Category: Photography

My November Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date December 9, 2021

#TravelThursday continues now with Part 2 of my 7-part blog series on my recent 18-day road-trip between South Florida and North Texas.

At the end of Part 1 I was enjoying food and fellowship at a Thai restaurant in Semmes Alabama – a northwestern suburb of Mobile. From there I got back on U.S. 98, and I headed northwestward into Mississippi. I enjoy driving this mostly peaceful stretch of U.S. 98 – particularly on the Mississippi side, as it’s a rural divided 4-lane highway (versus a narrow 2-lane road on the Alabama side west of Semmes). I think there have been plans to widen the 2-lane stretch to 4 lanes over the years, but due to environmental concerns regarding the Big Creek Lake reservoir and its watershed those plans have been postponed indefinitely. (The reservoir serves as the municipal water supply for the Mobile area.)

On the south side of Hattiesburg Mississippi I took U.S. 49 northwestward through the heart of the city and beyond. (I wrote about “The Hub City” Hattiesburg 3 weeks ago here on #TravelThursday.)

In the past I’ve taken U.S. 49 90 miles northwestward from Hattiesburg to Jackson – the capital and largest city of Mississippi. But this time I took a much different route. From U.S. 49 I jumped on U.S. 84.

U.S. 84 is a major east-west highway that extends over 1,900 miles across 7 states from high up in the Rocky Mountains of Southwestern Colorado to the low-country of the Atlantic shores of Georgia. It crosses the U.S. Continental Divide in northern New Mexico at an elevation above 7,700 feet.

I took peaceful and scenic U.S. 84 mostly a little south of due westward (and mostly with the mid-November afternoon sun directly in front of me) all the way to the eastern banks of the mighty Mississippi River at Natchez. I didn’t get to see much of Natchez (other than the drive through the city to my hotel), but I did walk over (across the street from my hotel) to the grounds of the Natchez Visitor Reception Center – where I captured a few nice photographic memories as the sun was getting ready to set on the bluff. Here’s one of them overlooking the Mississippi River. (Louisiana is on the other side of the river.)

I didn’t get to visit the museum inside, as I got there about 20 minutes prior to closing time. I’ll have to visit Natchez again on a future trip to and from North Texas.

“The River City” Natchez looks like a fun destination city for locals and others in the region to experience and enjoy for a few days and nights right along the mighty Mississippi River. It has a large downtown district with a stand-alone convention center. Many of its hotels have their own convention centers and rooms. There are about 1,200 hotel rooms in and around Natchez. Tourism supports this city. Its population has actually been declining over the past 40 years, and less people call Natchez home today than they did in 1940. But it still looks like a fun town to visit.

I spent the night in Natchez at the conclusion of Day 2 of my road-trip. I drove 462 miles on this day (Friday November 12TH 2021), for a grand total of 981 miles since the start.

And that’s where I’ll end Part 2 of this 7-part blog series. I’ll continue with my road-trip adventures and experiences next #TravelThursday. We’ll cross the Mississippi River into Louisiana, continue along the Interstate Highway System into Texas, arrive at my family’s home, enjoy a fun Japanese hibachi grill Lunch, and finally visit two of the top tourist attractions in Dallas Texas.

Tags Alabama, Mississippi, Mobile, Natchez

Animals Blogging Church Driving History Military Photography Scripture Sports Travel

Hattiesburg Mississippi

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date November 18, 2021

#TravelThursday continues, and in this edition we visit “The Hub City” of Hattiesburg Mississippi.

It got its nickname “The Hub City” because it was a hub – a central point – of several railroad lines at the time (1910s) with a thriving lumber industry. Nowadays it’s known as “The Hub City” because it’s where old U.S. Routes 49 and 98 meet at the south end of the city. U.S. Route 11 also passes through the core of the city. It extends southward to near the Gulf Of Mexico, and northward to the Canadian border with New York. I-59 bypasses much of the city to the west. It is definitely “The Hub City” in the southeastern part of Mississippi. It’s a little less than 100 miles northwestward from Mobile Alabama, and it’s a little more than 100 miles north-northeastward from New Orleans Louisiana.

I’ve driven through Hattiesburg several times en route to and from North Texas. I’ve even spent a couple of hotel nights in Hattiesburg. On one of those hotel nights I had driven 657 miles from Wichita Falls Texas. I checked-in to my hotel room, and I looked at my iPhone. I had a voice mail from my Pastor. He told me to call him. I did. He asked me if I wanted to preach on Sunday. (That was a Thursday night.) An exhausted me gladly accepted. On that Sunday (October 02ND 2016) I preached my very first sermon to my church family. I was ready for that day. I had plenty of time on the road to think about and to pray about that first sermon.

I really want to spend more than a hotel night in and around the Hattiesburg area. There are lots of places to see and things to do there. The Hattiesburg Zoo and the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum would be on that list. #VisitHattiesburg.

Hattiesburg is a young college and military town with about 45,000 residents within the city limits and about 170,000 residents within the metro area. It is the home of the University Of Southern Mississippi and the black and gold Golden Eagles.

Join me next #TravelThursday as we visit another location on the face of this earth.

They keep you safe on your way, and your feet will not stumble. You can go to bed without fear. You will lie down and sleep soundly. You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the LORD is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap. (Proverbs 3:23-26 NLT)

Tags Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Travel

Blogging Driving History Military Photography Scripture Travel

Mobile Alabama

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date November 4, 2021

#TravelThursday continues, and in this edition we visit “The Port City” of Mobile Alabama.

I’ve driven through Mobile a bunch of times since the mid-1990s. It’s a very unique drive along I-10 over Mobile Bay, under the Mobile River, and through the downtown area. It can also be a scary drive through the 3,000-foot tunnel, as it has a reduced speed limit of 50 MPH, but everyone is driving much faster than that. I’ve been severely tailgated through that tunnel, and it was not a pleasant experience. And then of course once you reemerge out of the tunnel you are instantly hit with blinding daylight.

A little over 5 years ago on a 3,008-mile road-trip to and from the Wichita Falls Texas area I enjoyed a scheduled pitstop in downtown Mobile to check-out some of the sights for a few hours. It was too short of a visit, and there’s plenty to see and do downtown over the course of several days or a long weekend. I talked to two women who were serving at their downtown tourist bureau (co-located with a museum), and they gave me great ideas for sightseeing for a few hours, and for a few days. I told them that I only had a few hours, but I vowed to return sometime in the future to spend more time in their city that they clearly love. Their friendliness and excitement actually inspired me to possibly pursue post-retirement service in the tourism welcome industry.

Before I talked to them I actually visited Fort Charlotte (Fort Condé de la Mobille). It’s a partially-reconstructed 18TH-Century fort that guarded Mobile during wartime. It was demolished about 100 years later (because it was no longer needed). The current replica fort was opened on America’s Bicentennial on July 04TH 1976 directly above the western-end of the aforementioned I-10 tunnel.

Join me next #TravelThursday as we visit another location on the face of this earth.

Tags Alabama, Mobile, Travel

Blogging Career Military Music Photography Scripture Sports Travel

Tampa Florida

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date October 21, 2021

#TravelThursday continues, and in this edition we visit Tampa Florida.

Tampa is the actual big city – approaching 400,000 residents. It’s the 3RD biggest city in Florida after Jacksonville and Miami. Tampa Bay is the body of water adjacent to Tampa. The Greater Tampa Bay area is the metro area surrounding Tampa and Tampa Bay. Over 3 million residents live in the area, and that number surges past 4 million when outlying areas are included.

The Greater Tampa Bay area is home to the Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the repeating Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning, and the World Series Runner-Up (last year) Tampa Bay Rays. #TitleTown

I like Tampa a lot. It’s my favorite big city in Florida. I like the way it looks (the downtown skyline), and I like all of the activities that can be done in and around Tampa – at both land and sea.

Last #TravelThursday I revealed that I embarked on the Carnival Miracle for a fun 7-day cruise out of Port Tampa Bay exactly 15 years ago. It’ll likely be my future port-of-choice after I retire and move closer to the Tampa Bay area.

I once lived in Tampa – for about 7 months from August 1993 to March 1994 – when I worked at MacDill Air Force Base. That was after Hurricane Andrew destroyed my previous workplace at Homestead Air Force Base as well as much of the surrounding region. For a few months at the beginning of that time-frame it appeared that I’d be living and working in Tampa for years to come, but then political decisions were made to rebuild and reopen the airbase at Homestead, and in March 1994 I moved back. I’ve been here ever since. I like to say that I’ve been here in Homestead for almost 34 years – except for those 19 months right after Hurricane Andrew.

Had the airbase at Homestead not been rebuilt and reopened I wonder how long I would have stayed living and working in Tampa, and would I still be there today. What would I be doing ?

I actually haven’t visited Tampa too many times since I left 27½ years ago. I mostly visit nowadays to attend music concerts and sporting events at the downtown arena (now known as the Amalie Arena). Very near the arena is The Florida Aquarium – the 8TH largest aquarium in the U.S. You can spend all day there enjoying that impressive facility. I was last there in May 2019.

On March 21ST and 22ND of 2003 me and my little brother stumbled onto (OK maybe it was a little bit intentional) the Spring Break scene on Clearwater Beach where we had a hotel room overlooking the Gulf Of Mexico. That was a couple of days after the Iraq War began. College kids were blaring the Outkast song “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” up and down South Gulfview Boulevard. Those 2 fun nights on the beach were part of a 5-day / 4-night vacation in the Tampa Bay area.

Join me next #TravelThursday as we remain in Tampa, and then venture southward along the Tamiami Trail.