Category: Driving

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

Blogging Driving Geography Military Nature Shopping Travel

The Keystone State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This post is all about the great state of Pennsylvania – America’s second state. It became a state just 5 days after Delaware became America’s first state in December 1787.

The last time I was in Pennsylvania was almost 19 years ago in October 2007 when I flew from South Florida to Philadelphia International Airport (#PHL) for my overnight flight to Rome Italy (#FCO) where I embarked on a 14-day Transatlantic Carnival cruise from Rome (Civitavecchia) back to Miami. (What a great cruise that was – one of the best ever.)

13 months before that in September 2006 I was in Pennsylvania on a military work trip at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove (north of Philadelphia).

15½ years before that in March 1991 I was in Pennsylvania en route to Miami out of #PHL. Me and a group of Airmen had arrived at Dover Air Force Base from Saudi Arabia (Operations Desert Shield / Storm), and we were transported (by bus) up to the Philadelphia area for a night at a hotel before flying back to Miami the next morning.

Of course – as I’ve written about for the past 3 weeks – I drove I-70 from Illinois to Maryland way back at the end of October 1985 as an 18-year-old. 168 miles of I-70 are in Pennsylvania.

Before that in the Boy Scouts – we may have entered Pennsylvania once or twice along the Appalachian Trail at the Mason-Dixon Line. I may have taken an elementary school field trip to Philadelphia during the mid-1970s. And I definitely visited Hersheypark a few times as a kid with family and extended family (cousins). We also visited the “Outlet Capital Of The World” – Reading – a few times so that my parents could go shopping at the Vanity Fair Outlet Center.

Late tonight I was supposed to be entering Pennsylvania again as part of my Ohio River cruise. We would’ve been docked in Pittsburgh shortly after daybreak tomorrow. I would’ve been exploring Pittsburgh (for the first time in my life) in the morning via a guided tour – and in the afternoon visiting the Heinz History Center. There probably would’ve been a third guided tour this Saturday morning.

I was supposed to be on the Ohio River right now (and since last Saturday). But it wasn’t meant to be. I’ll share why next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Hersheypark, Ohio River, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading

Blogging Driving Geography Nature Travel Weather

The Mountain State

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 16, 2026

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This post is all about the great state of West Virginia. A very short 14½-mile portion of I-70 passes through the middle of the northern panhandle of West Virginia, and when I drove that Interstate from Illinois to Maryland way back at the end of October of 1985 as an 18-year-old – that was the last time I was in wild and wonderful West Virginia.

But that was not my first visit to West Virginia. About 6 or 7 years earlier when I was an early Boy Scout (age 11 or 12) our troop would go hiking and camping during the wintertime up along the Appalachian Trail – mostly in Maryland. (We lived in Lanham Maryland at the time – just outside of Washington D.C., and the Appalachian Trail was a little over 60 miles away from our town.)

We hiked much of the 41 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maryland – not all at once, but in lengths of about 10 to 20 miles over a couple of days spanning several different trips in the wintertime. Most of our trips were in the snow with subfreezing temperatures. We learned to hike properly (with our backpacks) and stay warm while doing so. And we learned how to setup a campsite with tents and start fires to cook and keep warm.

Once (maybe twice) on our trips we made it across the West Virginia state line along the trail at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. It’s known as the “psychological halfway point” of the 2,192-mile Appalachian Trail. Statistically it is actually 1,167 miles to the north-end of the trail in Maine – and 1,025 miles to the south-end of the trail in Georgia. Harpers Ferry is at West Virginia’s lowest point in elevation – just under 250 feet. It’s where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet at the eastern tip of the state.

I would love to visit Harpers Ferry again for the first time in nearly 50 years. I could spend several days there exploring it all and the surrounding countryside across the river in both Maryland and Virginia. It’s about 40 miles from Washington Dulles International Airport (#IAD).

Soon I’ll be visiting West Virginia again as part of my Ohio River cruise. 277 miles of the Ohio River forms the state’s entire western border with Ohio. The river itself is entirely in West Virginia. The north shoreline (historical low-water mark) is where Ohio’s land begins (or ends). All of the islands in the river, and all of the bridges that cross the river are part of West Virginia. Nearly half of my approximate 600-mile cruise will be in West Virginia even though we will never walk on land.

Maybe I’ll sing this while sailing the Ohio and admiring the West Virginia landscape:

♬ Country roads – take me home
To the place – I belong
West Virginia – mountain mama
Take me home – country roads ♬

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Keystone State” – Pennsylvania. Let’s keep traveling together.