October 28, 2021

#TravelThursday continues, and in this edition we visit Florida’s Tamiami Trail.

If you read #SundayScripture and #Top10Monday last weekend then you’ll know that I’ve returned from another Florida road-trip. I drove 563 miles in just under 50 hours.

Last Thursday I drove to Tampa where I saw MercyMe, Micah Tyler, and Sam Wesley LIVE in concert at the Amalie Arena downtown within the Channelside district. It looks like they are making that area from Port Tampa Bay westward past the Aquarium and the shopping, dining, and entertainment area to the Arena more pedestrian-friendly with less vehicular traffic, the use of streetcars, safer and more visible crosswalks, and wider sidewalks. The area is heavily under construction, and it will be so for another year or two. It should look really nice once it’s all done. I like that area a lot. It’s actually fun to attend an event at the Amalie Arena and walk around and sightsee along the way. You can spend all day #Channelside.

The next morning (Friday) I got on Florida’s historic Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41 between Tampa and Miami). (Tamiami is pronounced “TAM-ee-AM-ee”.) It’s the preferred alternative highway for me along Florida’s Gulf Coast – mostly because I-75 is frightening.

I made a pitstop at a friend’s house in North Port at the southern edge of the Greater Tampa Bay area. He retired and moved there a little over a year ago. When he told me that he and his wife were settling in North Port I had never heard of it. Of course now (due to recent real world events) much of the world now knows about North Port. It’s a rapidly-growing city about 85 miles south of downtown Tampa. Its population has more than tripled since 2000, so people are flocking to this expanding corner of Southwest Florida.

I continued on further south along the Tamiami Trail into the Fort Myers area. My pitstop for Friday night was Estero – a newly-created incorporated village about halfway between Fort Myers and Naples. It is home to the worldwide headquarters of the Hertz Corporation, and it is also home to the Hertz Arena – home of many shows, concerts, and sporting events year-round. (That’s where I saw Casting Crowns and Matthew West LIVE in concert.) I’ve attended 11 events at that arena over the past 11½ years. It is my favorite arena.

The next morning (Saturday) I continued along the Tamiami Trail through Naples, and then eastward through the Everglades to the other side of the state. It intersects with Florida State Road 997 near the eastern edge of the Everglades. (We know it locally as Krome Avenue.) Krome takes me due south – back home into Homestead.

Join me next #TravelThursday as we visit another location on the face of this earth.

They keep you safe on your way, and your feet will not stumble. You can go to bed without fear. You will lie down and sleep soundly. You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the LORD is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap. (Proverbs 3:23-26 NLT)