Category: Travel

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1985

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date August 7, 2020

Every 2ND, 3RD, and 4TH Friday of the month I post the Top 5 of one of my classic hit music charts based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from either 15, 20, or 30 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 1ST Friday of the month, so it’s a special. Back in 1985 I was an 18-year-old USAF Airman Basic living in a dorm at Chanute AFB near Rantoul Illinois. I was in my first week of technical school after 6½ weeks of Basic Training at Lackland AFB near San Antonio Texas. It was my first week ever in Illinois. I lived (and trained) there for about 3 months, and I haven’t been back since. I’m actually having a lot of fun over on Facebook reminiscing with my fellow Chanute AFB colleagues about my short time there.

These were the hottest hits in the land exactly 35 years ago this weekend – for the week ending Sunday August 11TH 1985:

“Shout” – Tears For Fears
“Everytime You Go Away” – Paul Young
“If You Love Somebody Set Them Free” – Sting
“Never Surrender” – Corey Hart
“The Power Of Love” – Huey Lewis And The News

Good solid pop / light-rock music back then. It was the soundtrack of my 3RD month in the Air Force. I remember listening to a local Hot Adult Contemporary radio station at the time out of Champaign Illinois. Once I got my car (which only had AM radio) I listened to MusicRadio WLS – the “blowtorch” out of Chicago. (They made “Chi-CA-go” sound so nice during their top-of-the-hour station identification jingles.)

Next week on RETRO it’s back to my regularly-scheduled program. I’ll go back 15 years to the 2ND week of August of 2005.

It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday and Monday with 2 more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for going RETRO with me !

Tags 1985, Music, Radio, Top 40

Driving Food Nature Photography Shopping Travel

Fort Myers Beach

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 30, 2020

Surprise ! I’ve returned home from vacation again. Just 23 days after returning home from my 9-day / 2-state / 1,690-mile road-trip vacation I embarked on a much shorter road-trip vacation to a beach that’s much closer to home.

This trip was not quite 50 hours and just 271 miles from start to finish. I visited Fort Myers Beach for the 9TH time in 9 years. It was 135½ miles up – and 135½ miles back. I drove up there right after my church service on Sunday. Once I arrived at my hotel I parked my car, and it stayed parked until I departed on Tuesday morning.

I first discovered “The Island” (as the locals call it) of Fort Myers Beach at the end of April 2011. I spent 3 nights there, and I fell in love with what I saw. I also visited in October 2011, March 2012, June 2012, June 2013, October 2013, June 2015, and July 2019. So I visited 6 times during the first 2½ years, and then I skipped a year before my 7TH visit, and then I skipped 4 years before my 8TH visit. This year’s visit was exactly a year to the day after last year’s visit.

I did the same thing that I’ve done on previous visits. I walked the beach several times near my hotel. I took the trolley to the other end of the island and back. I visited the 560-foot-long pier. I walked the downtown shopping district. I enjoyed big meals at some of their unique restaurants. I took lots of photos everywhere I went to remind me forever of the good times I enjoyed.

I love viewing my photos of all of my previous visits to the island – both the “best of the best” photos that made it onto my Flickr site, as well as those that weren’t as good. Even the bland photos remind me of good times at my favorite beach town in Southwest Florida. You can check out my Fort Myers Beach album on Flickr here.

None of the photos from this newest trip are on there yet, but some of them will be soon. In the meantime here are 3 from this 9TH visit to “The Island”:

Tags Fort Myers Beach

1990s Bible Career Christian Driving God Life Military Ministry Music Radio Scripture Travel Weather

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1990

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 24, 2020

It’s the 4TH Friday of the month, so I go back 30 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday July 22ND 1990:

“Don’t Go Away Mad … Just Go Away” – Motley Crue
“The Cradle Of Love” – Billy Idol
“Possession” – Bad English
“She Ain’t Worth It” – Glenn Medeiros With Bobby Brown
“King Of Wishful Thinking” – Go West

30 years ago this past week I completed a 2-week TDY. In military lingo a TDY is a temporary duty assignment that’s physically located somewhere away from your home station – usually for the purpose of training or deployment. I spent 2 weeks at Tyndall AFB near Panama City Florida. It was the wildest and craziest 2 weeks of the active duty portion of my military career.

I arrived on Saturday July 07TH 1990. 2 weeks / 10 days of training (related to my job) began on Monday July 09TH 1990 and ended on Friday July 20TH 1990. I returned home on Saturday July 21ST 1990. I drove a total of 1,687 miles from start to finish in my red 1989 Geo Spectrum. (Even back then I kept track of road-trip mileage.)

Me and one of my classmates (same age) discovered and explored (for the first time) Panama City Beach during the weekend break. We partied hard like it was 1990 and we were 23 years young. We hit up Spinnaker and Club La Vela. They were the hottest nightclubs on the beach for many years – located right next to each other. We went there both days / nights that weekend.

It was a rockin’ and rowdy weekend that I looked back at fondly for many years – until salvation began 16 summers later in 2006. That’s when I stopped celebrating it. That’s when I started repenting it.

But that wasn’t enough. I returned to Panama City Beach for 2 days and 2 nights leading up to Christmas Eve in 2010. The beach was cold and deserted. I was bundled up. I was back at the scene of the crimes. I walked the beach alone. I admired God’s beauty. I repented of my sins and I asked for forgiveness as I paced back-and-forth. I listened for God’s voice. Once I departed the beach on the morning of Christmas Eve I felt that I had finally closed that chapter of my life.

Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and He will again send you Jesus – your appointed Messiah. For He must remain in Heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through His holy prophets. (Acts 3:19-21 NLT)

I observe that weekend in July of 1990, but I don’t celebrate it anymore. I thank God for rescuing and saving me from destruction some 16 years later. That’s what I celebrate nowadays – especially each summertime. Next month I’ll celebrate 14 years of salvation.

It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday and Monday with 2 more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for going RETRO with me !

Tags 1990, Music, Panama City Beach, Radio, Top 40

Career Driving Military Travel

The Chris M. Day Retirement Highway

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 23, 2020

There’s a stretch of highway that begins at the northern city limits of Homestead Florida (my home and workplace for almost 33 years). It continues north-northwestward for about 212 miles along Florida State Road 997 and U.S. Route 27. It’s affectionately known as “The Chris M. Day Retirement Highway” – or the #CMDRH for short. (Chris M. Day is my name – in case you haven’t figured that out by now.)

When I drive the #CMDRH as I sing along loudly and proudly to the hottest Christian hits on the radio I picture imaginary signs along the side of the road spaced about 2 miles apart from each other that identify it as “The Chris M. Day Retirement Highway” / #CMDRH. The signs have a dark blue background with bright white lettering with the year 2023 at the bottom of the sign. (What an imagination I have !)

The #CMDRH includes a pivotal 54-mile stretch at the northern end that extends from Florida State Road 60 (to the north) to Florida State Road 70 (to the south). Somewhere within a mile of that 54-mile stretch is where I plan to move and retire in less than 3½ years. I’ve actually narrowed it down even further to the southernmost half of that 54-mile stretch. So it’s somewhere within a 27-mile stretch of U.S. Route 27 that I call “The Retirement Zone”. Sebring Florida is at the epicenter of it. (I plan to retire in Sebring.)

Sebring is a slow-growth military retirement town of about 10,600 residents within its city limits. Its population has only doubled over the past 70 years. It’s actually the urban commercial center (and seat) of its county (Highlands), and the county itself has just under 110,000 residents. It’s been an incorporated city for 107 years. It’s got a very low cost-of-living compared with much of the state of Florida. That makes it very attractive for retirees.

Nearly every road-trip vacation northward includes a trip along the #CMDRH and “The Retirement Zone”. The first 212 and last 212 miles of my recent 1,690-mile road-trip was through the #CMDRH – a week and a day apart. Once I’m in “The Retirement Zone” I drive a little slower, I look around a little longer, and I dream of a new chapter of my life that’s not too far into the future. I wonder what my life will be like when I live there in that area following the conclusion of my 38½-year U.S. Military and Government career.