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My November Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

#TravelThursday continues now with Part 4 of my 7-part blog series on my recent 18-day road-trip between South Florida and North Texas.

Last week I left-off on Day 6 in Dallas Texas when I visited the beautiful 66-acre Dallas Arboretum And Botanical Garden. Next time I drive to North Texas I hope to spend another half (or full) day there to see everything. On this visit they were all decorated for Christmas – which was a lot of fun, and it put me into the spirit of the season. I’d like to visit during another time of the year when they are holiday decoration-free. I took 40 photos of my trek around the park. I’ll be posting and captioning most of them onto my Flickr site early in 2022.

Days 7 and 8 were spent hanging out with my family (brother, sister-in-law, and 2 nieces). Day 8 – Thursday November 18TH 2021 – was actually supposed to be another mini-road-trip for me. I had planned to visit the nearby Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary, Historic Downtown McKinney (self-guided walking tour), Collin County History Museum, and lunch at the Cadillac Pizza Pub. None of that happened. It was a full-day of fun planned well in advance, and it’s all deferred to my next road-trip to North Texas in a couple of years. (My next road-trip there may be my inaugural post-retirement road-trip.)

So let’s hit Day 9 – Friday November 19TH 2021. This was an action-packed day of fun on my own. It was a cold morning to get started. I headed east to the small town of Nevada. (It’s pronounced “na-VAY-da”.) My first stop was an old roadside diner that’s very popular with the locals – Watkins Country Cafe. I walked-in, and every table was full. Two guys at a table saw me standing and waiting, and they quickly finished-up and gave me their table. (That’s small-town friendliness right there.)

After my Breakfast there I proceeded a couple of miles away to the Military Heritage Collection Of North Texas. It’s a military museum that’s operated entirely by volunteers and funded solely by donations. (There is no admission.) I posted a 5-star review on Tripadvisor. This museum visit was the biggest surprise of my road-trip. This is the type of place that I would volunteer at if I lived in the local area.

From the military museum I proceeded over to the “Dallas” museum – as in the “Dallas” TV series – the Southfork Ranch. This was my 2ND visit. My 1ST visit was perhaps a dozen years earlier with my brother, but I don’t remember much of it. On this visit I took the guided tour – which starts as a tram tour behind the gift shop and museum. It continues as a walking tour inside the mansion (both floors). After that the tour is over, but you are free to roam the grounds of the ranch and walk inside many of the buildings within the compound. You can really spend a good half-day there checking it all out.

I became an unlikely fan of the “Dallas” TV series over in England of all places – over 8 years after its U.S. debut. Me and a couple of my military dorm buddies gathered each week to watch (and be mesmerized by) the latest episode that was being shown on the BBC. I ended-up watching the series until its 1991 ending after 14 seasons, and I also simultaneously caught-up on the reruns of the show from 1978 to 1986. I think I watched every single episode ever made, and I also watched the 40 episodes of the 2012 to 2014 reboot.

I drove an additional 47 miles on that Friday, so that’s 1,451 miles in 9 days of driving to North Texas and while there.

And that’s where I’ll end Part 4 of this 7-part blog series. I’ll continue with my road-trip adventures and experiences next #TravelThursday. I’ll fast-forward a full week to Day 16 – and the start of my long road-trip back home to South Florida.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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My November Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

#TravelThursday continues now with Part 3 of my 7-part blog series on my recent 18-day road-trip between South Florida and North Texas.

At the crack of dawn of Day 3 of my road-trip I was back on the road again – across the 4,205-foot-long Natchez-Vidalia Bridge high atop (125 feet above) the mighty Mississippi River below. When I crossed the bridge I was the only one, so there was not the usual stress involved in doing so like at the various other river crossings. (I’m scared of heights, so I get nervous driving on tall bridges. It’s exasperated by tailgaters.)

It was a clear, crisp, and cold Saturday morning in the upper-30s and lower-40s in the Louisiana “low country” near the river. It was my coldest morning in a long time. Luckily it was in the mid-to-upper-60s in my car with the heater on low.

I continued west-southwestward to Alexandria Louisiana where I left behind the old U.S. highway system and network of back roads, and I rejoined America’s Interstate highways via I-49. I took that northwestward up to Shreveport – Louisiana’s 3RD-largest city. About 400,000 residents live in its metro area. Louisiana State University (#LSU) has a large campus in Shreveport, and it’s also the home of the 22,000+ acre Barksdale Air Force Base.

I picked-up I-20 westward out of Shreveport, and I took that to Longview Texas – where I stopped for a Texas BBQ Lunch (which was not very good at all – think “gas station food”). I also left behind the Interstates, opting instead for U.S. 80, U.S. 69, and a series of state and local roads en route to my family’s house in the northeastern suburbs of Dallas.

I arrived at my brother’s and sister-in-law’s house right at 2 PM on Saturday November 13TH 2021. I drove 376 miles on this final leg, so that’s 1,357 miles in 3 days of driving to North Texas.

I had planned to visit a small church on the outskirts of my family’s neighborhood (less than a mile away from their house). I had previously (in the weeks prior) done a lot of research on churches (of all sizes) within the local area. I looked at about a dozen churches online. I eventually had it narrowed down to 3 churches, and then 2 churches, and then a single church. The church I finally selected (over the other 2) started its service at 10:45 AM on Sunday.

I ended-up not attending a church service. Family comes first, and immediate family comes before church family. My brother planned a family Lunch together to celebrate our Mom’s birthday, so we did that on my first Sunday there. We enjoyed a fun Lunch at a Japanese restaurant where you order off the menu, and then the cook arrives a few minutes later, gathers-up all of the ingredients, and then cooks your meal on the large hibachi grill right in front of you while putting on a show. It was a lot of fun, and the food was pretty good too.

2 days later (on Tuesday November 16TH 2021) on an unusually warm day in the 70s (approaching 80°F) I went on a short road-trip (within the road-trip) on my own. It was also planned well in advance. After a hot and delicious Breakfast at a historic downtown district diner I ventured about 20 miles southwestward into the city limits of Dallas.

I visited the 66-acre Dallas Arboretum And Botanical Garden. I’ve wanted to visit this place for a few years now, and now I’ve done so. I didn’t get to see all 66 acres of it, but I got to see a vast majority of it during my 3-hour visit. I know I say this often: I could’ve spent all day there. I actually bought my timed-admission and parking fee online the day before. (I think you have to do it that way. I’m not sure that you can just show-up whenever you feel like it and pay to get in during this post-COVID environment.) I took 40 photos of my trek through the arboretum. Most of them will make it onto my Flickr site, but here’s 4 of the best right here:

About 6 miles away was the George W. Bush Presidential Library And Museum at Southern Methodist University (#SMU), and that’s where I spent a couple of hours that afternoon. I had never been to a Presidential Library before. It was very educational, informative, and interesting. I’d like to visit other Presidential libraries around the country.

I drove an additional 47 miles on that Tuesday, so that’s 1,404 miles in 6 days of driving to North Texas and while there.

And that’s where I’ll end Part 3 of this 7-part blog series. I’ll continue with my road-trip adventures and experiences next #TravelThursday. I’ll tell you about a few places that I did not visit on that first Thursday in North Texas. (Again – family comes first.) And then I’ll tell you all about two places that I did visit the next day on that first Friday.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Driving Food Travel

Whataburger

I’m not much of a fast food consumer. In fact here at home I generally avoid all of the big fast food restaurants. (I don’t consider Starbucks or Panera as fast food; although, a case could be made that they are.)

They say “When in Texas – eat at Whataburger“. I don’t know who “they” are, but I understand it. There are hundreds (870+) Whataburger locations across the deep U.S. south – most of them (700+) in Texas. They were founded in Corpus Christi in 1950, and their corporate headquarters is in San Antonio.

There are actually 37 locations along the I-10 corridor of the Florida Panhandle eastward from Pensacola to Jacksonville and its beaches. My family used to live in Jacksonville and its suburbs. That’s when I discovered the Whataburger experience.

There’s nothing really special about the experience. They specialize in burgers and fries. They also serve chicken and fish sandwiches, sodas, shakes, and pies. It’s your typical fast food fare. The prices are comparable to all other fast food restaurants. I think the service is a little different in that you order and pay at the counter, and if you’re eating-in then they give you a numbered placard which you take to your seat. They then bring your order to you – no matter how small or large it is. They also bring you an entire tray of condiments, and then you select which ones you want.

I always try to remember to order the apple pie. They make it the way McDonald’s used to make it a long time ago – fried and piping-hot !

I didn’t get a chance to enjoy the Whataburger experience on my last few visits to North Texas, so I made it a point to do so on my recent visit. I ate once while there, and then I enjoyed an encore shortly after the start of my long drive home just after leaving Texas on the south side of Shreveport Louisiana. Both experiences were positive, and I was no longer hungry following my burger and fries meal.

You know I forgot to order the fried apple pie on my 2ND visit. I won’t make that mistake again next time.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Blogging Driving Food Holidays Military Travel

My November Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

I have returned back home (where I belong) to Homestead Florida after 18 days on the road between here in South Florida (30 miles southwest of Miami) and my family’s home in North Texas (25 miles northeast of Dallas).

#TravelThursday continues now with a recap of my adventures and experiences along this extended multi-holiday road-trip. In fact I’ll be looking back on this road-trip for the next 7 Thursdays (starting today). I’ve got a lot to cover. I’ve got a lot to look back at with joy. If you’re interested in this trip then read on and stay tuned, for we’ll visit some fun places together (virtually).

Let’s get started – at the crack of dawn on Thursday November 11TH (Veterans Day here in the U.S.A.), as that’s when this road-trip commenced. I took Florida State Road 997 (known locally as Krome Avenue) onto U.S. 27 up the spine of the Florida peninsula. I refer to Krome and the southern portion of U.S. 27 as the #CMDRH. (That stands for the “Chris M. Day Retirement Highway” – for obvious reasons.)

Every military veteran knows that on Veterans Day you can pretty much eat for free at selected restaurants for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Many restaurants offer free portions of meals (appetizers, desserts), and other restaurants offer assorted discounts. Denny’s and Bob Evans are two restaurant chains that offer free meals on Veterans Day. As I cruised up U.S. 27 into Central Florida I intended to stop at either restaurant – as long as the respective parking lot wasn’t jam-packed. I passed by about a half-dozen Denny’s and Bob Evans locations that were bustling with cars and people – even lines waiting to get in. An ideal situation would’ve been to eat at Denny’s for Breakfast (free) – and then Bob Evans for Lunch or Dinner (free). I finally found a Bob Evans with a few empty parking spaces at around 11 AM in Clermont, so that’s where Lunch was to be. After a short wait in line I enjoyed a nice, hearty, and delicious “Country-Fried Steak – Dinner Bell Plate”. #Yum

After my free meal at Bob Evans I continued up the road, over to the Nature Coast (“Big Bend”) of Florida, into the Panhandle, and just past Tallahassee for my first night’s pitstop. I drove 519 miles on Day 1 of my 18-day road-trip.

On Day 2 I took I-10 westward for another 180 miles to the Alabama state line. That’s right – it took me nearly 700 miles just to get out of Florida !

Incidentally driving through Pensacola along I-10 is never fun. It’s actually rather intimidating (for me). It’s a close call as to which stretch of I-10 in the Florida Panhandle is more challenging – Tallahassee or Pensacola. In both cases I-10 skirts the northern fringes of the cities (rather than traversing right through the middle of them). But due to the combination of local and Interstate traffic there’s a whole lot of merging going on, and merging traffic gives me anxiety attacks.

Rivaling both Tallahassee and Pensacola is I-10 through Mobile Alabama. I prefer to cruise the scenic route along Battleship Parkway (the concurrency of U.S. 90 / 98 which runs adjacent to and closer to the water than I-10).

I wrote about Mobile Alabama 4 weeks ago here on #TravelThursday. On this visit (on Friday November 12TH) I drove past a few more places that I’d like to spend some quality time at in the future – including the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. I really need to return to Mobile and spend several days there exploring the attractions of the city on both land and sea. It would also be nice to spend more quality time with my friends there.

I did make a 90-minute stop in Semmes (a suburb northwest of Mobile). I think I know about a dozen people who live in or near Semmes who also lived in Homestead 10 years ago. I ate with one of those people. I enjoyed good Thai food and fellowship with one of my great friends. I’ve known her for nearly 15 years – since the first 3 minutes of my very first Sunday morning church service as a born-again Christian on January 21ST 2007.

And that’s where I’ll end Part 1 of this 7-part blog series. I’ll continue with my road-trip adventures and experiences next #TravelThursday. We’ll cruise-up U.S. 98 into Mississippi, and we’ll cross the state via old rural U.S. highways – over to the eastern bank of the mighty Mississippi River.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries