Tag: Florida

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Home Sweet Sebring

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I’m waking-up in my new home in my new neighborhood in northwestern Highlands County Florida for the 6TH morning in a row. It’s the longest streak yet, and I’ll be waking-up here for 3 additional mornings before I head back down U.S. 27 and Krome Avenue to Homestead for a quick turnaround.

Now if you’ve been reading or watching the news lately then you may know about the gas crisis in nearly all of South Florida (from The Treasure Coast southward through The Florida Keys). There are long lines at gas stations that are actually open, and no activity at all at gas stations that are closed because they have no gas remaining. It’s all because of a freak 24-hour rain event in Fort Lauderdale last week where they received over 2 feet of rain – flooding much of the region – including the port where the gas comes in. Here in my new part of Florida there is no such crisis. No lines. No shortages. No closings.

I’m scheduled to return to Homestead this Sunday morning. I’ll celebrate Christ with my home church family, and then I’ll spend 4 nights in my longtime home before I return back north to Sebring. But I may reconsider that schedule if the gas crisis continues.

I can easily fill-up my car with gas here in this area, drive down there, and then return back here on that same tank of gas. I get up to 50 MPG on the open road with my Honda Civic, but why venture into chaos and rage ?

If I take that trip – my next trip back here to Sebring will be even longer than this one – 12 nights in a row. Going forth I’ll be spending about 70% of the rest of the year here in Sebring, and 30% in Homestead. (I have an Excel spreadsheet that tracks all of this.)

Yesterday morning I spent about 2½ hours with my new friends at the Sebring Historical Society (#SHS). We enjoyed coffee, pastries, conversation, and we had an informal meeting. This afternoon I’ll spend about 3½ hours with them as we enjoy our monthly spaghetti dinner (my first one). This Saturday afternoon we have our quarterly pot-luck luncheon and board meeting. I’ll be serving with the #SHS a lot going forth. I’ve been dreaming about this opportunity for a couple of years now, and I’ve been blogging about it since a couple of years ago. My retirement dreams are coming together !

It’s 4/20, and I’m not making this up. We have a big nearly mile-long manmade lake in my new neighborhood. Nearly all of the condos encircle the 10½-acre lake. Its name – Lake Mary Jane.

Next #TravelThursday we’re going to Venus. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Geography History Nature Travel

Florida State Road 29

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. There’s a road that runs in a general north-south direction in inland Southwest Florida between U.S. 27 at the north-end and U.S. 41 at the south-end. It’s a rural historic intercounty state highway that I’ll be driving a short 14-mile stretch of frequently in the future – including tomorrow morning. It’s how I’ll get to and from the Fort Myers area to and from my new home in the Sebring area.

At the base of this 14-mile stretch of Florida State Road 29 is the historic city of LaBelle – just inside Hendry County from Glades County (to the north). It’s the county seat of Hendry County and its 2ND-largest city (after Clewiston). LaBelle has a population of right around 5,000. Its origins go back to the late-1880s along the banks of the Caloosahatchee River. LaBelle has a couple of nicknames – “The Belle Of The Caloosahatchee”, and “The City Under The Oaks”.

I’ve only driven through LaBelle a handful of times over the past few years. I’ve never actually gotten out of my car to walk around and explore the historic downtown district along the river. I’d like to do that during a future drive-through.

The remainder of the 14-mile stretch of Florida State Road 29 traverses Glades County farmland and raw unspoiled nature. It’s a beautiful scenic drive en route to and from U.S. 27.

I’ll be enjoying that beauty early tomorrow morning as I head home from the Fort Myers area. What am I doing there today and tonight ? Stay tuned. I’ll reveal that this #SundayScripture.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll share a couple of beautiful photos of the lake in my new neighborhood. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Geography History Home Mail Travel

Sebring Historical Society

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It is Day 21 of the closing process of my new retirement / forever home up near Sebring in scenic Highlands County Florida. 3 Thursdays ago I toured 5 condos in my dream 55+ neighborhood, and I selected the 5TH and final one as the best of them all (by far). So far so good with the entire process. I’ve reviewed and signed so many electronic forms over the past several weeks. That process appears to be drawing to a close. I’ll be physically present in Sebring for final closing day, and I’m sure that I’ll be signing even more documents on that day – retro-style – via “wet-ink” (pen-to-paper). Memo To Self: Don’t drink coffee that morning. (I want my signatures to be legible – not scribble.)

It’s no secret that I wish to be a museum docent when I grow up (retire), and I’ll be doing that with the Sebring Historical Society. I met with the Operations Director inside their main building a couple of days after I made that purchase offer on my condo. I actually walked over to their museum, and it was locked shut. I then walked over to the next historic building / house over that they also use (for socials and banquets), and it was also locked shut. So I had no choice but to head over to their main building to ask why.

I didn’t realize it at first, but the guy that greeted me was the same guy that greeted me exactly 2 years earlier during Presidents Day Weekend of 2021. (Read all about that remarkable day here.) It took him a little while longer to remember me. We talked for a good hour about my upcoming relocation and retirement, and my eagerness to become a member of the Sebring Historical Society. I wish to serve and participate in their regularly-scheduled meetings, events, and tours. He actually gave me a copy of the script for the closed museum. (It was closed because he didn’t have a docent available to work that day.) He told me to study it and personalize it to my own liking.

It was another great and impromptu meet-and-(re)greet, and when I walked away I was absolutely certain that I wanted to serve alongside the members of the Sebring Historical Society at my earliest opportunity (right after I start moving up there). I’ve already added some upcoming events to my schedule !

Several days after I returned to my current home I sat down at my computer, and I went “old-school”. I typed an old-fashioned letter to the Sebring Historical Society thanking the Operations Director for talking with me for an hour about everything. I reiterated my eagerness to serve to preserve, protect, and promote Sebring history. I also filled-out the application form to become a member, and I wrote out a check for the first year’s membership dues. It all went into an envelope – addressed and stamped – and placed in my neighborhood’s USPS mailbox. (Just like we used to do it “in the olden days”.) Writing letters is such a lost art form, but I continue to embrace it. Blogging is sort of like writing letters – the modern way.

In addition to regularly-scheduled monthly and quarterly events – the Sebring Historical Society also hosts all-inclusive day-trips around the local South-Central Florida region. Future #TravelThursday editions will highlight these trips, and perhaps my trip highlights may even appear on the Sebring Historical Society Facebook site.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about South Florida State College in Avon Park Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Geography Travel

My Carnival Celebration Vacation 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about the busiest cruise ship port in the world – #PortMiami. This week I begin a multi-part series on my most recent Caribbean cruise from there.

I was on the 7-day sailing of the brand-new Carnival Celebration from Sunday January 08TH 2023 to Sunday January 15TH 2023. It sailed across the Atlantic from Southampton England to Miami Florida from Sunday November 06TH 2022 to Sunday November 20TH 2022. This was its 9TH cruise (with passengers) ever !

The Carnival Celebration is the newest cruise ship that I’ve ever sailed on, and YES – it’s got a subtle “new cruise” smell to it. The previous newest cruise ship I’d ever sailed on was in late-October / early-November 2007 when I sailed on the maiden TransAtlantic voyage of the Carnival Freedom from Rome Italy to Miami Florida. But that cruise ship had already sailed a full inaugural spring and summer season of Mediterranean cruises. I like to say that I helped “deliver” the Carnival Freedom to the U.S.A.

The almost $1 billion Carnival Celebration is Carnival’s biggest ship ever at 183,521 gross tons. There were about 6,000 passengers onboard with a crew of over 1,700 (from some 70 nations). I believe that my cruise was close to capacity (over 90%). It’s the biggest cruise ship that I’ve ever been on, and it’s the most people that I’ve ever been on a cruise with. It was the complete opposite of my Carnival cruise from exactly one year (to the date) earlier when I sailed on the Carnival Liberty – which was less than half-full. That was right after the cruising industry “restart” post-pandemic. You can read all about it here.

This was my 24TH cruise in a little over 31 years – and 16TH on Carnival in a little over 23 years. My 2ND night on this cruise was my 100TH night with Carnival. It’s my favorite cruise line – mostly due to activities onboard. Every cruise line specializes in something, and they do it better than most other cruise lines. For Carnival it’s the sheer number of things that you can do and activities that you can participate in from early in the morning until early the next morning.

My last 3 Carnival cruises have been great. I did not have such a good time on my 13TH in May 2014. After that one I decided to no longer go on cruises and retire from the sea. That “drought” ended almost exactly 4 years later when I went on a short 4-day Disney cruise to Key West and The Bahamas with my brother, sister-in-law, her parents, and my nieces. That turned out to be a surprisingly fun cruise, and it reinvigorated my passion for cruising. After that cruise I went back to Carnival and gave them another chance. I booked my next cruise for 9 months later, and that was the 1ST of 3 great Carnival cruises in a row – all in January – in 2019, 2022, and now 2023.

January is my preferred month for cruising. May is another good option for me, as is September and October. I try to avoid Spring Break (February, March, and April), Summer (June, July, and August), and the holidays of November and December.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write more about the Carnival Celebration, and in the weeks to follow I’ll write about the 3 ports-of-call on the 7-day cruise – Amber Cove Dominican Republic, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands. You may be surprised as to which of those 3 ports was – by far – my favorite of them all – at least on this cruise. This will likely be a 6-part series through the end of February, so let’s embark for fun at sea and abroad. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp