Category: Driving

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Blogging Driving Geography Travel

Florida SouthWestern State College

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. 4 months ago I was at Florida SouthWestern State College (#FSW) in Fort Myers – specifically at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. It’s 1 of the 2 main venues (along with Hertz Arena) where Southwest Florida goes to attend events, shows, and concerts. I’ve been to 8 concerts at the #BBMANNPAH since 2011. It’s a nice place to enjoy an entertainer.

Well now there’s a 3RD main venue to go see a show in #SWFL. Located within eyesight – literally the next big parking lot over – is the newish (built in 2015 and 2016) Suncoast Credit Union Arena. It can hold up to 3,500 people during basketball games. This past weekend I attended my very first show there. It’s a nice arena. I sat in the front-most section (116) to the right of the end-stage.

Leaving the parking lot was a massive confusing debacle with more than a thousand vehicles all pulling out of their respective parking spaces and trying to squeeze out onto the main roads all at the same time. Naturally I parked in an awkward parking space. It’s a miracle that I managed to slide out of it. Otherwise I would’ve waited for a long while. (Some did just that. They just sat in their car and watched the endless parade of vehicles crawl out of the parking lot.)

The Fort Myers area is about 100 miles (2 hours) away from my new home inland near Sebring. I’ll continue to look southwest for shows that I wish to attend; although, I am scaling back the number of concerts that I’ll be purchasing and attending in order to cut expenses overall in my new life as a soon-to-be retiree.

Next #TravelThursday – Let’s take the 80. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Food Geography Movies Music Sports Television Travel

Footloose

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last Saturday I went on my first day-trip with some of my friends at the Sebring Historical Society. We gathered on our chartered bus at around 9 AM, and 30 minutes later we left the parking lot of our downtown Sebring museum for Fort Myers – 2 hours away.

We arrived at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre just in time for the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet – or – as I like to pronounce it – boo/FAY. The salad bar, the main course bar, and the dessert bar – it was all wonderful. Lots of choices, and everything tasted great. Service was pretty good too. You get your own food, and the wait staff brings you your unlimited drinks (water, iced tea, soda, coffee, etc.).

As a large group of over 20 we had 4 tables assigned to us up near the front of the 400-seat dinner theatre. We all had an excellent view of the stage for the after-lunch show.

And that show was #Footloose. I saw the original movie with my family as a 16-year-old in Fairfax County Virginia. I also saw the late-2011 remake. Good story. Good music. The Broadway-style show held true to its origins. I forgot about the whole minister / church part of the plot. It was interesting watching that this past Saturday afternoon as a minister.

I actually want to see the original 1984 movie again. Next time I see it on my TV listings I’ll have to DVR it. (Oh wait a minute – I forgot – it’s 2023, and I mostly stream. I have MAX, and I can watch it anytime on there.)

Well our next trip with the Sebring Historical Society is next month to a Tampa Bay Rays / New York Yankees Major League Baseball game in St. Petersburg Florida. I won’t be blogging about that, as I won’t be going on that trip. I just don’t like baseball. But I’m sure that the trip will be popular with a lot of the guys in our organization.

I hear that our next trip after that is in December to a Christmas show at a theatre in Winter Haven – or is it Winter Garden ? I get those two cities mixed-up. (And then there’s nearby Winter Park and Winter Springs.)

Next #TravelThursday – ALL ABOARD ! Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Geography Home Travel

Miles & Meters

Welcome back to #TravelThursday.  This past Sunday afternoon I surpassed 22,000 miles on my 2020 car. It took me 34½ months to get there. I reached the milestone in the southern part of my home county – Highlands County Florida.

The topography of Highlands County is quite interesting, and it explains its name.

My neighborhood – for example – is on a gentle slope, and it’s most noticeable after a thunderstorm when the water quickly runs and drains downhill from west to east along the culverts and into the lake. It starts at 43 meters (141 feet), and it runs down to 40 meters (131 feet). The large neighborhood to our west on the other side of U.S. 27 is as high as 52 meters (171 feet). In our northwestern part of Highlands County – the Lake Wales Ridge runs along the west side of U.S. 27. (Think of the Lake Wales Ridge as Florida’s little mountain chain along its spine.)

The highest elevations in Highlands County are in the southwestern part – south of Lake Placid closer to Venus – where the land peaks at 62 meters (203 feet). That’s where U.S. 27 rides along the top of the ridge. The land starts rising from 22 meters (72 feet) just as soon as you enter Highlands County from the south.

So – I got sidetracked there with the fascinating topography of my new home county, but isn’t that what blogging should be all about ? You write what comes to you in the moment – not knowing where your thinking mind and your typing fingers will lead you.

Well – (circling back) – I surpassed 22,000 miles on my car 32 days after I surpassed 21,000 miles on my car, and that was 18 days after I surpassed 20,000 miles on my car. So it was a slower 1,000 miles this time around. I’m settling-in to my new home here in the Heartland and the Highlands of Florida. The view is wonderful from up here on the Ridge !

Next #TravelThursday – I gotta cut loose – footloose – kick-off my Sunday shoes. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Food Geography History Travel

Moore Haven Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. There’s an interesting small town along my 185-mile retirement route between my new home and my old home. It’s located roughly two-thirds of the way driving northward to Sebring, and one-third of the way driving southward to Homestead.

Nestled along both banks of the Caloosahatchee Canal (connects its namesake river with Lake Okeechobee) – Moore Haven Florida is an historic small town of just 1 square mile in size and a little over 1,500 residents. It’s the county seat and only incorporated municipality of Glades County. Glades is one of the most rural and least-populous counties in the state of Florida with just over 12,000 residents.

The biggest and most notable landmark in Moore Haven is the Mamie Langdale Memorial Bridge – a modern 4-lane causeway built in 1999 that carries U.S. 27 traffic high atop the Caloosahatchee. Mamie Langdale (1903-1973) was a longtime bridge tender for the old 2-lane drawbridge that formerly crossed the canal.

After climbing the bridge from the south and reaching the top – the sight of the large U.S.A. flag down at the bottom in the center of town is so beautiful to see.

A couple of miles west of town lies the busy Love’s truck stop, gas station, convenience store, and (Arby’s) restaurant. I watched it being built along the north side of U.S. 27 back in 2016-2017 when I was already driving through the area a few times a year to and from my eventual retirement area. Once Love’s opened – I became a regular customer. Well – sort of. I only stopped there to use their spacious and clean bathroom. I felt a little bit guilty back then because that’s all I would do. I wouldn’t buy anything. Just passing through. But nowadays I almost always stop there – in both directions – to fill-up with gas, to use their bathrooms, and to also eat inside at the adjoining Arby’s. It’s my comfort stop, and the employees at the front counter at Love’s usually greet you upon entering and thank you upon exiting.

Next #TravelThursday it’s another milestone on my car’s odometer. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp