Category: 1990s

The Yellowhammer State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. The great state of Alabama is known as “The Heart Of Dixie”, “The Cotton State”, “The Camellia State”, and of course “The Yellowhammer State” – named after the state bird – the yellowhammer woodpecker. Those “northern flickers” are flying and making lots of noise all across North America and southward into Central America. Alabama must be the staging point during the wintertime months for those snowbirds.

I was actually born in “Sweet Home Alabama” – Selma to be exact – 59 years ago. I lived my first 2 years there before my parents moved us up to Maryland in 1969. (My dad was stationed at Craig AFB at the time.)

I’ve visited (and driven through) Alabama many times since 1990. Maxwell AFB-Gunter Annex (former Gunter AFB) in Montgomery was a memorable visit during the early part of my USAF career. I mentioned one of the trips last week to pick-up my little brother at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville after a fun week of Space Camp. (He attended during the Summers of 1990 and 1992.)

A whole bunch of my first church friends from Homestead moved to the Mobile / Semmes area during the late-2010s, and I’ve visited them a few times on my way to North Texas. I also got to sightsee a bit in and near downtown Mobile. There’s a lot to see and do in and around “The Port City”, and I’ll have to visit again to complete more items off of my Mobile checklist.

During the Summer of 2020 my family drove southeastward, and I drove northwestward. We met for a fun 5-day vacation in Orange Beach. I remember back when I was a kid I would send away for free travel brochures of Alabama via the mail – basically to help me research and learn more about the state where I was born. I would dream of some day in the future visiting the Gulf beaches of Alabama. 40 years later it became reality.

Most recently – my 18-day, 7-state, and 2,807-mile April 2024 “Retirement Road-Trip” took me west across South Alabama (through Mobile), and then back east across Central Alabama (through Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, and Eufaula). You can look back at that eastward trek (Days 15 and 16) across Alabama here.

I’ll soon be returning to Alabama via the Tennessee River on an American Cruise Lines ship. I’ll be visiting Decatur, Huntsville, and Florence. I’ll write more about those 3 cities in a few weeks. Incidentally – my upcoming cruise also visits Mississippi – sort of. About 9.3 miles of the river forms the border between Alabama and Mississippi, and then those 2 state lines meet the Tennessee state line at the river. With an average cruising speed of about 9 MPH – Mississippi will be on the port side of the ship for about an hour. (I won’t see it, as that will occur in the middle of the night.)

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll take you back to “The Bluegrass State” – Kentucky. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Alabama, Cruise, Decatur, Dixie, Eufaula, Florence, Huntsville, Mississippi, Mobile, Montgomery, Orange Beach, Selma, Semmes, Tennessee, Tennessee River, Tuscaloosa, Yellowhammer

1990s Blogging Driving Geography Nature Travel Weather

The Volunteer State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. My first trip into Tennessee occurred with my little brother exactly 34 years ago in early-August 1992. I picked him up at the conclusion of Advanced Space Academy at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville Alabama. The next morning (Saturday) we ventured on a fun road-trip northward along I-65 into Tennessee – starting with Nashville. Neither one of us were country music fans, but it was still fun to walk around Music City U.S.A. – even if it was only for a few hours.

From there we drove eastward along I-40 to Knoxville where we spent the night. The next morning (Sunday) we checked out the main tourist district of downtown Gatlinburg – not knowing much of anything about it. We saw the aftermath of the terrible downtown electrical fire that consumed much of an entire city block on the night of July 14TH 1992. The area still smelled like smoke some 3 weeks later.

The high-point of the road-trip (literally) was driving from Gatlinburg into Great Smoky Mountains National Park along U.S. 441 (Newfound Gap Road). We stopped at Newfound Gap Overlook which straddles the Tennessee / North Carolina state line at an elevation of 5,046 feet. From there we drove the 7-mile road up to Clingmans Dome (which also runs on both sides of the state lines, but mostly the North Carolina side). Once there we parked in the parking lot, and then we walked the steep (12%-grade) half-mile paved trail up to the top of the observation tower. (That was a tough walk going up – much easier coming down.)

The 45-foot concrete tower – built in 1959 – stands at the summit of Clingmans Dome – the highest point in Tennessee (but not North Carolina) at 6,643 feet. The tower actually stands just across the border in North Carolina. The summit itself is the third-tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River, and it’s the highest point along the Appalachian Trail.

The views can be spectacular from the tower (and even from the parking lot 330 feet lower than the tower) on sunny and clear days. I remember it to be very cool up there on that early August morning – in the low-to-mid-50s – about 25 to 30 degrees cooler than it was in Gatlinburg Tennessee and Cherokee North Carolina at both park ends of U.S. 441. Of course on many days you may not see much of anything – because you’re in the clouds. You’re on top of old Smoky.

Here’s a webcam from high atop Clingmans Dome – now named Kuwohi. (It was officially renamed to its ancestral Cherokee name on September 18TH 2024. Kuwohi means “mulberry place”.)

I hope to make it back to Gatlinburg – and Great Smoky Mountains National Park – and Newfound Gap Overlook – and Kuwohi – sometime on a future summertime road-trip – maybe in conjunction with a river cruise.

Subsequent trips to Tennessee were less impressive, as they were mostly Interstate drive-throughs to and from the Cincinnati Ohio area where my brother and his family lived for 6 years from 2013 to 2019.

I’ll soon be returning to Tennessee for my most extensive trip ever, as I fly to Chattanooga, embark an American Cruise Lines ship, and take a week-long journey along the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers into northern Alabama, southwestern Kentucky, and then back into Tennessee ending in – Music City U.S.A.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Yellowhammer State” – the state where I was born – Alabama. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Alabama, Chattanooga, Clingmans Dome, Cruise, Cumberland River, Gatlinburg, Great Smoky Mountains, Huntsville, Knoxville, Kuwohi, Nashville, Newfound Gap, Tennessee, Tennessee River

1990s Blogging Travel

My First Caribbean Cruise

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date August 15, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. 33 years ago this weekend on the 18TH of August of 1991 – I stepped foot on a cruise ship for the first time ever. It was my Dad’s idea at the time to go on a family vacation at sea. He worked with a local travel agency in our hometown of McLean Virginia. He selected the Norwegian Seaward out of #PortMiami. It was a fairly new cruise ship at the time – about 3 years old.

I did not know what to expect prior to stepping foot in a brand-new world at sea. Remember there was no Internet 33 years ago – as least no Internet that normal people like You and I could use. But once I stepped foot on that cruise ship – it was love at first sight – starting with the first buffet meal.

I don’t remember much from that first cruise. It was 7 days and 7 nights – a Sunday afternoon to Sunday morning. There were several ports-of-call including Ocho Rios Jamaica and George Town Grand Cayman. I think we also visited The Bahamas and Cozumel Mexico. It was my first time in those 4 nations. In fact – I haven’t been to Jamaica since then.

We had our family portrait taken on formal night, and I actually wore my military service dress blues for that photo session.

I think I had determined during that first cruise that there would indeed be a 2ND cruise, and a 3RD cruise, and so forth and so on. That 2ND cruise occurred almost exactly 3 years later – on the exact same cruise ship. Just 8 months after that I was on my 3RD cruise – on another NCL ship out of Miami. In January 2023 I sailed on my 24TH cruise – and my 16TH on Carnival. (I sailed 6 times on NCL, once on Royal Carribean, and once on Disney.)

I’m fully retired now – only collecting a monthly pension. I don’t know what the future holds as far as cruising is concerned. That 24TH cruise was a great one on a great ship. Perhaps it was “The Grand Finale” – my last cruise – at least for a while. But I’ll never say never for a 25TH cruise.

I would really love to go on a 22-day Mississippi River Viking cruise, but I don’t have that kind of fun money. Can you imagine how many #TravelThursday blogs I could create based on that cruise ? !

I have been quietly checking out Carnival’s web site for short 4, 5, and 6-day cruises out of Tampa (the nearest cruise ship port to me now), but even those cost a bit more than I can afford right now.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about the Avon Park Depot Museum, and how my life today could’ve been a bit different if that museum had been open on a specific day in 2021. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Caribbean, Cruise, Mississippi, Port, River, Ship

1990s Blogging Career Driving Geography Home Military Travel Weather

From Melbourne To MacDill

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date August 31, 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. In last week’s edition I wrote about my hectic 6-months right after Hurricane Andrew destroyed Homestead Florida. That’s when I was driving back-and-forth between Fairfax County Virginia and Prince Georges County Maryland (Andrews AFB) along the Capital Beltway and also through Washington D.C. I put a lot of miles on my red 1989 Geo Spectrum sedan back then, but I was not yet done.

I drove / moved to Melbourne Florida in March 1993 – just a few days before “The Storm Of The Century” swept through the U.S. Eastern Seaboard bringing hurricane-force winds, sub-freezing temperatures, and even snow to North and Central Florida.

5 months later in August 1993 I was offered a job on the opposite coast over in Tampa at MacDill AFB. I accepted, but I kept my home in Melbourne. I ended-up living in a hotel (paid for by the USAF) in Tampa, working on-base during the week, and taking I-4 and U.S. 192 back to Melbourne on most Friday afternoons – returning back to Tampa on Sunday afternoons.

That was about a 140-mile drive in each direction, and it took anywhere from 2½ to 3 hours. That was also back when I freely drove on Interstates and high-speed expressways. (I don’t do that anymore.) That was also when far less people lived along the U.S. 192 corridor from Melbourne through St. Cloud and Kissimmee to Walt Disney World. Back in 1993 into 1994 St. Cloud had a population of about 15,000. Now it’s over 65,000. Kissimmee is up from about 35,000 to over 80,000. That’s a lot of traffic along U.S. 192 these days. It wasn’t too bad back in 1993.

That back-and-forth commute between Melbourne and MacDill lasted about 7 months until March 1994 – when I moved back to Homestead Florida. For a short period of time I thought that I would live in Melbourne for the rest of my life. But then when I got the job at MacDill AFB I thought that I would eventually move to Tampa full-time and live there for the rest of my life. Then I moved back to Homestead for the next 29 years.

Now I have my longtime Homestead home – and my new Sebring home. And I have a commute of about 185 miles that I do several times per month. I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I enjoy the scenic and mostly rural drive. I enjoy seeing my church family and even some of my coworkers at my longtime workplace in Homestead. But I especially look forward to the return trip back north again to my new home and pre-retirement life and times in Sebring. I plan to live there for the rest of my life – less than 2 hours away from both Melbourne and Tampa.

Next #TravelThursday we’ll check-out Weeki Wachee Springs. Let’s keep traveling together.