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Blogging Driving Food Geography History Military Travel

Marshall Texas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my morning south of Hattiesburg Mississippi at historic Camp Shelby to visit the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum. After that – I drove to the bluffs overlooking – and the banks of – the Mighty Mississippi River at historic Natchez. I didn’t get to see and do everything that I wanted to in Natchez, so I’ll just have to visit again on a future road-trip.

Natchez and the surrounding area intrigues me with so much history. The U.S. 84 / U.S. 98 drive across the south of Mississippi leading to Natchez is quite scenic and serene.

Day 4 of my recent retirement road-trip began on the Natchez-Vidalia Bridge. It’s actually two bridges side-by-side. Westbound (into Louisiana) is the original bridge that has been there since 1940. Eastbound (into Mississippi) is the newer (and a bit wider) bridge that was built 48 years later.

I continued my westward trek on U.S. 84. It’s definitely one of my favorite highways in the U.S.A. It has a very interesting intersection with U.S. 165 where – in order to continue on U.S. 84 – you have to make a right-hand turn onto U.S. 165, immediately get in the left-hand turning lane, make a U-turn, quickly get in the right-hand turning lane, and then turn right back onto U.S. 84. (There was a high incidence of collisions at this intersection, so it was reconfigured in 2018 to 2019.)

Fun Facts: U.S. 165 is a 412-mile highway in Arkansas and Louisiana. Its northern-end is at U.S. 70, and its southern-end is at U.S. 90. Technically – U.S. 165 forms a concurrency with U.S. 84 at the unusual intersection described above. (I’m such a U.S. route nerd.)

I entered Texas from Louisiana via rural Keatchie-Marshall Road. There was no big “Welcome To Texas” sign at the state line – just an ordinary “Panola County Line” sign with a smaller route sign above it designating it as Texas Farm Road 123. Oh – and the speed limit increased. (Texans love their high speed limits.) That quick moment began a 10-day stay for me in North Texas.

It was on to Marshall Texas from there, and my first stop was the historic Starr Family Home. I introduced myself as a fellow docent of a historic house, and I enjoyed a wonderful conversation with two of the docents on duty at the time before, during, and after my self-guided tour on both floors of the house. They gave me some good ideas to ponder.

After that I ventured over to the Harrison County Historical Museum. I was a little disappointed that there were no docents on duty during my visit to their museum (located in two different buildings across the street from each other). In fact – I was able to enter and tour virtually the entire museum without any human contact whatsoever. That’s not really a good thing. Open museums should always be visibly manned and supervised for information and security purposes. I did finally find someone working in an office near the gift shop, and I briefly talked to her about the other museum location across the street. Their museum (in both buildings) contained great displays, but they lacked guidance, direction, and written material.

Harrison County Historical Museum, Marshall Texas

My final stop in downtown Marshall was the highly-rated (via Google reviews) Pazzeria By Pietro’s. I got myself a 9″ pizza with pepperoni and Canadian bacon. It was very good – truly hot and delicious !

Next #TravelThursday – I’m settled in North Texas with my family for 9 days. I’ll share some fun moments – including the total solar eclipse. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Food Geography History Military Travel

Mississippi

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my afternoon on the west side of Mobile Alabama at the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion – built in 1855.

As Day 3 of my recent retirement road-trip began – I made my way northward over to Alabama State Road 158. It serves as a brand-new northern bypass of the western suburbs of Mobile. Much of it is 4-lanes, but a portion of it (the westernmost segment) is still 2-lanes and under construction. Once construction is complete it will carry U.S. 98 traffic to and from Mississippi, and the current / longtime U.S. 98 will become a local road (maybe Business U.S. 98).

The western end of Alabama State Road 158 leads to the Mississippi State Line, and U.S. 98 takes over from there as a longtime 4-lane highway. I love that stretch of U.S. 98, as it’s all rural with very little traffic. The South Mississippi countryside is scenic and beautiful. Much of it is raw and unspoiled.

When I retired on the 29TH of February of 2024 – I knew that I would probably never return to the Air Force Base that was my workplace for over 36 years. I also thought that perhaps I would never step foot on any military base ever again. That lasted exactly 34 days – when I entered historic (built during World War 1) Camp Shelby (south of Hattiesburg). It’s a large U.S. Army training post that is also the home of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum – which was my reason for visiting. The museum is indoors and outdoors. It’s a traditional military historical museum inside, and there are lots of static displays of aircraft and vehicles outside. I enjoyed my time at the museum. I spent a good thorough 2½ hours there. It was time well-spent. Admission is free.

I continued my trek westward to Natchez Mississippi for my 2ND overnight stay. (My 1ST was in November 2021.) I had planned to give myself plenty of time in Natchez to visit at least 1 – perhaps even 2 historic homes / museums in-town. I failed to do so. I enjoyed my visit to the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum so much that I arrived in Natchez later than anticipated. (I guess I’ll have to plan a 3RD visit to Natchez, and maybe even plan for 2 nights there.)

