant marine mural on the side of the Marathon shopping center. Pull over, snap a photo, back on the bike. Five minutes.

📍 Islamorada — MM 81.5–82 (two-fer). Bass Pro Shops World Wide Sportsman has a sister ship of Hemingway's fishing boat the Pilar on display inside. Walk next door to Rain Barrel Artisan Village for Big Betsy the Lobster — a 30-foot giant lobster sculpture that is exactly what it sounds like. Park once, hit both.

📍 3D Great White Shark Mural — Key Largo. Roadside pull-off, quick photo. The Keys do not lack for wall art.

🍽 Lunch at Gilbert's — Key Largo, the last stop before the mainland. Waterfront, laid-back, tiki-bar energy. Closing the Keys out the way it should be closed out.

🏍 Hampton Inn Kendall by late afternoon — same hotel as Night 4 on the way down. Bike goes on the MC-10 trailer. That's it for two wheels until home.

⛽ Top off the Santa Cruz Sunday evening — standard station near Kendall. Tomorrow's I-95 run has real options: a Costco in Palm Beach Gardens, then Buc-ee's in Daytona and St. Augustine before the cut west at Jacksonville.

Monday · Sep 21

Miami to Macon via I-95

~650 mi · Buc-ee's only, no H-D stops · Santa Cruz + trailer

🚗 9:00 AM, I-95 N out of Miami.

⛽ Costco, Palm Beach Gardens — first fuel stop of the day, ~90 miles up I-95. No dealer, no shot glass, just cheap gas.

⛽ Buc-ee's, Daytona Beach — same one the bike hit on its Ormond Loop day, this time from the Santa Cruz.

⛽ Buc-ee's, St. Augustine — second Florida Buc-ee's of the day.

🍽 Late lunch at Angie's Sub Shop, Jax Beach — ordered the "My Wife Kicked Me Out." Then west onto I-10.

🚗 I-10 W out of Jacksonville, then north on I-75 toward Macon.

⛽ Buc-ee's, Warner Robins GA — I-75 Exit 144, same one from the outbound trip. Fill up here, not in Macon — the tank stays full overnight so Tuesday starts full.

🏠 Hampton Inn & Suites Macon I-475 — same hotel as outbound Night 2. ~650 miles on the day. Check-in 4:00 PM.

Tuesday · Sep 22

Macon to Lafayette

~640 mi · Straight through · Home

🚗 9:30 AM out of Macon. The math on Atlanta is simple: leave by 9:30, through the city by 11:15 AM, clear of both rush windows. Morning rush ends around 9; afternoon doesn't start until 3:30. This is the gap.

⛽ Buc-ee's, Adairsville GA — I-75 Exit 306, ~85 miles from Macon. Same one from Day 2 of the outbound. Fuel up before Atlanta.

🚗 Atlanta ~11:15 AM, Chattanooga by noon. I-24 W from Chattanooga toward Nashville — clocks fall back an hour at Monteagle (~90 miles in) crossing into the Central time zone.

🚗 Nashville is a pass-through this time — no #SQLFamily lunch stop, straight onto I-65 N.

⛽ Buc-ee's, Smiths Grove KY — I-65 Exit 38, ~75 miles from Nashville. Same one from Day 1 of the trip out. Rolled in on fumes — the Murfreesboro Buc-ee's would've solved that, but it's still under construction. Should be open for the 2027 trip. Clocks forward CT→ET crossing into Indiana shortly after.

🏠 Lafayette by ~5:30 PM ET. ~1,290 miles, three days, zero dealers on the way back.

COMMIT TRAN

V-RodDBA · September 2026 · Lafayette, IN  |  Part 4 of 4 — the end of the road