Category: Driving

Florida State Road 29

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 13, 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. There’s a road that runs in a general north-south direction in inland Southwest Florida between U.S. 27 at the north-end and U.S. 41 at the south-end. It’s a rural historic intercounty state highway that I’ll be driving a short 14-mile stretch of frequently in the future – including tomorrow morning. It’s how I’ll get to and from the Fort Myers area to and from my new home in the Sebring area.

At the base of this 14-mile stretch of Florida State Road 29 is the historic city of LaBelle – just inside Hendry County from Glades County (to the north). It’s the county seat of Hendry County and its 2ND-largest city (after Clewiston). LaBelle has a population of right around 5,000. Its origins go back to the late-1880s along the banks of the Caloosahatchee River. LaBelle has a couple of nicknames – “The Belle Of The Caloosahatchee”, and “The City Under The Oaks”.

I’ve only driven through LaBelle a handful of times over the past few years. I’ve never actually gotten out of my car to walk around and explore the historic downtown district along the river. I’d like to do that during a future drive-through.

The remainder of the 14-mile stretch of Florida State Road 29 traverses Glades County farmland and raw unspoiled nature. It’s a beautiful scenic drive en route to and from U.S. 27.

I’ll be enjoying that beauty early tomorrow morning as I head home from the Fort Myers area. What am I doing there today and tonight ? Stay tuned. I’ll reveal that this #SundayScripture.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll share a couple of beautiful photos of the lake in my new neighborhood. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Caloosahatchee, Florida, LaBelle

Blogging Church Commerce Driving Food Geography Home Travel

Sebring Florida

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 6, 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This past Monday morning I returned southward back to my longtime home. It was bittersweet, as I enjoyed 4½ days / 5 nights in my new home, new neighborhood, and new region of Florida. I didn’t want to leave, and I wasn’t really excited about returning to my old home. But I’ve got some good stuff planned for this upcoming stretch down here in South Miami-Dade. I’ve got the annual Good Friday Prayer Breakfast to look forward to tomorrow. I also get to observe and celebrate Resurrection Sunday with my church family – followed by Lunch after that. It’s going to be a good time here.

It’s actually 184 miles from home to home. All along I’ve been touting 186 miles, as that’s what Google Maps states. I guess it’s off by a couple of miles (probably due to rounding). I drove up 184 miles. I drove down 184 miles. In-between I drove 43 miles all around town – discovering roads to get around, stores, restaurants, and my new church. I even found my new barber shop !

I surpassed the 19,000-mile mark on my car odometer in West Broward driving southward this past Monday morning. That’s just 19 days after I hit the 18,000-mile mark. And the 18,000-mile mark came 37 days after I hit the 17,000-mile mark. I drove over 1,000 miles in consecutive months (February and March) for the first time since 2020. That may not happen this month. It could be real close though.

I took an impromptu photo of the main entrance of my new neighborhood, and I actually posted it on Facebook within our private group. Surprisingly it received more likes and comments than any post that I wrote publicly when I was active on Facebook for almost 5 years. I captioned the photo – What a great place to live ! #Home

Here’s that photo:

Next #TravelThursday I’m heading back to Sebring – by way of Fort Myers. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Chicken, Maryland

Blogging Driving Geography Home Humor Television Travel

Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date March 23, 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about the main campus of South Florida State College (#SFSC) near Avon Park – home of the 1,460-seat Alan Jay Wildstein Center For The Performing Arts. I got to see my first 2 concerts there last month. It’s just 2 miles away from my new home.

This week I’m about 100 miles away at a longtime favorite – the 1,874-seat Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall at Florida SouthWestern State College (#FSW) in Fort Myers. I’ve seen 8 shows / concerts there since 2011 including Chicago (the legendary band), Jay Leno, Brian Regan, and Frank Caliendo. I would’ve seen more shows there if I lived nearby, as it’s 3 hours away from my Homestead home – and 2 hours away from my now Sebring home. It’s my favorite small performing arts venue to see shows. A show at the #BBMANNPAH means a stay at a local hotel for the night – because – frankly – I don’t like driving long distances late at night. Scary things happen on the road in the dark.

Last Thursday night – after final closing of my new home 100 miles away – I saw Michael Carbonaro: Lies On Stage there. It was a great show. I’m glad I attended and experienced it. (I had thought about skipping the show and staying in my new home, but I decided to continue with my plans.)

Michael put on a fun comedy and magic show with lots of audience interaction. I was a big fan of his 2014-2020 truTV show The Carbonaro Effect. I saw every episode of it over the course of its 5 seasons. He essentially brought that show to our LIVE audience, and it was fun to see.

The show was actually postponed from an earlier date in mid-October – 2½ weeks after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian. (The venue suffered some roof damage, but shows resumed about a month after the storm.)

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about some delicious fried chicken I found close to my new home. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Carbonaro, Concert

1970s Blogging Driving Geography Home Music Radio Travel

South Florida State College

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date March 16, 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. The main campus of South Florida State College (#SFSC) is located just a couple of miles away from my new neighborhood. It looks like a very nice campus from the exterior side. They even have an art museum on-campus (which I visited). I will be supporting the college. No – I’m not going back to school at age 56. I will be attending concerts at their 1,460-seat Performing Arts Center.

I usually attend about 5 concerts / live events per year, and I’ll probably stay at that same level into my retirement years. It’s good to have a place to see shows and concerts about 5 minutes away from my front door.

I actually saw 2 concerts on 2 nights when I was up there during Presidents’ Day Weekend to buy my new home. I saw MANIA: The ABBA Tribute and Evil Woman: The American ELO. Both tribute bands were awesome, and they put on great shows. I never saw the original bands in concert, so this was the next best thing. ABBA and ELO are two of my favorite bands from the mid-to-late-1970s. I was 6 rows from the stage for the ABBA show, and 4 rows from the stage for the ELO show. In fact – I’m in the photo below, and I’m in a prominent location. See the guy in the center with the microphone ? He’s the Musical Director – Nigel Holland. My head is right above his head. (My mouth is open.)

After the first show there – I got stuck in an unusually long traffic jam, as hundreds of cars tried to squeeze out of a single exit of the parking lot. I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing at such a small venue. I did my research prior to the second show, and I parked in a parking lot on the rear side of the venue. I was the only car in the parking lot when I arrived, but after the show my car was surrounded by dozens (not hundreds) of other cars. It took less than a minute to exit that parking lot. So – I now know the secret of parking at shows at #SFSC.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about another Performing Arts Center that’s located about 100 miles away from my new home, and I’m there tonight ! Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags ABBA, ELO, Tribute