Natchez is definitely a vacation and convention destination high atop the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Oh – and also right along the banks of the Mighty Mississippi. In fact – I actually drove down (carefully) from the bluffs to the banks via steep Silver Street (built by the Spanish during the 1790s). I saw a part of Natchez (“under-the-hill”) that I didn’t get to see on my first visit – the thriving tourist district with stores, restaurants, and bars. I enjoyed LuDinner (late-Lunch / early-Dinner) at Magnolia Grill. It was where I was planning to eat during my first visit, but I got into town just before sunset and dusk.

A large Viking Mississippi River cruise ship was in-port. That was an amazing (and unexpected) sight to see. Lots of cruise passengers were enjoying their port-of-call for the day. A Viking river cruise is definitely on my bucket list. I know that they are expensive. I think if I were to do one – I would want to do it right – the full 22-day experience between St. Paul Minnesota and New Orleans Louisiana.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my drive across the Mighty Mississippi River and into and across Louisiana into far-eastern Texas via some real backroads. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Food Geography History Travel

Bartow Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. 8 days ago I spent some quality time in historic downtown Bartow Florida. It’s a part of Bartow that’s often overlooked by those just passing through along U.S. 17 and U.S. 98 (north-south) and Florida State Road 60 (west-east). I was with 9 of my Sebring Historical Society friends last Wednesday on a fun fact-finding mission to explore how other museums operate.

We started our fun at the intersection of Main Street and Broadway Avenue which serves as the “zero-point” of the city’s grid. All addresses – north-south and west-east – begin at that intersection.

We enjoyed Lunch at Palace Pizza at 105 East Main Street. I had 2 hot and delicious slices of pepperoni pizza and 3 soft and juicy garlic rolls. #Yum

After Lunch we walked across the street and entered the historic Polk County History Center. It’s located in the former courthouse building at 100 East Main Street. It’s their county museum, and it’s quite extensive on 2 out of 3 floors. The 1ST floor houses all of the exhibits – permanent and temporary – while the 2ND floor houses their archival library. (The 3RD floor is generally not open to the public; although, our group got a nice private tour of it – mostly utilized for storage and more archives.)

The museum is open 5 days a week from Tuesday to Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM. Admission is free.

Fun Facts: The Polk County Courthouse building was built in 1908 and 1909. It was added to the U.S. National Register Of Historic Places on August 07TH 1989. The current courthouse is located a couple of blocks away at 225 North Broadway Avenue. Bartow is the County Seat of Polk County. Over 800,000 residents call Polk County home.

We also visited the Historic L.B. Brown House museum less than a mile away along South L.B. Brown Avenue. (It too is on the U.S. National Register Of Historic Places.) We were warmly greeted by 2 friendly docents, and they treated us to an extensive tour of the exterior grounds as well as the interior of the house. They shared lots of stories along with historical photos and documents. They were enthusiastic to tell the stories of the man, his family, and the house.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my morning with the mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Food Geography History Nature Photography Travel

Sugar Express

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This past Sunday afternoon I took a fun 2-hour / 46-mile train ride aboard the Sugar Express. It was my first such train ride here in the U.S. in my lifetime. I didn’t really know what to expect with it until it actually occurred.

I picked-up the train at the Highlands County Fairgrounds adjacent to the Alan Jay Arena across from Sebring High School near downtown Sebring Florida. U.S. Sugar actually owns and operates the railroad track that runs adjacent to the Fairgrounds, and we stayed exclusively on their railroad track (also known as the “South Central Florida Express“) for all 23 miles southward and then back northward.

Passengers were already aboard the train over an hour before our 2 PM departure. (I got there early too – surprised that so many others got there even earlier than I.)

The train departed on-time at 2 PM, and we began our slow southward trek towards south of Lake Placid. One of the most surprising things that occurred throughout much of the trip were people (I believe mostly locals who know the train schedule) getting out of their vehicles and taking pictures and recording our train as it passed by. (Lots of tripods were setup.) This occurred at street crossings and adjacent to neighborhoods and businesses where people came out of homes and stores to record us and wave at us. (And many of us waved back.) The scenery was beautiful on a sunny Sunday afternoon – from natural unspoiled Florida scrub to abundant orange groves to sandy hills to picturesque lakes around Lake Placid. It was interesting to see such a diverse and different part of my hometown county that I never see while driving 55 to 65 MPH along U.S. 27.

We arrived in the area south of Lake Placid known as Childs. It’s a sugarcane loading site between train and truck for U.S. Sugar. The train came to a stop for a moment, tested its brakes, and then began slowly moving back northward for the return trek to Sebring.

This was a fun ride. Customer service all around was outstanding. They actually made two trips back and forth through the passenger cars with complimentary bags of chips and cookies – far more than you get on a standard airplane in coach. You also get unlimited Zephyrhills bottled water out of a well-stocked cooler. They even pick-up your trash after you’re done. You’re able to walk through all of the passenger cars at your leisure – even while the train is moving. They sell souvenirs in one of the cars. The top speed of the trip was just shy of 40 MPH (outside of both Sebring and Lake Placid); although, for much of the trip it averaged from 15 to 30 MPH. The ride was mostly smooth except when it reached top speed when it got a little bit “jerky”. It’s got a nostalgic feel to it with original passenger cars from the 1950s, and continuous big band music from the 1940s playing throughout the sound system.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at the cloudy and dreary and rainy and chilly El Niño Winter of 2023-2024 here in the Heartland of Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp