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Fort Myers Beach Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. On Wednesday September 28TH 2022 Fort Myers Beach Florida changed forever as Category-4 Hurricane Ian made landfall just a few miles north of the area. The Southwest Florida Gulf coast from Flamingo northward to the Tampa Bay area experienced widespread damage. The area from Marco Island to Venice was especially hard hit, and Fort Myers Beach – “Ground Zero” – was virtually destroyed. The photos online have been heartbreaking. They have brought tears to my eyes.

The Southwest Florida coast is my favorite part of the state. Over the past 35 years I’ve enjoyed numerous short visits over there (about 2 to 3 hours away from home). My last visit was a daytrip to and from Naples 3 months ago. I wrote about it on a 2-part #TravelThursday this past July.

From 2011 to 2020 I visited Fort Myers Beach on 9 separate occasions. I spent a combined 17 nights on (or just off) the island at several different hotels on 7 of those 9 visits – both on the north-end and the south-end. I walked in the surf, drove on the streets, rode on the trolleys, shopped at the stores, and ate at the restaurants. I took 366 photos of the island. 122 of them are featured within my Fort Myers Beach album on my Flickr site. They are presented in chronological order from oldest to newest starting with April 28TH 2011. That was my very first day / night ever on the island, and I instantly fell in love with it. I soon decided that not only had I found my brand-new weekend vacation paradise getaway, but I had also found my eventual retirement landing spot.

After the first 6 visits – all between 2011 and 2013 – the idea of eventually moving to the island upon retirement had waned. But I would still visit on a regular basis. I became concerned during those early visits that if (when) a major hurricane makes landfall on the island or very near it – there would be catastrophic destruction similar to what I experienced here in Homestead after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. I thought that it would be the Gulf Of Mexico destroying the vulnerable island via storm surge rather than wind. That was one of the main reasons to change my mind about retiring there.

I’ve captured some of the most beautiful sunsets of my life on that island. One of my favorite things to do during those 17 nights was to exit my hotel room, walk directly onto the beach with my bare feet, head for the surf, and join the dozens of others just like me who had the same idea to prepare their smart phones and cameras to be aimed up the beach at the setting sun on the WNW horizon.

I was originally scheduled to drive to Fort Myers tomorrow (Friday) morning – and spend 2 nights there – and attend a concert at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. The hotel was damaged, the concert hall was damaged, and the show was moved to next March. The entire area is a disaster zone, so the last thing they need right now is tourists. I canceled my trip to Fort Myers. (It would not have included a beach visit.)

It will take many years to rebuild Fort Myers Beach. It will never be the way that I knew it during those 9 visits and 17 nights on the island. I have my fond memories and 366 photos to look back on my former paradise on the Gulf Of Mexico.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll visit Fort Lauderdale Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Food Geography History Travel

Henrietta Texas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I revealed that I spent quality time with family in and around Wichita Falls Texas. It’s an annual tradition for me every late-September to visit for a few days, and celebrate the wedding anniversary of my Aunt (by blood) and Uncle. This year was their 66TH !

Following an early Lunch at a local Mexican restaurant (another tradition) we went on a short road-trip (another tradition). This time we headed 20 miles ESE along U.S. 287 into Clay County and the small city of Henrietta (the county seat and population center). A little over 3,000 residents call Henrietta home, and it’s one of the oldest settled areas in the region – going back to the mid-19TH Century.

We visited the Clay County 1890 Jail Museum & Heritage Center – presented by the Clay County Historical Society. For those of you who have been following my #TravelThursday posts for awhile – you’ll know that not only am I a big fan of local historical societies and museums that they run, but I also plan to be a member and volunteer at a few upstate here in Florida once I retire and relocate.

Me, my cousin, and her husband were treated to an excellent docent early on a Friday afternoon. The museum is only open for 8 hours per week (4 each on Thursday and Friday), and we exclusively occupied 2 of those 8 hours. The docent showed us everything in the museum. (There’s a lot to see inside downstairs and upstairs.) I was studying our docent intently. I hope to be as good as her when I resume being a museum docent. She definitely enjoyed her museum, and she absolutely loved to talk about it. That’s the type of docent that I like !

On this visit to the Wichita Falls area we also drove over to Archer City – the county seat of Archer County (south of Wichita County). We visited a church lot where they were selling pumpkins and gourds.

We also drove all around Downtown Wichita Falls – the county seat of Wichita County. There’s a lot of history downtown – much of it mere memories with the original buildings left behind vacated. There are plans to continue to revitalize it with new cafes, bars, restaurants, events, and opportunities.

This was my 11TH visit to the Wichita Falls area to visit family over the past 9 years (since 2013). Each visit brings family love, good food, and pleasant surprises. I always look fondly back – and forward to – my next visit.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll present a tribute to a place that I visited 9 times and spent 17 nights from 2011 to 2020. It’s an island that will never be the same again due to the catastrophic destruction of Hurricane Ian. I’ll look back at those fun times on #FortMyersBeach on the Southwest Florida coast. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Food Geography Travel Weather

Wichita Falls Texas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This month I’m virtually visiting 5 continents in 5 weeks. 4 weeks ago I wrote about Luxembourg in Europe. 3 weeks ago it was Yunnan China in Asia. A couple of weeks ago it was down under to Perth Australia. Last week it was Santiago Chile in South America. This week I’m back home in North America in the United States Of America – specifically the great state of Texas and Wichita Falls in the far north of the state.

This is actually not a virtual visit, but an actual visit. I’ve just returned home from Wichita Falls Texas. I flew out there last Friday morning for my annual late-September visit to spend quality time with family. My “first cousin once removed” and her husband picked me up at the small but modern Wichita Falls Regional Airport, and we proceeded to a local Mexican restaurant for an early Lunch. That’s a tradition for each visit. We must eat a meal at a Mexican restaurant, and I don’t think that we’ve ever repeated the same one. We’ve always gone to a new place with each new visit.

I returned home this past Tuesday afternoon (27 September 2022). My flight on American Airlines (Airbus A321) was packed like sardines – probably at or near 100% capacity. I think a lot of people who had previous plans to head for airports in the Tampa Bay area and even Orlando were on the flight(s) to Miami instead since #MIA was the least-affected airport in Florida from Hurricane Ian. There were a lot of flight crew sitting in coach. Despite the packed flight it was amazingly peaceful and serene inflight, and the flight itself was quite smooth (just a few chops here and there). The pilot took a different route to Miami from Dallas – staying over land for nearly all of the route – over to Tallahassee, and then down the Gulf Coast of Florida. (Normally it would cross the Gulf Of Mexico from New Orleans to Fort Myers.)

Note: I’ll post an impact statement on Hurricane Ian here in my hometown on Twitter @ChrisMDay.

This was my first time flying since the start of April. Mask mandates in airports and airplanes were lifted later that same month, so this was the first time in nearly 3 years that I flew without a face mask. There were a few people at the airport and on the airplanes who wore face masks. I’d estimate maybe 5% did so. On all of the flights to and from Wichita Falls the flight attendants stated during their safety briefing that whether or not we choose to wear a face mask please respect each other’s personal decisions. That’s good advice to follow. Be kind to each other.

Incidentally after that first meal at that Mexican restaurant upon arrival in Wichita Falls – we visited a fun historical museum. Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about it, as well as some other fun places that I visited in the local area. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Geography Travel

Santiago Chile

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This month I’m virtually visiting 5 continents in 5 weeks. 3 weeks ago I wrote about Luxembourg in Europe. A couple of weeks ago it was Yunnan China in Asia. Last week it was down under to Perth Australia. This week it’s Santiago Chile in South America.

I’m fascinated and intrigued with South America. I’ve never been there before; although, I’ve come very close. In fact – some would say that I have been to South America – since I’ve been to Aruba and Curaçao twice, and Bonaire once. (The #ABCIslands are geographically part of the South American continental shelf.)

But I’d love to tour (mainland) South America. Many people say “oh you need to visit Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro”. Buenos Aires Argentina is another place I’d like to check out. But if given the choice I think I’d want to visit Santiago – the capital and largest city of Chile – “The City Of The Island Hills”.

Between 6 and 8-million residents call Santiago home. That’s almost half of Chile’s entire population. Chile is the 6TH most-populated country in South America behind Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, and Venezuela. Santiago is the 6TH most-populated metro area in South America behind São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Lima, and Bogotá.

At TripAdvisor (my favorite travel web site – where I occasionally post reviews) – the # 1 thing to do in Santiago is to visit Cerro San Cristóbal – “this 860-meter hill in the center of Santiago features a zoo and wine museum at the midway point and a gondola ride to the top – where a Virgin Mary statue overlooks the city.” Sounds like a fun day atop Santiago de Chile !

Oh – and just a 3-hour drive northwestward from Santiago – I hear that the playas of Viña del Mar esta bonita. It may not be Copacabana, but it’s definitely “The Vineyard Of The Sea”, “The Garden City”, and “The Pearl Of The Pacific”.

Chile as a country is fascinating to me – even on a map, as it hugs much of the Pacific coast of South America from 17.5° south latitude in the tropics all the way down to 56.0° south latitude near the polar regions. That’s a distance of over 4,300 kilometers. It’s the closest country in the world to the Antarctica continent. It actually claims about 1,250,000 square kilometers of Antarctica.

From South America to North America. Next #TravelThursday I’m back home stateside in the great state of Texas. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp