Category: Animals

My Spring Break 2021 Road-Trip

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date March 11, 2021

3 weeks ago (3 Thursdays ago) I returned home from my Spring Break 2021 Road-Trip. It was a fun 5-day adventure traversing 624 miles through the 10 South and Central Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Okeechobee, Highlands, Hardee, Glades, Hendry, and Collier. I also barely touched Monroe County, and I saw its many islands.

Last Thursday I wrote on Day 3 – my next 116 miles through the countryside of Highlands and Hardee Counties. The story continues now:

On Day 4 I started the morning in downtown Lake Placid with a hearty breakfast. I then checked-out the Lake Wales Ridge Wildlife & Environmental Area: Lake Placid Scrub Unit a few miles to the south. It’s a large sandy wooded area abutting the southwestern shore of the actual 3,400-acre Lake Placid. Hundreds of thousands of years ago when sea levels were about 150 feet higher than they are today it was beachfront property, and the abundant sand is left over from that era. I didn’t stay very long there, as it is “Bear Country”, and I’m scared of bears.

I headed northward to Avon Park at the far-northwest corner of Highlands County. I excitedly arrived at the Avon Park Depot Museum – only to be instantly dismayed when I found it CLOSED. Nevertheless I took this picture of a 1948 passenger car that was used by Western Pacific during the 1950s and 1960s, and then later by Auto Train (from Virginia to Florida) in the 1970s. It was actually a buffet dining car as part of Auto Train, and 50 years later it sits here – as a buffet dining car that the museum hosts.

So my trip to Avon Park was a total bust, as that was my only scheduled stop there. But not so fast. I just spent more time writing about it above than the amount of time that I was physically there, so all was not lost. I’ll make it back there in the future.

I headed back southward to the downtown district of Sebring (my likely retirement town in a few years). I headed for Lake Jackson – the 3,212-acre lake that Sebring surrounds. After spending a few minutes on the pier that extends onto the lake I decided on a spontaneous spur-of-the-moment visit to the Sebring Historical Society (facing the pier and lake). Unfortunately it was CLOSED when it was supposed to be open. Well this morning is going just wonderful thus far !

I wasn’t about to give up so quickly. I actually drove around the building, parked my car again, and noticed an entrance on the 2ND floor of that same building (from the parking lot on the hill). I walked-in, and within about 10 seconds I realized that I had walked-in to the Sebring Public Library. #LOL

I looked around the library for a little while – pretending I was interested in what I was looking at. (I wasn’t.) After a few minutes of that I walked up to the front counter, and I inquired about the museum downstairs. They actually called downstairs for me to find out if (or when) they were open. I didn’t hear the other end of the conversation, but after the librarian got off the phone she told me that YES – they were open – but head for the “yellow house” (across the parking lot) instead, and walk-in. I thanked the librarian for going out of her way in doing that, and I headed for the “yellow house”.

A nice older woman greeted me at the front door as I walked-in, and she gave me an extensive guided tour of the historic house that less than 2 months earlier became a public museum after restoration. I loved every minute of her tour. The tour took perhaps 45 minutes (if that). For the next 45 minutes we just chatted back-and-forth as if we knew each other for years. She lived much of her life in Miami-Dade County, and then she retired to Sebring where she is now a docent for the Sebring Historical Society. Sounds like an interesting plan. Sounds like a potential vision for my future. She urged me to return to that first place that I tried to enter earlier but encountered a locked door. She said that I should talk to the guy that’s in there right now. He’s a Director at the Sebring Historical Society. I did just that, and we talked for almost 90 minutes. (I also got to tour the premises which serves as a library of historical archives for the city and region.)

The rest of my day in Sebring was fairly uneventful. I felt rejuvenated after that unexpected 3-hour experience with the Sebring Historical Society. It was the highlight of my entire road-trip vacation.

Looks like I went over 3 minutes with this blog post. (My goal is to write blog posts that take less than 3 minutes to read.)

I’ll share Day 5 of my 5-day road-trip next Thursday here on my blog. It was not my normal “last day of a road-trip”. I took a detour, and I visited a few places that I had never been to before.

Miles Driven on Days 1, 2, 3, & 4 = 422

Animals Blogging Driving Nature Travel

My Spring Break 2021 Road-Trip

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date March 4, 2021

2 weeks ago (2 Thursdays ago) I returned home from my Spring Break 2021 Road-Trip. It was a fun 5-day adventure traversing 624 miles through the 10 South and Central Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Okeechobee, Highlands, Hardee, Glades, Hendry, and Collier. I also barely touched Monroe County, and I saw its many islands.

Last Thursday I wrote on Days 1 and 2 – my first 229 miles. The story continues now:

On Day 3 on a rather chilly (for South Central Florida standards) and rainy Tuesday morning I headed northward and then westward from Lake Placid into Hardee County. My first stop was the small town of Zolfo Springs. I visited Pioneer Park – a sprawling county park straddling the Peace River. I tried to visit the Cracker Trail Museum at the park, but it was unexpectedly closed. I did enjoy some time at the Hardee County Wildlife Refuge (also at the park).

My next stop in Hardee County was Solomon’s Castle. I spent over 2½ hours there taking a couple of fun and pun-filled guided tours. I also enjoyed Lunch there. It was my 2ND visit to this quirky place out in the middle of nowhere (essentially swamplands). My 1ST visit was almost 5 years to the date earlier. I need to get back to this place again sooner than 5 years from now.

My final stop of Day 3 was another weird and wacky place back in Lake Placid in the downtown district – the American Clown Museum & School. I think they are the only clown museum and school in the U.S.A. I’m guessing that if you’re a clown – a professional one that is – then you may have gone to school there. They were actually getting ready for a new class in a few days. I spent about a half-hour checking-out their clown memorabilia. (They also have a small gift shop.)

In my intentional goal to stretch-out my Spring Break 2021 Road-Trip recap for as long as I can, and milk-it for all it’s worth – I’ll close for now. I’ll share Day 4 of 5 next Thursday here on my blog. It’ll include my very short visit to Avon Park, and an unscheduled spontaneous experience in downtown Sebring that could be a vision of what I may be doing about 3 years from now.

Miles Driven on Days 1, 2, & 3 = 344

Animals Blogging Driving Nature Travel

My Spring Break 2021 Road-Trip

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date February 25, 2021

One week ago (last Thursday) I returned home from my Spring Break 2021 Road-Trip. It was a fun 5-day adventure traversing 624 miles through the 10 South and Central Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Okeechobee, Highlands, Hardee, Glades, Hendry, and Collier. I also barely touched Monroe County, and I saw its many islands.

Starting here in Miami-Dade County (my home of 33 years) I ventured from my church building in Homestead (right after Sunday service) up to NW Broward County. That’s where I attended the TobyMac concert at the BB&T Center. I wrote all about it this past Monday.

On Monday morning (Presidents’ Day) I was back on-the-road from Broward to Palm Beach to Martin, and into Okeechobee County. I made a pitstop for a few hours at the northern rim of Lake Okeechobee – just south of the city of Okeechobee. It was my 2ND visit to the area. I’d previously spent a few days leading-up to Christmas Day of 2019 there. I walked a portion of the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (high atop the dike / levee). I actually walked exactly 2.00 miles on that dike – a mile up to it and then eastward along it, and then a mile back to where I started. After that I took in views of the beautiful lake from the pier.

I drove northward from the lake about 15 miles to Arnold’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (a first-time visit). This place exceeded my expectations, and I really appreciate the work that they do to save and care for the animals in the local area.

After my fun few stops in the Okeechobee area it was on to Highlands County (probably my future hometown county once I retire). I arrived in Lake Placid on Monday afternoon, and this would be my home for the next 3 nights.

I enjoyed Dinner at a nice restaurant in town with a friend who used to live in Homestead and was a close sister in my first church family. She and her husband moved away and settled in Lake Placid. It was good to see her again. We may be neighbors in the future.

On Tuesday morning I headed northward and then westward from Lake Placid into Hardee County. I’ll share my Tuesday and Wednesday of my road-trip next Thursday here on my blog.

Miles Driven on Sunday & Monday = 229

1980s Animals Blogging Holidays Home Life Weather

The Legend Of Fluffy The Manx Cat

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date December 24, 2020

Merry Christmas Eve to all of my friends all around the world. I wish you God’s abundant love and everlasting peace on this day and on every day.

Today I’m bringing back a Christmas classic that’s been featured on my blog before in various forms. It’s the story of the greatest Christmas gift ever – the arrival of a cat.

It started out as a morning like any other, but just a few hours later it would become a morning that forever changed the lives of me and my little brother, and our Mom and Dad.

Exactly 37 years ago yesterday morning on Friday December 23RD 1983 me (age 16½) and my little brother (age 8½) looked out our living room window at the snow and the ice on the ground of our backyard. It was a bitter cold morning in McLean Virginia 2 days before Christmas, and we were happy to be warm and comfortable inside.

But there was a creature stirring outside that was not warm and comfortable. It was a lonely young cat with no tail that was wandering around aimlessly on our ice-covered backyard patio deck, and it was shivering in misery. Me and my brother decided rather quickly that it did not belong in the harsh elements of the outside at that moment, so we opened the door and she walked right in to our more sheltered screened-in ‘Florida Room’.

We gave her some milk to drink. She loved us for it. We gave her some love. We heard a strange sound coming from her that we hadn’t heard before. It was the friendly and inviting sound of her purring. We let her in to our warm and comfortable home. She never looked back. In fact she refused to leave after that. We pretty much named her ‘Fluffy’ that day, and she instantly became an important part of our family – the missing link if you will.

That’s a young me in 1985 holding a young Fluffy. I was about 60 pounds lighter than I am today.

She was the 5TH member of our family, and she was the start of nearly 30 years of felines in our family. Fluffy loved us all, but she clearly adored me the most. During her younger years she anxiously awaited me to open the basement / laundry room door for her first thing in the morning so that she could run (and beat me) to my bedroom upstairs for a long round of petting and purring. During her later years in Jacksonville Florida when she was slowly dying she literally came back to life over and over again and jumped and loved on me and ran upstairs to my parents’ guest room whenever I arrived for a short visit. She lived a long, happy, and healthy life (until April of 2001), and she provided lots of love to our family starting with that very first Christmas of 1983.

There have been other cats and dogs within our family over the years since then. Fluffy eventually gained a feline roommate with Barney (also known as “the cat that never liked me”). After Fluffy’s death Barney eventually gained his own feline roommate with Pumpkin. Boots was my own loving cat and housemate for 12½ years here in Homestead Florida until his (expected) death on May 17TH 2007. He was the coolest cat that ever lived.

But it all started with “Fluffy The Manx Cat”. She was the Matriarch of all of our family pets (to this day). She was the Queen of her castle. She was the stability of our family. She was our family’s common denominator. She was the center of attention. She was the most lovable cat that ever lived.

Fun Fact: This WordPress blog is a spinoff of my former hit music based massivesmash.com web site that I created in 1995. That web site grew out of a previous web site known as “MANx On The Net”. That first web site was a spinoff of “MANx Cat BBS” (1993-1997) – a dial-up bulletin board typical of its time that was inspired by and named after Fluffy.