Category: Geography

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1990s Blogging Career Driving Geography Home Military Travel Weather

Post Hurricane Andrew

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. 31 years ago this morning on August 24TH 1992 Hurricane Andrew struck Homestead Florida, and within just a couple of hours its winds caused catastrophic destruction across the region. It was unlike anything I had ever lived through before or since. And that’s all I’ll say about it. I’m actually glad that I’m not in Homestead today, as on this day every year it’s what’s on everyone’s mind – that night / morning that lives were changed forever. I don’t like to talk about it. I don’t like to write about it. So I won’t.

Later that same week on that Friday morning I departed the death and destruction of Homestead and drove up Florida’s Turnpike and I-95. The next day I arrived at my former home from when I was a teenager – where my parents, little brother, and cats still lived – in Fairfax County Virginia. On that Monday morning – exactly a week after Hurricane Andrew – I arrived at Andrews AFB on the other side of the Capital Beltway in Prince Georges County Maryland (where I actually grew-up from 1969 to 1980). I checked-in as a “refugee” of Hurricane Andrew. I was not the only one. Others had beaten me there.

For the next 6 months I was stationed at Andrews AFB doing almost exactly the same job that I had left behind at Homestead AFB. I was welcomed with open arms at my new office. I was considered as that extra special bonus person that they didn’t know they would get. I fit right in. It turned out to be the greatest (and last) 6 months (out of 8 years) of my entire USAF active duty tour.

I actually lived in a dormitory room on-base during the week – generally from Sunday afternoons to Friday mornings. On Friday afternoons after work I’d circumnavigate almost half of the Beltway in a clockwise (inner-loop) direction. (What fun that rush hour traffic was.) On the return-trip back to the base on Sunday afternoons (with less traffic) I’d “cut-through” Washington D.C. diagonally from Virginia into Maryland.

Fun Fact: Back then I drove a red 1989 Geo Spectrum. It was the first brand-new car I ever bought. I bought it at Tropical Chevrolet on Biscayne Boulevard (U.S. 1) in Miami Shores Florida. (That dealership is still there today with the same name.) I owned that car for over 8 years, and I put 96,745 miles on it.

That was a crazy time in my life – albeit only 6 months – living and working in the metro area that I grew-up in from age 2 to 18. Yep – 31 years ago I was traversing the Interstate Highway System like I owned it, and not only that – I was on the Capital Beltway. I don’t drive on Interstate highways anymore except in rare circumstances (like rural portions of long road trips to and from North Texas). I generally stick with old U.S. highways and state roads. I feel more comfortable on them in my older age.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll share my coast-to-coast travel adventures along U.S. 192 and I-4 in Central Florida from exactly 30 years ago. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Blogging Commerce Geography History Shopping Travel

Historic Downtown Sebring

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I’m currently on my 11TH stay here in Sebring Florida since purchasing my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream town in my dream part of Florida. I bought in February, and I’ve been here in Sebring for over half that time. My average stay has been about 9 nights. (I’m approaching my 100TH night here in Sebring.)

When I’m not hanging out with my new friends here in my new neighborhood – or over at the Sebring Historical Society – I’m working at home from my office. (I haven’t retired yet.)

Yesterday I decided to take a day off from work (on official leave) and spend some extra time in historic downtown Sebring. I spent about 2½ hours hanging out with my friends at the Sebring Historical Society. We have some big changes coming up, as well as some big events. We’re losing one of our two historic houses, but we’re enhancing and sprucing-up our remaining one – the Charles F. Weigle House Museum – with an expanded gift shop. I’ll write about that in the weeks to come.

I’ve written about our Museum previously here on #TravelThursday, and I’ll be writing about it a lot more in the future. I plan to be a docent there once I’m retired and living full-time here in Sebring in the new year, and I’ll probably work the gift shop as well. I also plan to write about (promote) our Museum across multiple social media platforms that I’m active on.

Later yesterday morning I ventured over to Strangely Warmed Coffee Co. They are a specialty coffee roaster located in a quaint warehouse just off “The Circle” in historic downtown Sebring.

Fun Fact # 1 – Specialty coffees are markedly different from regular coffees in the sense that they are grown at higher elevations, are traceable, and are processed and graded carefully once harvested.

Fun Fact # 2 – Specialty coffee goes beyond the quality of the beans. The processing, brewing, and roasting are equally important to have a great coffee experience that represents one of the world’s most affordable luxuries.

I met Steve – a co-owner of the company – and he gave me the grand tour of the facility. It was very impressive. It’s a smooth operation. After that we just talked for about an hour. We eventually realized how small our world was. He’s one of my neighbors. He lives in the same exact model condo as I do. Furthermore – he knows one of the Directors of the Sebring Historical Society. They attend the same church together. Finally – my own church here in Sebring serves Strangely Warmed Coffee. (I had no idea.) He knows my Pastor !

I already consider Steve a friend. I’ll be visiting him at his workplace every so often just to hang out for a little while, and to also buy a bag of dark roast coffee (in K-Cups) from him. He gave me a cup of coffee while I was there, and I drank it all up during our conversation. It was definitely very good. It was smoother than grocery store-bought K-Cups. I may have bought my last box of K-Cups from Publix.

Strangely Warmed Coffee Co. is on Facebook, and you can also visit their official web site. Check them out. They also sell their coffee in a few local area stores, and they serve it in a few local area restaurants. I’ll probably write about them again here on my blog and across social media.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at my very first Caribbean cruise from exactly 32 years ago. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Blogging Commerce Driving Geography Shopping Travel

Let’s Go To The Mall !

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. There’s no denying that America’s love affair with traditional interior shopping malls is over. We first discovered and got excited about them back in the 1960s, as strip shopping centers were enclosed and expanded. Newly-constructed malls dotted the American landscape during its heyday in the 1970s. You could spend hours or even all day at the mall – protected from the elements outside – whether it be summertime heat or wintertime cold or wind or rain or snow. It was the hip social place to be for all ages during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Many of us “grew up” inside malls – at our favorite stores and restaurants. Parking spaces were especially hard to find from the day after Thanksgiving through the New Year. Remember when helicopters hovered above mall parking lots during the holiday season to report on traffic going in and coming out ?

But then – what goes up – must come down. The slow demise of the shopping mall began shortly after the turn of the 21ST century as we dialed-in and connected to the Interwebs to buy things. (Some would even say that it really started its decline during the late-1990s with the rise of Walmart and Target and Best Buy and other “big box” stores.)

Nowadays what used to be shopping malls are now open-air shopping centers – or vacant plots of land where the mall once stood – or still a mall with few signs of life. Of course there are some areas around the country where shopping malls are not just still alive – but also thriving. (South Florida is one of those areas.)

There are web sites and social media pages that are dedicated to dead malls. They are full of photos from yesteryear when they once thrived – as well as what they look like today – if they even exist today.

Here in my new hometown of Sebring Florida – just 4 miles from my neighborhood – we have the only traditional shopping mall in the county – Lakeshore Mall – and it’s a dead mall. It’s still there. It’s been there since early-1992 (built in 1991). I imagine that it was a booming mall during its first decade of existence. (There are several thousand parking spaces surrounding the mall.) Nowadays – it’s quite the opposite. More than half of the mall (more like three-quarters of it) is vacant. The only movie theatre in the county is inside, and it seems to be doing fine. To bring in customers the mall hosts various flea markets and special community events, and even BINGO once a month in the former food court. They actually do a pretty good job promoting these events on their Facebook page.

As long as the air conditioning is working (which is suspect) it’s actually a nice place to get in out of the summertime heat of South Central Florida, but you’re not going to spend a lot of time there unless you’re seeing a movie or walking laps around the mall. I should add that there is a 24-hour (during the week) Planet Fitness inside the mall.

I’m rooting for the survival of our mall. It needs a really popular anchor store to bring in the residents. I’m not sure what that store could be.

Footnote: One of the main entrances to the mall from busy U.S. 27 is actually blocked. Why ? The big sign for the mall is leaning and about to come crashing down !

Next #TravelThursday – Let’s drink some coffee. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Blogging Driving Geography Travel

Florida State Road 80

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Every time I drive between my old home in Homestead and my new home near Sebring (185 miles apart) I drive along a 25-mile portion of Florida State Road 80. It’s actually the 25-mile concurrency with U.S. 27 in Hendry and Palm Beach Counties.

(A concurrency is where a single road or highway shares different names or route numbers.)

Fun Facts: Florida State Road 80 was built (and completed) about 100 years ago – when cars were big and loud. It was originally known as Florida State Road 25 from coast-to-coast (Gulf to Atlantic). Strangely – it is still known as (hidden) State Road 25 at the 25-mile concurrency with U.S. 27.

At the 25 of 25 & 27 & 80 (see what I did there ?) it’s mostly a 55 to 65 MPH rural highway traversing west / east between Clewiston and South Bay. (Speed limits drop dramatically within the limits of the two cities.)

Between Clewiston and South Bay the road wraps around the bottom of the giant dike that surrounds Lake Okeechobee. (You actually can’t see the lake because of the giant 3-story-tall dike.) Some much-needed road milling, paving, and striping is occurring in this area. Before work began – the highway was in rough shape – like it had been neglected for several decades. Once work is completed this will be a smooth ride.

The eastern end of the concurrency of 25 & 27 & 80 is in South Bay. Florida State Road 80 pulls off by itself and runs from there to the famous A1A along the Atlantic coast in Palm Beach.

There’s a western portion of Florida State Road 80 that I’ve been on a couple of times this month, and strangely – it’s another 25-mile portion that runs between Fort Myers and Labelle.

Next #TravelThursday – Let’s go to the mall. Let’s keep traveling together.

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