This week marks the 36TH anniversary that the United States Air Force shipped me off to a foreign country solo for the first time in my life. As an 18½-year-old I flew from Washington Dulles Airport nonstop to London Heathrow Airport. It was an overnight flight from November 09TH into November 10TH of 1985. From there I took British Rail westward to Swindon in Wiltshire, and then from there I hired a cab to take me up to RAF Fairford in the Cotswolds of Gloucestershire – my home for the next 2 years. (It was my first permanent duty station.)
I remember “Road To Nowhere” from The Talking Heads playing on my cab driver’s radio, and I certainly felt like I was on a road to nowhere, but I was really on a road to somewhere – the official start of my lifelong career.
I’ve been a member of the United States Air Force for the past 37 years now – going back to when I first signed on the dotted line of the delayed enlistment program near the start of my senior year in high school. I was hesitant in joining the military way back then, but it all turned out just right, and it’s become my career. I’d do it all over again.
To my fellow Veterans – this is our day. From one Veteran to all of you – I thank you for serving your nation so that we may be free indeed.
All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
#TravelThursday continues, and in this edition we visit Tampa Florida.
Tampa is the actual big city – approaching 400,000 residents. It’s the 3RD biggest city in Florida after Jacksonville and Miami. Tampa Bay is the body of water adjacent to Tampa. The Greater Tampa Bay area is the metro area surrounding Tampa and Tampa Bay. Over 3 million residents live in the area, and that number surges past 4 million when outlying areas are included.
I like Tampa a lot. It’s my favorite big city in Florida. I like the way it looks (the downtown skyline), and I like all of the activities that can be done in and around Tampa – at both land and sea.
Last #TravelThursday I revealed that I embarked on the Carnival Miracle for a fun 7-day cruise out of Port Tampa Bay exactly 15 years ago. It’ll likely be my future port-of-choice after I retire and move closer to the Tampa Bay area.
I once lived in Tampa – for about 7 months from August 1993 to March 1994 – when I worked at MacDill Air Force Base. That was after Hurricane Andrew destroyed my previous workplace at Homestead Air Force Base as well as much of the surrounding region. For a few months at the beginning of that time-frame it appeared that I’d be living and working in Tampa for years to come, but then political decisions were made to rebuild and reopen the airbase at Homestead, and in March 1994 I moved back. I’ve been here ever since. I like to say that I’ve been here in Homestead for almost 34 years – except for those 19 months right after Hurricane Andrew.
Had the airbase at Homestead not been rebuilt and reopened I wonder how long I would have stayed living and working in Tampa, and would I still be there today. What would I be doing ?
I actually haven’t visited Tampa too many times since I left 27½ years ago. I mostly visit nowadays to attend music concerts and sporting events at the downtown arena (now known as the Amalie Arena). Very near the arena is The Florida Aquarium – the 8TH largest aquarium in the U.S. You can spend all day there enjoying that impressive facility. I was last there in May 2019.
On March 21ST and 22ND of 2003 me and my little brother stumbled onto (OK maybe it was a little bit intentional) the Spring Break scene on Clearwater Beach where we had a hotel room overlooking the Gulf Of Mexico. That was a couple of days after the Iraq War began. College kids were blaring the Outkast song “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” up and down South Gulfview Boulevard. Those 2 fun nights on the beach were part of a 5-day / 4-night vacation in the Tampa Bay area.
Join me next #TravelThursday as we remain in Tampa, and then venture southward along the Tamiami Trail.
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)
All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
#TravelThursday continues, and in this edition we visit my hometown of the past 34 years – Homestead Florida. The United States Air Force brought me here at the age of 20, and I’ve been working at the airbase next to the city for most of these past 34 years. Hurricane Andrew tore through the city and the surrounding area exactly 29 years and 2 days ago, and almost everything was in ruins. I left the area 4 days later, and I returned to my original home-of-record – the Washington D.C. area (both Maryland and Virginia).
19 months later (in March of 1994) I returned to a partially-rebuilt Homestead, and I’ve been here ever since. I’ll be here for a few more years until I retire and move away about 3 hours north of here.
Homestead (the city limits) is about 5 miles wide (west to east) and 2 to 4 miles long (north to south). Homestead (as an area) extends not too far east and south (due to water), not too far west (due to the Everglades), but well to the northeast.
West to east street numbers begin in downtown Miami at Flagler Street. It’s the “zero street line”. Street numbers increase both northward and southward by 1 every 330 feet. Every 16 street numbers is a mile (5,280 feet). Homestead is located in the lower-300s. 304TH, 312TH, 320TH, and 328TH Streets are all major thoroughfares in the city. Technically that’s about 20 miles south of downtown Miami, but you can’t drive due southward from Miami to Homestead. You have to drive southwestward along Florida’s Turnpike or U.S. 1. It’s about 30 miles, and it’ll take you about 45 to 60 minutes depending on traffic. The Homestead area generally begins south of 232ND Street. Over 175,000 residents live here. New home construction continues to boom.
Homestead is actually located closer to Key Largo than Miami. The “18-Mile Stretch” between the mainland of Florida and the “Overseas Highway” (U.S. 1 through the Florida Keys) begins just 2 miles south of Homestead.
We have lots of local tourist attractions here in the Homestead area. Some of my favorites include Monkey Jungle and Fruit & Spice Park. We are also located in-between 2 National Parks – Everglades and Biscayne. I’ve spent quality time at all of these places over the years – more so recently than previously. I volunteered inside Everglades National Park as a docent at a partially-restored NIKE Missile Site. About a million people from around the world visit Everglades National Park each year.
That’s my 2015 Honda Civic (at the time) parked in front of the Missile Launch Barn with the restored Nike Hercules Missile on display inside. That was taken at 3 PM on New Year’s Eve of 2016 as I was wrapping-up a busy day of tours.
Of course our # 1 product here in Homestead is our fine weather – especially in the wintertime when it’s freezing cold elsewhere in North America. A typical December or January day consists of sunny skies with highs in the mid-70s and lows in the low-60s. We actually experienced one of our chillier winter seasons in years in 2020 into 2021 with 9 days when we were stuck in the 60s all day long and 9 mornings when we dropped to the (gasp) 40s !
We’ve experienced rapid population growth here in the Homestead area over the past 20 years. Most of the long-timers don’t like it. They miss the “good old days” when Homestead was a sleepy rural town surrounded by vast farmland. A lot of long-timers have moved away to smaller towns elsewhere that remind them of the way Homestead used to be. Of course the long-timers of those respective smaller towns don’t appreciate their own population growth.
I like the Homestead of today – more so than the Homestead of yesterday. All of the new rooftops have created new stores, new restaurants, and new opportunities – all within about 3 miles of my home.
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)
All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
Every Friday I post the Top 5 of one of my classic hit music charts based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from either 15, 25, 30, or 35 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).
It’s the 3RD Friday of the month, so I go back 30 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday July 21ST 1991:
“Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” – C + C Music Factory Ft. Freedom Williams
“Here We Go (Let’s Rock & Roll)” – C + C Music Factory Presents Freedom Williams & Zelma Davis
The Black Crowes scored a surprise # 2 hit on my chart with “Hard To Handle”. I say “surprise” because it received very little radio airplay here in South Florida while it was a hit on the radio in other parts of the U.S. some 8 months earlier in November and December of 1990. It received tremendous airplay in my tent at “Tent City” at Al Kharj Air Base in Saudi Arabia during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. I didn’t play it. One of my tentmates played it over and over again – loudly. It became a de facto anthem of the war. I bought it on cassette single after returning home stateside, and I played it over and over again myself in my dorm room – loudly. I consider it to be one of the greatest rock songs ever made.
Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 35 years ago to July 1986 – when I lived on the edge of the Cotswolds of Gloucestershire England.
It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with 3 more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for going RETRO with me !
All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
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