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Arcadia Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It’s Equinox Day – the Spring Equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere and the Autumnal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. It occurs at 0501 U.S. East Coast Time / 0901 UTC. The Sun crosses the Equator at that precise moment on its trek northward to the Tropic Of Cancer.

Last week I wrote about my fun trip over to Arcadia Florida – 43 miles away from home. I visited the historic John Morgan Ingraham House Museum of the DeSoto County Historical Society. I also enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the cozy and quaint The Yellow Deli.

And this is where the story continues. After lunch I took a stroll down historic Oak Street, and I visited numerous antique stores. The historic district known formally as “Arcadia Main Street” is mostly antique stores, and they all appear to be thriving. Some stores even have multiple locations. Arcadia is informally known as “The Antique Capital Of Florida”. I don’t buy antiques, but I actually enjoy visiting antique stores just to see the 20TH Century memorabilia on display and for sale. Antique stores are like mini museums. On many visits to the Wichita Falls Texas area to hang out with my family there we often went on short road trips around the region to visit antique stores.

There were a lot of cowboys and cowgirls walking along Oak Street, as well as full tour buses unloading near The Tree Of Knowledge (a small downtown park with an old oak tree as its centerpiece). It didn’t take me very long to figure out that this was a special event weekend in Arcadia. In fact – it was Rodeo Weekend. Specifically – it was the start of the 4-day “97TH Annual Arcadia All-Florida Championship Rodeo“. My timing is impeccable. I picked the perfect day to be amongst hundreds of tourists along Oak Street. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Historic Downtown Arcadia was vibrant with life on that Thursday morning !

This was my first visit to Arcadia. I had driven through a few times previously along U.S. 17 and Florida State Road 70. Both roads actually split into one-way roads through downtown Arcadia. It’s a nice small town with a fun historic pedestrian-friendly Main Street. I’ll be sure to visit again and again in the future. The coffee smelled really good as I walked by The Florida Farmhouse Coffee. Next time I won’t be walking by. I’ll be stepping in.

It’s back home to Sebring – and a first-time visit to our newest museum – next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Arcadia Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I finally made it to Arcadia Florida last Thursday. I left home – up in the Poconos of Florida – (more on that in a future edition) – and I arrived 43 miles and less than hour later in the historic district known formally as “Arcadia Main Street“.

I parked my car in one of their many public parking lots, and I walked a block down Hickory Street (Florida State Road 70 westbound) through lots of road construction over to residential Monroe Avenue – straight to the John Morgan Ingraham House Museum of the DeSoto County Historical Society.

I greeted the docent on duty – Kathy Bryce – and then she greeted me. She gave me a nice guided tour of the historic “Florida Cracker” house from the late-19TH Century. John Morgan Ingraham – a Florida Congressman – lived in the house from 1919 to 1980. (He lived 97 years.) The house is included on a 3,400-acre parcel of land that is on the National Register Of Historic Places.

The house includes original equipment, furniture, and artifacts. Nearly everything is identified and labeled uniformly. I took-in many mental notes during my walk-through. I also met and enjoyed a brief conversation with one of their Directors – Carol Mahler. She knew a few of our leaders at the Sebring Historical Society. I left their Museum with lots of great ideas for our own similar historic house Museum.

They are open 6 or 7 days a month on Thursdays and the 2ND & 4TH Saturdays of the month from 9 AM to 1 PM. They close for 3 months each Summer. I hope to visit the Museum again before they close for the Summer to walk around on my own and talk more with Kathy and Carol. They are doing a lot of good things over there with lots of events. I’m looking forward to hearing more about them. They are preparing for their upcoming annual celebration known as “Pioneer Day”.

After my visit to the Museum I walked over to The Yellow Deli to enjoy an early Lunch. Their official web site lists 33 locations worldwide in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Their Arcadia location is one of the highest-rated online in the city. Several reviewers stated that they enjoyed “the best Reuben ever”. Since the Reuben is one of my favorite sandwiches I decided to give it a try. It was good, but not the greatest ever. I prefer my Reuben to be between well-toasted rye bread. The bread was not toasted at all, but surprisingly it wasn’t too soggy. I’d actually order it again. It came with potato chips and a nice-sized dill pickle.

Time to walk off my Lunch, but I think I’ll continue my Arcadia Main Street adventure – next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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My Neighborhood Is Like A Cruise Ship

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I did not visit Arcadia Florida last Thursday as I hinted that I may at the end of last week’s edition. I may visit today.

Last Thursday I stayed home and enjoyed a “day off”. Thursday is usually the only day of the week when I don’t have regularly-scheduled events – whether it’s neighborhood, museum, or church – morning, afternoon, or evening. So Thursdays are generally reserved as days of productivity at home (unless I embark on a local road-trip).

A friend of mine recently asked when I’m going on my next cruise (which would be my 25TH since 1991). I have no plans for such a cruise. I have no desires to go on a cruise. I’m settling-in to my retirement lifestyle, and I love what each new day brings. I’m physically and socially active like never before. (Not even close to my longtime Homestead lifestyle).

Besides – my neighborhood is as close to a cruise ship as I can get. We have 248 condos and villas surrounding a big mostly manmade half-mile-long lake in the middle. Each condo and villa has a spectacular elevated view of the lake. The condos and villas are like the cabins and suites on a cruise ship, and we’ve all got views of the sea. My lanai is like a very nice large balcony. I walk around the sidewalk that runs 1.1 miles alongside the lake, and it’s like walking alongside the perimeter of a cruise ship on a low deck with the cool breeze bouncing off the water and onto my face. Our clubhouse is like the small entertainment venue onboard where a lot of the fun events occur – including of course BINGO !

And our wide variety of daily, weekly, and monthly fun events that do occur – including the occasional meals and parties – resemble those of a cruise. I like our Cruise Director. I’m part of her “Fun Squad”.

I can’t imagine spending a couple thousand dollars on a 7 or 8-day Caribbean cruise when I’ve got my forever home that resembles the nicest balcony cabin I’ve ever occupied.

So if I embark on that shore excursion today to Arcadia Florida – then I’ll write about it – next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Animals Blogging Driving Food Geography Holidays Travel

From Texas To Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Exactly 16 years ago here on my blog – I wrote about my road-trip westward from the Jacksonville Florida area (specifically Fleming Island in Clay County) to the Dallas Texas area (specifically Allen in Collin County).

This was a very unique road-trip. It was a relocation road-trip for my parents. After a dozen years of living at 3 different homes in and around the Jacksonville area – they moved to the Dallas area to be close to my younger brother and his wife. My dad had Lou Gehrig’s Disease at the time, and it would ultimately end his life the following year in 2010.

The moving truck had already come and gone – headed to Texas. All that was left was to drive from Homestead to Fleming Island, pick-up my parents and their cat Pumpkin, and head west. And so that’s what I did. I left Homestead shortly before 4:30 AM on that Tuesday, and I drove about 375 miles to my parents’ home (which was deeded over to me). They got in my mom’s car, and I drove her car. We drove about 345 miles westward along I-10 on that first day, and we made it to Milton Florida (just east of Pensacola). We ate Dinner at a fancy Mexican restaurant called La Hacienda. (It’s still there today.)

We got back on the road again on Wednesday morning. We made it another 415 miles – straight into the heart of Louisiana. You know – timing is everything – and we hadn’t planned on it – but we got mixed in with very heavy traffic coming out of New Orleans. It was Ash Wednesday – the day after Mardi Gras. Thousands of tourists were heading north out of New Orleans. I remember us eating Lunch at IHOP, and it was jam-packed. I also remember us missing National Pancake Day at IHOP by exactly one day.

We stayed at a hotel in Alexandria – near their airport. Their airport used to be England Air Force Base for 50 years until 1992.

Incidentally – Pumpkin the cat – who didn’t care too much for me – stayed with me in my hotel room for both nights. (We stayed at pet-friendly hotels.) Pumpkin was completely terrified during the trip – especially in the hotel rooms. It was quite the chore chasing that big heavy cat out from underneath the bed.

On the 3RD day (Thursday) we arrived at my brother’s and sister-in-law’s house in Allen Texas. It was about 1,075 miles in my mom’s car. It was the first and last time I ever drove that car.

Meanwhile – my own car was still sitting in Florida on my parents’ former driveway. I flew back to Jacksonville International Airport on that Saturday. I then took a taxi back to my car some 35 miles away. I then drove 375 miles back home to Homestead – arriving late at night.

You think I have such a great memory from exactly 16 years ago ? Not so much. Most of these facts were copied and pasted from that blog post that I originally wrote.

I think I’m driving to Arcadia Florida today. If I am then I’ll let you know how it went – next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

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