Category: Travel

Categories
Blogging Books Commerce Driving Food Geography Music Shopping Travel Weather

Texas Concert

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This is a continuation of my post from last week when I drove 76 miles from Sebring to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ), and then I flew nonstop direct to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (#DFW). Last week I wrote about Jollibee, Starwood Cafe, and Texas Theatre.

This week – the adventure continues. We’re up to the day after Night 2 – Thursday – and this was really the only day that we were forecasted to receive nice weather. In fact – it was supposed to be sunny, clear, and warm on that day with a high in the mid-80s. Yeah – that didn’t happen. It was cloudy (even a bit foggy at times) and chilly with the 60s and the 70s. I think the sun finally emerged for an hour or so during the early-evening hours. North Texas weather can be difficult to forecast during the Spring and Fall months.

Me and my brother went to Barnes & Noble to check out books, magazines, and music. Remember all of the great bookstores that used to exist back in the ’80s and ’90s ? I’m thinking B. Dalton Bookseller, Waldenbooks, Borders, and even Crown Books up in Maryland and Virginia. Those were fun places to hang out at – those and record stores. Most of the bookstores had records, and most of the record stores had books. I’m glad that Barnes & Noble still exists as the last of all of them.

For lunch me and my brother went to Scotty P’s – a local fast-food restaurant. I had the chicken sandwich with fries. (I see a trend developing here.)

For dinner my brother picked-up Whataburger meals for our family. I requested a cheeseburger, fries, and fried apple pie. I got the fries and apple pie, but no cheeseburger. When my sister-in-law handed out all of the burgers – there was none left for me. My brother was either shortchanged, or he ordered incorrectly. (I suspect the former.) I watched everyone else eat their burger as I went without. I kept quiet about it. No need to dwell on it; although, let me just add that Whataburger does make a pretty good fast-food burger. Maybe next time I’ll get to enjoy one. Maybe in November.

OK – here’s the reason for the title of this blog post. Our family attended a circus-themed choral concert performed by a few hundred 5TH, 6TH, 7TH, and 8TH graders from two different schools – inside the auditorium of one of the local high schools. I think it was my first such school concert ever, and it was the first time that I’ve been inside of a high school in 40 years – since I was a graduate of the Class Of 1985. My youngest niece was a performer at the concert. She showed off her gymnastics skills. The concert was actually better than expected – a lot of fun. It was also a bit long – 90 minutes !

So that was my Thursday earlier this month in North Texas. Next #TravelThursday – it’s Part 3 of my fun with family, as me and my brother see a movie and I eat more chicken. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

Categories
Blogging Driving Food Geography History Movies Travel

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

Categories
Blogging Christian Church Driving Food Geography God Holidays Home Military Ministry Travel

Homestead Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. And a good May Day to you. It’s Labor Day (or Workers’ Day) in many countries, and European countries celebrate May Day as the unofficial start of Summer.

This post is a continuation of my #TravelThursday post from last week.

Following The 13TH Army Band of the Florida National Guard concert at The Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center in Cutler Bay – I proceeded back towards Homestead. It took me 45 minutes to drive about 16 miles to my motel in Florida City. Not a surprise. Just like everywhere else in Miami-Dade County and South Florida – the south end of the County is crowded, and traffic is congested.

I ate Breakfast at Denny’s right in front of my motel. The food was good. The service was bad in almost every way imaginable. I guess it’s better than having bad food but good service.

I went to my old condo of 30 years. I packed-up most of my old military uniforms from the early-1990s. (I left them behind all this time since I won’t be needing them ever again.) I met my Realtor, and we walked and talked about my condo. (It would go on the market exactly a week later. For an even $200,000 – you can buy my old condo. It’s way below market value.)

The nostalgia continues. I went to my first church – now at its 4TH location in 20 years. They are at a very nice place now, so hopefully they continue to be blessed there. I was actually there on business – to sign some paperwork (as a former Trustee). The current Lead Pastor actually took the position almost two years after I left that church in March 2015. He gave me a tour of their very large sanctuary. It was beautiful. It was the first time I had seen it. The last time I was there – for a celebration-of-life service in 2023 – they were starting construction / expansion of it.

After my visit there it was time to head back home to Sebring. It was my 36TH trip from Homestead to Sebring since I bought my dream home in my dream neighborhood during Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2023. My 36TH trip back to Homestead will likely be “Closing Day” for whoever buys my condo. It’ll mark the end of an era for me in Homestead that began nearly 38 years ago.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my visit to the Dallas Texas area. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

Categories
Blogging Christian Church Commerce Driving Food Geography God Military Ministry Music Shopping Travel

Cutler Bay Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. A couple of Sunday mornings ago (early on Palm Sunday) I drove 3½ hours southward from Sebring to Homestead Florida. It took a little bit longer than normal for the trek on that particular Sunday morning due to a bicycling event that I wasn’t expecting until I reached Florida State Road 997 (Krome Avenue) in Miami-Dade County.

And actually when I went to plot my trek on Google Maps a few minutes prior to leaving home – it warned me that my route was partially closed – the northernmost 18 miles of Krome Avenue from U.S. 27 southward. I figured that it was due to wildfires adjacent to the road, as that’s sometimes a problem at this time of the year (the end of dry season). It was actually due to the annual GFNY (Gran Fondo New York) Miami endurance competition – a 35-mile loop for bicyclists (70 miles if you do it twice). The left-hand lane of both directions of Krome Avenue was orange coned off and reserved for the bicyclists, as regular vehicular traffic continued in the right-hand lane.

That was pretty unique to be driving alongside an active bicycle event. We rarely reached the speed limit of 55 MPH, and actually traffic slowed down quite a bit as we drove by bicyclists.

I arrived at my Sunday morning destination – my longtime home church from 2015 to 2024. I got to see my Homestead Pastor preach LIVE for the first time since December. (I previously filled-in for him for a couple of Sundays in January and February.)

From downtown Homestead I drove around the outside of the airbase for the first time since I retired almost 14 months ago. There has been rapid development adjacent to the main entry of the airbase since I was last there. A MASSIVE Miami Dade County Transit Operations Center for electric buses is currently under construction on 20 acres of land that was previously undeveloped for 30+ years ever since Hurricane Andrew destroyed what used to be the base housing area of the original airbase.

I proceeded northward and eastward over to Cutler Bay Florida – picking-up a longtime friend along the way. We went to Applebee’s for lunch. I was not impressed with my meal – or the service. Both were slightly below average. I remember Applebee’s being a bit better than that; although, it had been almost 3 years since we last ate there.

From Applebee’s we drove around the Southland Mall – which was unbelievably packed (at least on one side of the mall – facing U.S. 1). That was my neighborhood mall (sort of) during my 36 years of living down the road in Homestead. Southland Mall redevelopment has begun, and the former Sears building of 48 years (1972-2020) is no longer there. About 5,000 residential apartments (via high-rises) will be built to create a new live, work, and play community experience, and the legacy mall itself will be supplemented with new “town center” stores individually accessible directly from the exterior.

Finally – we made it to The Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center (across the street from the mall) to attend a concert – The 13TH Army Band of the Florida National Guard. Tickets were free, but they had to be reserved in advance. The Army band was large, and they mostly performed patriotic and military songs. This was the 2ND such concert that I’ve seen at this nice modern entertainment venue since it opened in 2011.

Next #TravelThursday – My Miami-Dade County Florida adventure continues with more nostalgia on the Monday after – including a visit to the first church that I called home for 8 years. Let’s keep traveling together.

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