Category: Driving

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

Blogging Driving Geography History Home Mail Travel

Sebring Historical Society

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date March 9, 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It is Day 21 of the closing process of my new retirement / forever home up near Sebring in scenic Highlands County Florida. 3 Thursdays ago I toured 5 condos in my dream 55+ neighborhood, and I selected the 5TH and final one as the best of them all (by far). So far so good with the entire process. I’ve reviewed and signed so many electronic forms over the past several weeks. That process appears to be drawing to a close. I’ll be physically present in Sebring for final closing day, and I’m sure that I’ll be signing even more documents on that day – retro-style – via “wet-ink” (pen-to-paper). Memo To Self: Don’t drink coffee that morning. (I want my signatures to be legible – not scribble.)

It’s no secret that I wish to be a museum docent when I grow up (retire), and I’ll be doing that with the Sebring Historical Society. I met with the Operations Director inside their main building a couple of days after I made that purchase offer on my condo. I actually walked over to their museum, and it was locked shut. I then walked over to the next historic building / house over that they also use (for socials and banquets), and it was also locked shut. So I had no choice but to head over to their main building to ask why.

I didn’t realize it at first, but the guy that greeted me was the same guy that greeted me exactly 2 years earlier during Presidents Day Weekend of 2021. (Read all about that remarkable day here.) It took him a little while longer to remember me. We talked for a good hour about my upcoming relocation and retirement, and my eagerness to become a member of the Sebring Historical Society. I wish to serve and participate in their regularly-scheduled meetings, events, and tours. He actually gave me a copy of the script for the closed museum. (It was closed because he didn’t have a docent available to work that day.) He told me to study it and personalize it to my own liking.

It was another great and impromptu meet-and-(re)greet, and when I walked away I was absolutely certain that I wanted to serve alongside the members of the Sebring Historical Society at my earliest opportunity (right after I start moving up there). I’ve already added some upcoming events to my schedule !

Several days after I returned to my current home I sat down at my computer, and I went “old-school”. I typed an old-fashioned letter to the Sebring Historical Society thanking the Operations Director for talking with me for an hour about everything. I reiterated my eagerness to serve to preserve, protect, and promote Sebring history. I also filled-out the application form to become a member, and I wrote out a check for the first year’s membership dues. It all went into an envelope – addressed and stamped – and placed in my neighborhood’s USPS mailbox. (Just like we used to do it “in the olden days”.) Writing letters is such a lost art form, but I continue to embrace it. Blogging is sort of like writing letters – the modern way.

In addition to regularly-scheduled monthly and quarterly events – the Sebring Historical Society also hosts all-inclusive day-trips around the local South-Central Florida region. Future #TravelThursday editions will highlight these trips, and perhaps my trip highlights may even appear on the Sebring Historical Society Facebook site.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about South Florida State College in Avon Park Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Florida, History, Museum, Sebring

Blogging Christian Church Driving Geography God Home Travel

Sebring & Beyond

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date March 2, 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I revealed that I had recently spent 4 days and 3 nights up in scenic Highlands County Florida.

I activated the start of a dream that I’ve been dreaming (and blogging about) for the past 7 years. That dream is to relocate and retire near Sebring (the county seat). Shortly upon arrival in Lake Placid my Real Estate Agent and I drove to my dream neighborhood where we toured 5 condos. I selected my favorite one (which was the last one we toured), and I made a purchase offer on it. It was quickly accepted by the seller. I am now 15 days into the 30-day closing process, and everything continues to work out smoothly so far.

My new home is absolutely beautiful and clean. It was love at first sight upon entering it. I had to contain my excitement for it. It’s a 3-bedroom / 2-bathroom 2ND-floor condo in a 55+ active-adult gated-community. It comes fully-furnished, and the furniture is newish. I met the husband-and-wife owners of the condo. They bought it in 2022, and they refurbished and modernized it. They were pretty much done with that, so they put it on the market a couple of months ago. (I had been tracking it online since the start of the year.) They will continue to live in the neighborhood, buy vacated condos, refurbish them, and sell them for a small profit. (The husband is a retired Civil Engineer.)

The neighborhood’s homeowners’ association requires a background security check and vote before being accepted as a resident. (They will find absolutely nothing in their investigation of me.)

If all goes well then the final closing date should be during the week of St. Patrick’s Day, and I will drive back up there to be physically present for that, and be handed the keys to my new home. I’ll also have a trunk-load of personal belongings with me, as I will begin moving-in that same day.

It’ll be a slow and gradual relocation from South Florida (Miami-Dade County) to South-Central Florida (Highlands County). I don’t retire for another 9 months, so on most weeks I’ll live and work down south from Sunday mornings to Wednesday afternoons, and I’ll live and work up north from Wednesday evenings to Sunday mornings. My commuting distance will be 186 miles, and that’s about a 3-hour and 20-minute drive. Each drive northward will be another haul of my personal belongings. Eventually the drives will be less-frequent, and I’ll spend more time in Sebring than not.

I’m looking forward to the change in lifestyle, and the change in region. This will be the first time since I lived in the United Kingdom 35+ years ago that I’ll be living in a rural area (versus suburban). I’m moving to a 1,106-square-mile county with a total population of just over 100,000. Right now over 100,000 people live within about 5 miles of me. (Over 2.7 million residents call Miami-Dade County home.)

Sebring will also be the first time in exactly 30 years – and 2ND-time in my life – that I’ll be relocating to the city / area of my choice. Back in March 1993 I relocated to Melbourne Florida – because I wanted to. 30 years later I’m relocating about 100 miles away from Melbourne – because I want to.

I can’t believe that this is finally happening, and I owe it all to my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. It’s easy to claim that these were my plans for many years, but these were really God’s plans for me. He guided and directed me to the Florida Heartland. I preached about that this past Sunday. “Sebring & Beyond” was the title of my sermon.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll tell you all about my 2ND visit to the main office of the Sebring Historical Society. I’ll be serving with them soon. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Caribbean, Carnival, Celebration, Cruise

Blogging Driving Geography Military Photography Travel

My Carnival Celebration Vacation 2023

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date February 9, 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about Amber Cove, Puerto Plata, and the surrounding area up to 2,600 feet above sea level along the north-central coast of the Dominican Republic. That was Day 3 of my 7-day cruise aboard the Carnival Celebration from Sunday January 08TH 2023 to Sunday January 15TH 2023.

This week we jump to Day 4 of my 7-day cruise – and the 2ND port-of-call in San Juan Puerto Rico.

But First: It’s always good to return back to the U.S.A. – whether it’s stateside or a territory at sea – if only to get full-use of my cell phone (iPhone) back again without any extra International “roaming” charges. Those LTE signal bars look so beautiful after not having any since a few miles offshore Miami Beach.

I pre-purchased a shore excursion for Old San Juan – visiting fortresses. Shortly after arrival and U.S. Customs clearance on the island, I met my group and we hopped on our bus. Our tour guide / driver narrated during our short drive up to the first fortress. She also exhibited a little bit of Puerto Rican road-rage along the way, as traffic was thick and slow due to several cruise ships in port. Cops were blocking roads in an effort to make traffic run more smoothly, but it seemed to be causing more problems than not.

We made it to Castillo San Cristóbal, and our tour guide /driver handed-off to another tour guide who told us a little bit about the fortress. Then she told us to go check it out for ourselves and return back to the bus about 40 minutes later. (This was very unlike the shore excursion that I enjoyed on the previous day in the Dominican Republic as described last #TravelThursday.)

Our next fortress was Castillo San Felipe del Morro, and it was essentially the same situation. Our tour guide told us a little bit about it, and then we went to check it out on our own. After we were done – we walked back on our own to the bus to be there at a certain time.

After the two fortresses our tour guide / driver drove us to the city center of Viejo San Juan, and that was pretty much the end of the tour. She recommended that we walk back to the ship from there (a short walk), as traffic was muy malo. (She essentially gave up for the day.)

While the shore excursion for the Dominican Republic was a perfect 5 stars because of our tour guide and what we saw – this shore excursion was more like 3 stars. It wasn’t really a waste of time or money, but we could’ve had better, more knowledgeable, and more patient tour guides with less attitude. We could’ve also had cold air coming out of the bus vents instead of air.

I took some good pictures from the fortresses. They will appear on my Flickr Photostream in the weeks to come. Here’s one of the 3 cruise ships in port at the time from atop Castillo San Cristóbal. (The Carnival Celebration is in the middle.)

Fun Fact: This was my 2ND-ever visit to San Juan Puerto Rico. My 1ST visit was a little over 12 years ago on January 20TH 2011 as part of a 7-day cruise on the Carnival Glory.

Next #TravelThursday we’ll head over to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands to enjoy a fun day on a nearly empty ship, or – perhaps – it didn’t quite turn out that way. Let’s keep traveling together.