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Homestead And Back

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date December 19, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last Thursday morning I drove down to Homestead Florida for the 32ND time since I bought my new home in Sebring Florida 22 months ago. Traffic was a bit heavier than normal for a Thursday morning with lots of truckers and tourists from the north.

I actually drove straight to Longhorn Steakhouse – where I met up with two former coworkers / supervisors for another one of our reunion lunches. We meet about every 3 months. It’s a great tradition that we’ve continued for many years now.

This will likely be my final monthly visit to Homestead. I’ve kept my longtime condo since moving away. I hope to put it on the market next month, and hopefully it will sell fast. I’ll still visit Homestead in 2025 – just not as often – maybe every 3 months or so.

It’s a nice 3½-hour drive between my new home and my old home. 99% of it is on just two highways – U.S. 27 and Florida State Road 997 (locally known as Krome Avenue in Miami-Dade County).

I drove back home this past Sunday afternoon after church and lunch in Homestead. My scenic (mostly rural) drive includes 6 Counties – Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hendry, Glades, and Highlands.

Once I’ve reached U.S. 27 near the Miami-Dade / Broward line – I’m on the road that I live on. (My neighborhood’s entrance is directly on U.S. 27 just shy of 150 miles away.)

Once I’ve reached South Bay near the south end of Lake Okeechobee in far-western Palm Beach County – I’ve reached the halfway point. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped anywhere in South Bay. I’ve only driven through it. A new RaceTrac Travel Center is currently under construction. That holds promise for potential future stops.

Clewiston (in Hendry County) is next up on the trek. It’s actually the most populated city directly along the road between Homestead and Lake Placid (in Highlands County). Over 7,000 residents call Clewiston home. A longtime Sonny’s BBQ recently went out-of-business along U.S. 27 in Clewiston. I’ve stopped there a few times for a mid-trip meal. If only I were driving through the area before 1999 when Old South Bar-B-Q Ranch drew in the hungry locals and tourists along U.S. 27 for over 40 years.

I’ve written about Love’s here on my blog in the past. It’s just west of the small town of Moore Haven. It was built in 2016 and opened in March 2017. I remember driving by it a few times while it was under construction thinking that I’d very likely be a future customer there. I’ve stopped there many times – in fact – more times than not heading northward. Their employees are friendly. Their restrooms are wonderful – large and mostly clean. They have an Arby’s on-site, and lots of gas pumps. That Love’s stop is right at the two-thirds point of my trek back home.

And then there’s the ordinary (but beautiful to me) “ENTERING Highlands COUNTY” road sign at the slight rightward bend in the road. Once I reach that sign – I’m 40 miles / 45 minutes away from home. I used to dream of living in Highlands County every time I saw that sign during my road-trips northward. My dream came true 22 months ago. Now I’m glad to be back home again when I see that sign. (The whole County is my home.)

From the Highlands County line northward – it’s a slow ascent from elevations in the 60s (feet above sea level) to more than 3 times higher !

Although my visits to Homestead 3½ hours down the road will be fewer starting in 2025 – I can’t envision a time in the future when I stop driving southward to Homestead. As long as I have friends still living down there – I’ll be visiting them. That – and the scenic drive alone – is well worth the trip to and fro. The portion of U.S. 27 from I-75 northward is a trip along the main highway through rural and unspoiled South-Central Florida (“The Heartland”). I imagine that much of it looks mostly the same today as it has for the past 65 years.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my progress on Season 18 of my fitness walks around my neighborhood. Let’s keep traveling together.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook. I usually post there on Mondays and Thursdays. I’m also the Social Media Director for the Sebring Historical Society. I post on our Facebook page 6 days a week – Mondays to Saturdays.

Tags Broward, Clewiston, Florida, Glades, Heartland, Hendry, Highlands, Homestead, Love's, Miami-Dade, Moore Haven, Palm Beach, Sebring, South Bay

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Florida Homecoming

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date December 12, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my trip to North Texas – where I spent 9 days and 9 nights with my family in Wylie – about 30 miles northeast of the center of Dallas Texas. I arrived during the early evening of Wednesday November 20TH 2024. I wrote about me and my brother’s visit on that Saturday to historic downtown McKinney Texas and the Collin County History Museum.

During the rest of my time with my brother we shopped, we ate, and we saw 3 movies – “Heretic”, “A Real Pain”, and “Red One”. I think that me and brother both liked “A Real Pain” the most. It’s a dramedy written, directed, and produced by Jesse Eisenberg. He and Kieran Culkin are the stars. It’s a good well-written story of two cousins visiting Poland on a tour to connect with their Jewish heritage.

As is tradition – my brother prepared a home-cooked Breakfast twice – on that Sunday morning and on Thanksgiving morning. We also opened all of the presents underneath the Christmas tree later on that same holiday morning, and then we watched football for the rest of the day while smelling (and eating) our traditional Thanksgiving dinner at around 3:30 PM.

Fun Fact: The weather in North Texas was all over the place – to include the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and even 80s. As an amateur weather forecaster – it was not unexpected. Thanksgiving Day was the coldest day (40s), and the next morning was the coldest morning (33°F / 1°C). I brought that cold air (modified) back home to Florida.

The next day – Friday November 29TH 2024 – my brother dropped me off at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), and I flew to Charlotte Douglas (CLT) with a short layover before my connecting flight to Sarasota-Bradenton (SRQ). (My nonstop direct flight back to SRQ was cancelled about 3 months prior just for that afternoon, and I was automatically booked on the two replacement flights.) Both flights were packed, but they actually departed and arrived early !

Fun Fact: It was my first time in North Carolina since the last time I flew through CLT as a layover between Miami (MIA) and Salisbury-Ocean City (SBY). CLT was also a layover for the return flight between Reagan (DCA) and MIA. That was in July 2015.

I returned back home to Sebring (76 miles from SRQ) right at 9 PM on that Friday, and I was in my own bed less than an hour later. It was a long travel day, and I was exhausted.

The next day – Saturday November 30TH 2024 – I awoke knowing that it was on that date 37 years earlier that I left my family behind in Northern Virginia and flew to MIA en route to my new USAF duty assignment and home for the next 36+ years – Homestead Florida. I’ve now entered my 38TH year as a Florida resident. I’m a #FloridaMan forever.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my road-trip to and from Homestead. It’s my 32ND trip southward – and my 33RD trip northward – since relocating from Homestead to Sebring almost 2 years ago. Let’s keep traveling together.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook. I usually post there on Mondays and Thursdays.

Tags Florida, North Carolina, Texas

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Happy Thanksgiving Day

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date November 28, 2024

#TravelThursday returns next week.

Tags Thanksgiving

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Texas

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date September 5, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. 4 days ago – I returned home from Texas. Back in mid-July I got a really good deal on American Airlines for round-trip airfare from Sarasota-Bradenton (#SRQ) to Dallas-Fort Worth (#DFW) and back. It cost less than $225 – taxes and fees included. I flew out on Wednesday August 28TH, and I returned on Sunday September 01ST. (There’s only one flight daily between the two airports.)

Fun Fact: I sat in a window seat on the 32ND row out of #SRQ, and I sat in an aisle seat on the 33RD and last row out of #DFW. I guess when you pay the bottom-of-the-barrel cost for airfare – you’re placed at the very back of the aircraft. (I could have paid extra to sit closer to the front, but why bother ?)

The inbound flight on that Wednesday afternoon flew a bunch of circles off the Florida coast northwest of the Tampa Bay area, and then it was diverted over to Jacksonville (#JAX) due to heavy thunderstorms over Sarasota at the time. It refueled there, and then it continued its flight to Sarasota. I got in to #DFW about 2½ hours late. Better late than not at all.

Me and my brother packed a lot of activities into our 3 full days together.

On Thursday I experienced a couple of firsts. A bunch of outdoor scenes were filmed for an upcoming movie that I’ll be appearing in. I’ll be an extra with about 20 others, and I do have a speaking role. I’ll be appearing (with the others) as a protestor. (Dress code = all black.) More on that (perhaps) sometime next year when the movie premieres. Later that same day – I attended a high school football game for the first time in my life. My oldest niece is in high school now, and she’s a cheerleader for the junior varsity football team. We watched her, and we cheered on the Raiders. (They won.) #DUBEAST

On Friday we drove up to Wichita Falls to visit our Uncle and Cousin. At their home – a dog (Lacey) and a cat (Gracie) loved me dearly. We enjoyed reminiscing about our extended family, and we also enjoyed a nice Mexican buffet lunch at El Mejicano.

On Saturday we rested and stayed at home for much of the day, and we enjoyed WWE Bash In Berlin (LIVE from Germany). We also watched one of my favorite recent movies – Thelma.

On Sunday it was the return flight back to Florida. It departed early. It arrived early. Thunderstorms were approaching the Sarasota area from inland, so the pilot wanted to get up, get over, get down, and then get back up again before the storm clouds descended.

It was a fun 3 days and 4 nights in Texas with family. I’m looking forward to my next visit in a couple of months. I’ve already got my flights reserved.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll tell you all about a historic hotel in Avon Park Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.