Category: History

5 weeks ago (5 Thursdays ago) I returned home from my Spring Break 2021 Road-Trip. It was a fun 5-day adventure traversing 624 miles through the 10 South and Central Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Okeechobee, Highlands, Hardee, Glades, Hendry, and Collier. I also barely touched Monroe County, and I saw its many islands.

Last Thursday I wrote on Day 5 – my final 202 miles from Lake Placid southward to Immokalee to Everglades City to Chokoloskee, and then back home to Homestead after 100½ hours on-the-road.

Here’s an interesting fact about this road-trip: It’s the first road-trip ever that I used Google Maps (on my iPhone) to guide me. I used it from start to finish – even when I knew exactly where I was going. It’s got a handy feature on there that tells you the exact time that you’ll be arriving at your destination based on your current driving. It also gives the number of miles remaining to get there. (I used to write everything down in advance on previous road-trips.)

Needless to say I’ll be using Google Maps on all future road-trips. I didn’t realize it did so much.

It was fun to plan this road-trip, and it was fun to actually experience what I planned (along with a few places that I did not plan). It was also fun to blog about it and share it with you over this past month of Thursdays.

How about an encore ? I’m ready to do it all over again !

And so now I’m proud to announce the 3 destinations of my next road-trip:

It’ll be a 4-day road-trip to Stuart, Fort Pierce, and Vero Beach along the Treasure Coast of Florida.

I’ve driven through Stuart, but I haven’t really visited the area before. The last time I spent any quality time in Fort Pierce was about 11 years ago. And Vero Beach I’ve only driven thru (really fast on the Interstate – a few decades ago).

So I’ll be visiting lots of new and exciting places in these 3 areas from northern Martin County through St. Lucie County to southern Indian River County (right along the immediate Atlantic coastline). I’ll be spending 3 nights at a hotel in Vero Beach. This is actually a road-trip that I had previously planned in 2018, but I canceled it because I ended-up going on another (work-related) road-trip to Middle Georgia.

Once I return from this upcoming road-trip I should have lots of fun memories to blog about for a month of Thursdays after.

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

4 weeks ago (4 Thursdays ago) I returned home from my Spring Break 2021 Road-Trip. It was a fun 5-day adventure traversing 624 miles through the 10 South and Central Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Okeechobee, Highlands, Hardee, Glades, Hendry, and Collier. I also barely touched Monroe County, and I saw its many islands.

Last Thursday I wrote on Day 4 – my final day in Highlands County (where I plan to retire) in South Central Florida. The story continues now:

On Day 5 I departed Highlands County shortly after sunrise. My first stop (at 9 AM) was in the small historic community of Immokalee in far-northern Collier County – a first-time-ever visit. I visited the Immokalee Pioneer Museum At Roberts Ranch – a branch of the Collier County museum system. I visited the Visitor’s Center (off the parking lot) thinking that was all there was to see there. Nearly a month later (as I’m writing this), and I find out that it was merely one of a whole bunch of historic buildings and exhibits on a sprawling 13-acre site. I wish I had known that while I was there. I wish I had a tour guide to tell me about the place – inside and outside. I would’ve gone “out back” to check it out. I guess I have a good reason to return there on a future road-trip.

After my short (and obviously incomplete) visit there I ventured due south to Everglades City – the first and former county seat of Collier County on the south coast of the mainland of Florida. It was supposed to be a major port city on the coast, but that never materialized. Nowadays a little over 400 residents call it home. I visited the Museum Of The Everglades there – another Collier County museum. I received excellent customer service there, and the museum was thriving for a Thursday morning in mid-February.

I’m intrigued about the history of Everglades City. I think on my next visit to Collier County I need to check-out that museum again – and then venture northward for a “do-over” at their museum in Immokalee.

My final stop was the end of the road – as far south as you can go in this area – Chokoloskee. I had never been beyond Everglades City before, so this was quite a discovery. I visited the historic Smallwood Store (which is actually a museum with a $5 admission). It’s actually worth it. There’s a lot of history to see inside that old building !

After my visit to the end of the road I headed back – all the way back home again. My 624-mile road-trip ended about 100½ hours after it began. It was full of fun and adventure from start to finish. I can’t wait to get back on the road again !

And I will get back on the road again soon for another road-trip. In fact next Thursday here on my blog I’ll reveal where my next road-trip will take me. (I’ve already got it all planned-out.)

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