Category: History

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Texas Theatre

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. And welcome to my 1,400TH blog post since January 2018 when I resurrected this blog here on WordPress and brought it home from Facebook.

It’s a pleasure to continue to blog about Travel, God, and Music on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays respectively. Thank You for checking-in to my blog on any or all of those days.

A couple of Tuesday afternoons ago I drove from Sebring over to the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ). It’s a 76-mile drive via mostly rural roads. It usually takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The roads are suburban along the 20-mile trek closest to the airport. Rapidly growing Manatee County continues to rapidly develop new neighborhoods eastward.

My flight from #SRQ to #DFW was smooth and peaceful, and we got to the gate early – so early that we had to wait a few minutes before our gate was available to pull the aircraft (737) up to.

My brother was there to pick me up, and we enjoyed a late dinner at Jollibee – a popular Filipino fast-food restaurant with locations in Asia, Europe, and North America. It’s become a tradition for me and my brother to eat there on the way to his house after picking me up at the airport. I had a chicken sandwich with fries.

The next day for lunch we went to Starwood Cafe in a pouring-down rainstorm. Me and my brother had a Monte Cristo sandwich with fries.

OK – here’s the reason why I flew to Dallas Texas. It’s not to eat delicious sandwiches; although, one of the few things that I love about North Texas (other than family) is its food – especially steak.

I actually came to Dallas Texas for the world premiere of a brand-new independent motion picture at the historic Texas Theatre. My brother is the top-name star of it, and I’m an extra in it. I filmed my scenes last November during my last visit. The name of the movie is Retro Freaks II. It’s the first movie I’ve ever appeared in, and YES – I actually have a small speaking part in the movie as a protestor in a mob scene. It was also my first world premiere of a movie. (No red carpet for this movie.)

So – about the historic Texas Theatre. It’s located at 231 West Jefferson Boulevard in the Oak Cliff neighborhood southwest of downtown Dallas. Oak Cliff’s history dates back to the mid-1880s. It used to be its own incorporated town until Dallas annexed it as part of its own in 1903. The Texas Theatre was built in 1930 and opened in 1931. It was quite the modern and state-of-the-art theatre when it opened. It’s where Lee Harvey Oswald hid, was found, and was arrested on November 22ND 1963 for the suspected assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy about an hour earlier. The movie theatre was open from 1931 to 1989, and then it was mostly closed to the public for 21 years. It was added to the National Register Of Historic Places in 2003. It reopened in 2010 after several remodels, renovations, and restorations along with ownership transfers.

There’s a lot of history in that 94-year-old building, and it was fun to just look around at everything in it. I’m a fan of procuring, preserving, protecting, and promoting the history around us.

Next #TravelThursday – my Dallas Texas adventure with family continues, and there are more chicken sandwiches involved – as well as visits inside a grade school and a high school for the first time since I was a kid a long time ago. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Florida Medal Of Honor Memorial

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This week I’m writing about my first-time visit a little over 3 weeks ago to our newest museum right here in my hometown of Sebring Florida. It’s the Florida Medal Of Honor Memorial.

Their Mission is “to honor and preserve the legacy of Florida Medal of Honor recipients through education, leadership, and inspiring displays, ensuring their courage and sacrifice are never forgotten.”

24 Medal of Honor recipients are Floridians – including our very own Major Thomas “Mickey” McGuire Jr. (1920-1945; Sebring High School Class of 1938). Check out his displays inside the Visitors Center.

What a wonderful Memorial (outside) and a beautiful Visitors Center (inside). It’s a fantastic addition to downtown Sebring, and as a Director of a neighboring historical museum – I welcome them to the family. I went home that night, and the next day I wrote them a check to cover a 5-year membership for myself. I want to be part of their growth and evolution. I want to support them in any way that I can.

Fun Fact: Surrounding the museum and the memorial are mostly (90%) native Florida plants – over 650 of them – including over 40 species. The plants were selected based on their colors, textures, and interactions with wildlife – attracting and supporting local butterflies, birds, and beneficial insects.

They are located at the corner of South Commerce and South Eucalyptus in downtown Sebring – 0.4 miles from our Circle – right next to the Highlands County Government Center. They are open 5 days a week – Tuesdays to Saturdays – from 10 AM to 4 PM. In addition to their official web site (hyperlinked above) – you can check them out on both Facebook and X.

Mama Told Me Not To Come, but The Show Must Go On, so we’ll Shambala An Old Fashioned Love Song Out In The Country – at least this One time, so that there is Joy To The World for the Black And White – next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Arcadia Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It’s Equinox Day – the Spring Equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere and the Autumnal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. It occurs at 0501 U.S. East Coast Time / 0901 UTC. The Sun crosses the Equator at that precise moment on its trek northward to the Tropic Of Cancer.

Last week I wrote about my fun trip over to Arcadia Florida – 43 miles away from home. I visited the historic John Morgan Ingraham House Museum of the DeSoto County Historical Society. I also enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the cozy and quaint The Yellow Deli.

And this is where the story continues. After lunch I took a stroll down historic Oak Street, and I visited numerous antique stores. The historic district known formally as “Arcadia Main Street” is mostly antique stores, and they all appear to be thriving. Some stores even have multiple locations. Arcadia is informally known as “The Antique Capital Of Florida”. I don’t buy antiques, but I actually enjoy visiting antique stores just to see the 20TH Century memorabilia on display and for sale. Antique stores are like mini museums. On many visits to the Wichita Falls Texas area to hang out with my family there we often went on short road trips around the region to visit antique stores.

There were a lot of cowboys and cowgirls walking along Oak Street, as well as full tour buses unloading near The Tree Of Knowledge (a small downtown park with an old oak tree as its centerpiece). It didn’t take me very long to figure out that this was a special event weekend in Arcadia. In fact – it was Rodeo Weekend. Specifically – it was the start of the 4-day “97TH Annual Arcadia All-Florida Championship Rodeo“. My timing is impeccable. I picked the perfect day to be amongst hundreds of tourists along Oak Street. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Historic Downtown Arcadia was vibrant with life on that Thursday morning !

This was my first visit to Arcadia. I had driven through a few times previously along U.S. 17 and Florida State Road 70. Both roads actually split into one-way roads through downtown Arcadia. It’s a nice small town with a fun historic pedestrian-friendly Main Street. I’ll be sure to visit again and again in the future. The coffee smelled really good as I walked by The Florida Farmhouse Coffee. Next time I won’t be walking by. I’ll be stepping in.

It’s back home to Sebring – and a first-time visit to our newest museum – next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Arcadia Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I finally made it to Arcadia Florida last Thursday. I left home – up in the Poconos of Florida – (more on that in a future edition) – and I arrived 43 miles and less than hour later in the historic district known formally as “Arcadia Main Street“.

I parked my car in one of their many public parking lots, and I walked a block down Hickory Street (Florida State Road 70 westbound) through lots of road construction over to residential Monroe Avenue – straight to the John Morgan Ingraham House Museum of the DeSoto County Historical Society.

I greeted the docent on duty – Kathy Bryce – and then she greeted me. She gave me a nice guided tour of the historic “Florida Cracker” house from the late-19TH Century. John Morgan Ingraham – a Florida Congressman – lived in the house from 1919 to 1980. (He lived 97 years.) The house is included on a 3,400-acre parcel of land that is on the National Register Of Historic Places.

The house includes original equipment, furniture, and artifacts. Nearly everything is identified and labeled uniformly. I took-in many mental notes during my walk-through. I also met and enjoyed a brief conversation with one of their Directors – Carol Mahler. She knew a few of our leaders at the Sebring Historical Society. I left their Museum with lots of great ideas for our own similar historic house Museum.

They are open 6 or 7 days a month on Thursdays and the 2ND & 4TH Saturdays of the month from 9 AM to 1 PM. They close for 3 months each Summer. I hope to visit the Museum again before they close for the Summer to walk around on my own and talk more with Kathy and Carol. They are doing a lot of good things over there with lots of events. I’m looking forward to hearing more about them. They are preparing for their upcoming annual celebration known as “Pioneer Day”.

After my visit to the Museum I walked over to The Yellow Deli to enjoy an early Lunch. Their official web site lists 33 locations worldwide in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Their Arcadia location is one of the highest-rated online in the city. Several reviewers stated that they enjoyed “the best Reuben ever”. Since the Reuben is one of my favorite sandwiches I decided to give it a try. It was good, but not the greatest ever. I prefer my Reuben to be between well-toasted rye bread. The bread was not toasted at all, but surprisingly it wasn’t too soggy. I’d actually order it again. It came with potato chips and a nice-sized dill pickle.

Time to walk off my Lunch, but I think I’ll continue my Arcadia Main Street adventure – next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp