Category: History

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Blogging Driving Food Geography History Travel

The Ringling

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. A couple of months ago I visited The Ringling estate in Sarasota Florida. It was another field trip with the Sebring Historical Society – the group that I serve with. I was with a group of about 30.

Our chartered bus departed from the parking lot of our museum at 8:43 AM. The drive to the Gulf Coast took a little less than 2 hours. Our first stop in Sarasota was Der Dutchman – a large Amish-style restaurant, bakery, and gift shop. At the restaurant you can either order off the menu or enjoy the buffet. (Our “all-inclusive” trip included the buffet.) We arrived there as Breakfast was wrapping-up and Lunch was just getting started. Some in our group enjoyed a late-Breakfast. I enjoyed a hearty Lunch. It was all good. I think my favorite dish was their slow-cooked old-fashioned Roast Beef. It was quite delicious and juicy. We spent over 2 hours there eating, browsing, and shopping.

Our next stop was the Ringling estate. We spent 3 hours there, and our group pretty much split-up to tour the museums and grounds at our own individual paces. I visited much of the estate to include both circus museums and Ca’ d’Zan (“House of John” in Venetian) – John and Mable Ringling’s personal residence (built from 1924 to 1926) overlooking Sarasota Bay.

My favorite part of the circus museum was the 38,000-square-foot / 42,000+ piece miniature circus display that was essentially a ¾-inch-to-the-foot scale (1:16) model of a typical 24-hour day in the life of the Ringling Brothers And Barnum & Bailey Circus during the 1920s and 1930s. I think that was probably my favorite part of the entire estate. I did a walkthrough at the beginning of my visit, but there were so many other people doing the same thing that I couldn’t fully enjoy it, so I returned a couple of hours later to check it all out again in greater detail with far less people around. Circus fan Howard Charles Tibbals designed and built the model from 1956 to 1974 (age 20 to 38). It premiered at the World’s Fair in Knoxville Tennessee in 1982. He set it up at its current location at the museum in 2004 and 2005. What an amazing accomplishment to build that miniature circus !

We got back to Sebring after 6 PM. It was a fun day out with my historical society friends. It was revealed that our next field trip will be in just a couple of weeks – a 4-hour St. Johns River cruise out of Sanford Florida with a big multi-course lunch and a comedy play. I’m looking forward to it !

Next #TravelThursday – What do Sebring Florida and Chattanooga Tennessee have in common ? Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Blogging Driving Geography History Holidays Home Travel

Happy 248TH Birthday America

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about the 17TH day of my April retirement road-trip – returning here to my home state of Florida. And I wrote about the 18TH and final day – westward and southward away from Yulee 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 and the Heartland of Florida.

The purpose of this road-trip was to see America, and I saw a good part of her on this 18-day, 7-state, and 2,807-mile excursion across our southern states – northwestward from Florida to Alabama to Mississippi to Louisiana to Texas – and then southeastward from Texas to Arkansas to Mississippi to Alabama to Georgia to Florida.

Out of 2,807 miles – only 186 miles were via the Interstate Highway System. It was the rural portion of I-10 in the Florida Panhandle and into South Alabama – 149½ miles from west of Tallahassee to east of Pensacola, and 36½ miles from west of Pensacola to east of Mobile. Much of my route occurred on U.S. 98, U.S. 84, and U.S. 82 – old U.S. highways – the way we used to see America before the Interstates came into existence.

I drove 1,216 miles during the first 5 days of my road-trip, and that took me to Wylie Texas – where I spent 8 days and nights with my family. I didn’t drive at all for 7 days in a row.

I drove 1,591 miles during the final 6 days of my road-trip from Wichita Falls Texas (the northernmost and westernmost point) back home to Florida.

The most miles driven in a single day occurred on Day 14 when I drove 366 miles from Wichita Falls to El Dorado Arkansas. The next day came in 3RD place – 348 miles from El Dorado to Tuscaloosa Alabama. That’s 714 miles in 2 days. Over the course of 11 actual days of driving – I averaged 255 miles per day.

I filled-up with gas 7 times on this road-trip, and I paid anywhere from $2.899 to $3.499 per gallon at the pump (before credit card discounts). I averaged over 45 MPG.

For many years I imagined (and talked with friends about) a 100-day / 10,000-mile retirement road-trip clockwise around the circumference of the U.S.A. – from Florida to Texas to California to Washington – across the northern tier states – over to Maine – and then down the Eastern Seaboard back to Florida. This wasn’t that trip, but it was at least a quarter of that trip. By keeping mostly to old U.S. highways – and some state, county, and local roads – I saw America, and she is beautiful. Each state that I visited had its own unique charm and identity to it. I obviously love my home state of Florida for everything that she has to offer and for everything that she has done for me over the past 36+ years. I definitely need to spend more time in and see more of Mississippi and Alabama – even if I don’t drive all the way to Texas. And I’ve got Georgia on my mind too. I want to explore your historic seaside towns – especially Savannah.

