Category: Food

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Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my misadventures on Albany Georgia‘s Liberty Expressway (U.S. 82). I also wrote about Tifton and Waycross in South Georgia.

Back on the morning of Day 2 of my April retirement road-trip – I drove out of Florida and into Alabama via I-10 on one of the two portions of Interstate highway that was part of my road-trip. 15 days later – I’ve returned home to Florida. I missed Florida. I love it so much. I’ve lived here for over 36 years, and I’ll be here until the end.

I visited a friend / former coworker of mine from Homestead who now lives happily ever after – retired – in the Yulee area. Yulee is actually not an incorporated village, town, or city. It’s a broad census area northeast of Jacksonville, and it serves as a suburb of the big city. It’s the population center of Nassau County – located in the northeast corner of Florida. It’s a mostly young military region – with U.S. Navy bases to the north and south. It’s a rapidly growing area, and there are an abundance of new homes, stores, and restaurants under construction. Traffic was very busy in both directions (east and west) along the main thoroughfare – Florida State Road 200. They even have a “diverging diamond interchange” over I-95.

Fernandina Beach and the adjacent beachside communities were originally on my itinerary for Day 17 of my road-trip, but I opted to stay and hang out and reminisce with my friend at his house instead. I’ve actually been to Fernandina Beach before on a daytrip with my Mom and Dad when they actually lived in Jacksonville in the late-1990s and most of the 2000s. I want to visit again on a future road-trip. On an early rendition of my road-trip itinerary – Day 18 would’ve taken me from Yulee – over to Fernandina Beach – down A1A / U.S. 1 for 250+ miles to Vero Beach or Fort Pierce – and then finally inland from there to return home. (There was even a Day 19 considered as well.)

But I really love my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida, and by this time I was homesick and exhausted. I wanted to get back home and relax and recuperate and return to my daily life.

So – I did just that on Day 18. I drove away from the Yulee area – westward and southward along Florida State Road 200, and onto U.S. 301, U.S. 441, Florida State Road 33, a series of old narrow backroads in northern Polk County (following Google Maps), and back to U.S. 27. I stopped for Lunch at a very busy Sizzling Grill in Lake Wales, and then 29 miles down the road – I was back home again.

Next #TravelThursday on the Fourth Of July – I’ll summarize and wrap-up my April retirement road-trip with lots of fun numbers on America’s 248TH Birthday. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Astronomy Blogging Driving Food Geography Travel

Arkansas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about spending 8 days with my family in Wylie Texas and a day with another part of my family in the Wichita Falls Texas area. I got to experience the total solar eclipse in my family’s backyard. I’ll remember that event for the rest of my life. Maybe I’ll be around for a 2ND such event in 2045 when I’m 78.

I’m up to Day 14 now, and it’s time to head back towards the great state of Florida, but first I have another 1,432 miles to go over the next 5 days.

U.S. 82 would be my favored route eastward out of Wichita Falls and across North Texas, South Arkansas, North Mississippi, Central Alabama, and South Georgia.

My first stop on a gloomy and chilly Sunday morning was in Paris Texas. I visited the 65-foot-tall Eiffel Tower, as well as the adjacent Red River Valley Veterans Memorial.

I’ve actually been to the top of the real Eiffel Tower in Paris France. That was in April 1987 when I was living and working in England. Me and some coworker friends visited Paris during Easter Weekend that year.

Following lunch at Whataburger – I continued my trek eastward. I hit Texarkana Texas – and of course – Texarkana Arkansas – once I crossed over State Line Avenue. That ended my 10-day stay in Texas from Day 4 to 14 of my retirement road-trip. I’ll be back in Texas in November.

About 150,000 residents live within the Texarkana metro area, and both Texarkanas are cities that I’d like to explore further on a future road-trip – even a walking trip downtown right along the state line. (I didn’t stop on this trip.)

Fun Fact: I’ve been to 29 U.S. states during my lifetime, and Arkansas was the 29TH state – when I drove into the state from Louisiana via I-49 into Texarkana on a previous road-trip to Wichita Falls Texas in September 2016.

An observation that I quickly noticed was that Arkansas had a nicer and better maintained highway than Texas. Of course – I’m essentially comparing U.S. 82 in Texas with U.S. 82 in Arkansas. The Texas side (much of it concrete rather than asphalt) was a bit rough in sections, and much of it appeared to be untouched in decades. Meanwhile – it looked like the Arkansas side was recently modernized, repaved, and restriped. A lot of Texas roads don’t have striping – other than an abundance of red curbs and lines marking fire lanes. (All of the state’s road-striping money must go towards red paint rather than yellow and white paint.)

The drive across the far-south of Arkansas (“The Natural State”) was rather pleasant and scenic. Just before El Dorado (where I spent the night) – I passed across the future I-69 corridor.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll continue my trek into the Arkansas Delta of the Mighty Mississippi River. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Astronomy Blogging Driving Food Geography History Travel

North Texas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my Thursday afternoon in downtown Marshall Texas where I visited the historic Starr Family Home, the Harrison County Historical Museum, and finally – Pazzeria By Pietro’s. After that – I checked-in to my hotel for the night. It was very difficult to find, as it was hidden deep from the main thoroughfare (U.S. 59) behind a lot of road construction in an awkward location alongside I-20 eastbound near the dead end of a frontage road.

But I eventually found it, and it would be my 4TH and final night in a row in a hotel room.

The next morning – I arrived at my destination – my family’s house in Wylie Texas. After 5 days I had driven 1,216 miles northwestward across Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. I would not drive again for the next 7 days. My brother or sister-in-law did all of the driving to and from errands, stores, and restaurants. We also went to church on Sunday morning. (I wrote about that on a previous #SundayScripture.)

This is #TravelThursday – not #FamilyBusinessThursday, so everything that we did together for 8 days will stay private; however, I will write about one thing, and that’s the total solar eclipse on Monday April 08TH 2024.

Most people never experience one, as they are so rare at any given location. It was my first (and perhaps last) experience of total darkness during the daytime. It lasted for not quite 4 minutes. I wasn’t planning to look at the sun and the moon together, but my brother and sister-in-law each had special glasses to view the eclipse, so I used one of them to check it out for myself during the minutes leading-up to the big event. Once the moon completely covered the sun – we experienced darkness. It wasn’t like “Midnight darkness”, as it was more like perhaps “an hour after sunset darkness”, and then it was like “an hour before sunrise darkness”. It was like nautical twilight (the scientific term for it). My family lives right behind an elementary school, and I think all of the kids were outside experiencing it, and they were cheering loudly as darkness descended. It was quite eerie to see a few of the planets (especially bright Venus) and the stars out during this darkness. We had our family dog out, and he had no reaction to it. I think the birds flying around were confused. I may have heard some crickets chirping. No roosters though.

And then it appeared as if a bright flashlight were shining down on us from the reemergence of a tiny slither of the sun, and then it slowly got back to normal “two-in-the-afternoon daylight” after that. We had mostly cloudy skies during the event, but there was enough break in the clouds to see the sun and the moon in-between the clouds (with special glasses), and even behind the clouds (carefully – without glasses). What a spectacular event it was. I’m glad that I can now tell everyone that I’ve experienced this once-in-a-lifetime event (for me anyway). If I’m still around on August 12TH 2045 – then maybe I’ll get to see a 2ND total solar eclipse.

I spent Days 5 to 12 of my retirement road-trip with my family in Wylie Texas, and then early on Day 13 – I hit the road again to the Wichita Falls Texas area (about 155 miles away) to visit family there. My Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin have lived there since the late-1960s.

There are a few things that I like about Texas. (Food comes to mind.) But my favorite thing about Texas are my family and their pets. As long as family lives in Texas – I’ll keep visiting Texas. But I wouldn’t want to live in Texas. I just love Florida !

Next #TravelThursday – It’s off to Paris. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

Categories
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