Chicken – CountUp

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This past Monday morning I returned southward back to my longtime home. It was bittersweet, as I enjoyed 4½ days / 5 nights in my new home, new neighborhood, and new region of Florida. I didn’t want to leave, and I wasn’t really excited about returning to my old home. But I’ve got some good stuff planned for this upcoming stretch down here in South Miami-Dade. I’ve got the annual Good Friday Prayer Breakfast to look forward to tomorrow. I also get to observe and celebrate Resurrection Sunday with my church family – followed by Lunch after that. It’s going to be a good time here.

It’s actually 184 miles from home to home. All along I’ve been touting 186 miles, as that’s what Google Maps states. I guess it’s off by a couple of miles (probably due to rounding). I drove up 184 miles. I drove down 184 miles. In-between I drove 43 miles all around town – discovering roads to get around, stores, restaurants, and my new church. I even found my new barber shop !

I surpassed the 19,000-mile mark on my car odometer in West Broward driving southward this past Monday morning. That’s just 19 days after I hit the 18,000-mile mark. And the 18,000-mile mark came 37 days after I hit the 17,000-mile mark. I drove over 1,000 miles in consecutive months (February and March) for the first time since 2020. That may not happen this month. It could be real close though.

I took an impromptu photo of the main entrance of my new neighborhood, and I actually posted it on Facebook within our private group. Surprisingly it received more likes and comments than any post that I wrote publicly when I was active on Facebook for almost 5 years. I captioned the photo – What a great place to live ! #Home

Here’s that photo:

Next #TravelThursday I’m heading back to Sebring – by way of Fort Myers. Let’s keep traveling together.

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. As I continue to settle into my new region of Florida here in Highlands County – I’ll keep on finding interesting places to see – and eat. After all – eating is an integral part of any travel experience. Eating is one of my favorite hobbies !

If you know me personally, or if you’ve been reading my blog for awhile – then you may know that I’m originally from Maryland – Prince Georges County Maryland to be specific. (It borders Washington D.C.) For 11+ years (1969-1980) as a kid I lived in Greenbelt, Bowie, and Lanham. I had some great childhood memories back then, and some not-so-great ones as well. My grandparents, and nearly all of my uncles, aunts, and cousins lived within a few miles of each other back then.

During my entire time as a kid growing up in Maryland (and also adjacent Fairfax County Virginia) I’d never heard of Maryland Fried Chicken – either the restaurant or the mere concept. Chesapeake Bay Crabs – definitely. Scrapple – of course. Fried Chicken – negative. Fried Chicken comes from Kentucky. Everyone knows that.

Looks like there are 14 locations of Maryland Friend Chicken in Florida, Georgia, and 1 in South Carolina. Most of them (9) are concentrated across Central Florida – including 2 within a few miles of my new home. They don’t have a presence on social media; although, a few of the local locations have their own web sites. There’s actually a WordPress-created web page at marylandfriedchicken.net that reveals its 60+ year history and origins in the Orlando Florida area.

My local Sebring location has their own web site at marylandfriedchickenofsebring.com.

I went to my local neighborhood Maryland Fried Chicken for Lunch on St. Patrick’s Day. I was greeted by two friendly workers. One took my order, and I struck up a conversation with both of them. I told them that it was my very first visit there. They asked me where I was from. I told them “Maryland !”. I added that I’d never heard of Maryland Fried Chicken, and that I’m looking forward to enjoying it.

I ordered the 2-piece chicken dinner (all breast). That comes with 2 sides. I got it with fries and homemade macaroni salad. I took it home and I enjoyed it. It was very good. The fried chicken has a distinctive flavor to it that kind of reminds me of my childhood, and that’s really strange because the only fried chicken that we ate when I was a kid came from #KFC. My elementary school cafeteria may have served fried chicken every so often, so maybe it brought back memories of that taste. It’s hard to explain its unique flavor – perhaps very juicy ?

I’ll obviously have to go back again this weekend to pick-up some more Maryland Fried Chicken.

One Maryland Fried Chicken location in Winter Garden Florida is going out-of-business after 57 years. Read that article here.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about my new neighborhood, and I’ll even share a picture or two. Let’s keep traveling together.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31