#ArkLaTex & #ArkLaMiss – I learned of those two terms while in South Arkansas. It was fun to see more of Arkansas than ever before in my life. I liked what I saw from Texarkana to the Mississippi River, and now I want to see more. Maybe even your mountains upstate.

I visited a lot of great historical museums along the way, and I met and talked with a lot of fellow docents serving at these museums – preserving, protecting, and promoting the history around them. I saw a lot of good, and a little not-so-good at these museums. These were all lessons learned as I continue working with some of my local museums.

This is the 13TH and final part of my look-back at my April retirement road-trip. I wrote all of it during the month of April and into the first couple of days of May – while my mind was still fresh from the trip. It was fun planning the trip, and then doing the trip, and then writing about the trip during and after it. But I’m just getting started. Now that I’m in the retirement chapter of my life – I hope to spend more time seeing America – by road – by rail – and perhaps – maybe even by Mississippi River cruise. America – you look great at 248 !

Next #TravelThursday – Let’s join the circus ! Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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History Holidays

Happy Flag Day

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Today – June 14TH – we observe Flag Day here in the U.S.A. It commemorates the adoption of our flag – our “Stars And Stripes” – “Old Glory” – on this date in 1777.

For more on the origins of Flag Day – click here.

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

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Blogging Driving Geography History Military Politics Sports Travel

Alabama

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my scenic drive eastward across “The Magnolia State” Mississippi – from the Delta to the hills.

It’s Day 15 of my retirement road-trip – a Monday afternoon – and I’m in west-central Alabama along U.S. 82 approaching Tuscaloosa. Once I crossed-over the Tuscaloosa County Line – the highway widened from a rural two-lane road to a suburban divided four-lane road. Oh – and traffic gradually increased – particularly headed in the other direction – westward – away from the city. I felt like I was entering the metro area, and I was. Hello afternoon rush hour !

About a quarter-of-a-million residents live and work in the Tuscaloosa metro area, and almost half live within the city limits of Tuscaloosa. It’s the 5TH most-populous city in Alabama (behind Huntsville, Mobile, Birmingham, and Montgomery), and it’s also the 5TH most-populous county in Alabama.

It’s also the home of the University Of Alabama and the Crimson Tide. I arrived in town as thousands of students were ending their school day. I made my way to a popular local diner in the city for dinner, and then it was on to my hotel for the night overlooking noisy I-20. Like El Dorado Arkansas the night before – this was just a hotel night. Other than driving to and from the hotel – I didn’t get to explore the surrounding city. Tuscaloosa is loaded with historic homes / museums, and it’s a city that I’d like to explore further over the course of a few days – perhaps in a future summertime in-between school years.

Fun Facts: U.S. 11 runs through Tuscaloosa. It’s parallel to I-20 in the area. U.S. 11 is a 10-state / 1,645-mile transcontinental highway that runs in a northeast / southwest direction from the Canadian border in northern New York to near the Gulf Of Mexico in New Orleans Louisiana. On Day 3 of my road-trip in Hattiesburg Mississippi – I drove over U.S. 11 via U.S. 49 at a cloverleaf interchange.

Good Morning Day 16. Let’s head southeast to the State Capitol in Montgomery. On my approach – I drove right alongside Maxwell AFB. I don’t think I’ve ever been on that base. I have been on Gunter Annex on the northeast side of the city. I had a strong working relationship with various personnel at Gunter during all of the 1990s and into the 2000s as part of my job. (Gunter Annex used to be Gunter AFB before it was redesignated as an annex of Maxwell AFB in 1992.)

After struggling (and eventually succeeding) in finding a public parking lot and an empty space in said lot within walking distance of the State Capitol – I visited the “working museum of state history and politics”. Admission is free, and there are a couple of floors accessible to the public. They do lots of school tours, so if you’re visiting during the school year be aware of that. When I arrived – I was one of their few visitors roaming around. The place was soon filled with kids from multiple schools. I spent less than an hour at the Capitol. I thought that it was underwhelming. I was expecting a lot more exhibits for a historical building of its stature. I passed-by more offices than museum exhibits, and it felt weird walking by the open offices as employees were working at their desks.

After filling-up with gas on the way out of Montgomery – I took Alabama State Route 110 for 32 miles back to U.S. 82.

I reached Eufaula Alabama – a historic Chattahoochee River city that abuts the state line with Georgia. The state line is actually at the western end of the bridge over the river, so driving eastward – you’re in Georgia as soon as you reach the bridge. That’s also the time zone line between Central and Eastern. After 14 days within the Central Time Zone – I was back home in the EDT.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ve got Georgia on my mind. Let’s keep traveling together.

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