Tag: Georgia

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Happy 248TH Birthday America

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about the 17TH day of my April retirement road-trip – returning here to my home state of Florida. And I wrote about the 18TH and final day – westward and southward away from Yulee along Florida State Road 200, and onto U.S. 301, U.S. 441, Florida State Road 33, a series of old narrow backroads in northern Polk County (following Google Maps), and back to U.S. 27 and the Heartland of Florida.

The purpose of this road-trip was to see America, and I saw a good part of her on this 18-day, 7-state, and 2,807-mile excursion across our southern states – northwestward from Florida to Alabama to Mississippi to Louisiana to Texas – and then southeastward from Texas to Arkansas to Mississippi to Alabama to Georgia to Florida.

Out of 2,807 miles – only 186 miles were via the Interstate Highway System. It was the rural portion of I-10 in the Florida Panhandle and into South Alabama – 149½ miles from west of Tallahassee to east of Pensacola, and 36½ miles from west of Pensacola to east of Mobile. Much of my route occurred on U.S. 98, U.S. 84, and U.S. 82 – old U.S. highways – the way we used to see America before the Interstates came into existence.

I drove 1,216 miles during the first 5 days of my road-trip, and that took me to Wylie Texas – where I spent 8 days and nights with my family. I didn’t drive at all for 7 days in a row.

I drove 1,591 miles during the final 6 days of my road-trip from Wichita Falls Texas (the northernmost and westernmost point) back home to Florida.

The most miles driven in a single day occurred on Day 14 when I drove 366 miles from Wichita Falls to El Dorado Arkansas. The next day came in 3RD place – 348 miles from El Dorado to Tuscaloosa Alabama. That’s 714 miles in 2 days. Over the course of 11 actual days of driving – I averaged 255 miles per day.

I filled-up with gas 7 times on this road-trip, and I paid anywhere from $2.899 to $3.499 per gallon at the pump (before credit card discounts). I averaged over 45 MPG.

For many years I imagined (and talked with friends about) a 100-day / 10,000-mile retirement road-trip clockwise around the circumference of the U.S.A. – from Florida to Texas to California to Washington – across the northern tier states – over to Maine – and then down the Eastern Seaboard back to Florida. This wasn’t that trip, but it was at least a quarter of that trip. By keeping mostly to old U.S. highways – and some state, county, and local roads – I saw America, and she is beautiful. Each state that I visited had its own unique charm and identity to it. I obviously love my home state of Florida for everything that she has to offer and for everything that she has done for me over the past 36+ years. I definitely need to spend more time in and see more of Mississippi and Alabama – even if I don’t drive all the way to Texas. And I’ve got Georgia on my mind too. I want to explore your historic seaside towns – especially Savannah.

#ArkLaTex & #ArkLaMiss – I learned of those two terms while in South Arkansas. It was fun to see more of Arkansas than ever before in my life. I liked what I saw from Texarkana to the Mississippi River, and now I want to see more. Maybe even your mountains upstate.

I visited a lot of great historical museums along the way, and I met and talked with a lot of fellow docents serving at these museums – preserving, protecting, and promoting the history around them. I saw a lot of good, and a little not-so-good at these museums. These were all lessons learned as I continue working with some of my local museums.

This is the 13TH and final part of my look-back at my April retirement road-trip. I wrote all of it during the month of April and into the first couple of days of May – while my mind was still fresh from the trip. It was fun planning the trip, and then doing the trip, and then writing about the trip during and after it. But I’m just getting started. Now that I’m in the retirement chapter of my life – I hope to spend more time seeing America – by road – by rail – and perhaps – maybe even by Mississippi River cruise. America – you look great at 248 !

Next #TravelThursday – Let’s join the circus ! Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Commerce Driving Food Geography Home Travel

Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my misadventures on Albany Georgia‘s Liberty Expressway (U.S. 82). I also wrote about Tifton and Waycross in South Georgia.

Back on the morning of Day 2 of my April retirement road-trip – I drove out of Florida and into Alabama via I-10 on one of the two portions of Interstate highway that was part of my road-trip. 15 days later – I’ve returned home to Florida. I missed Florida. I love it so much. I’ve lived here for over 36 years, and I’ll be here until the end.

I visited a friend / former coworker of mine from Homestead who now lives happily ever after – retired – in the Yulee area. Yulee is actually not an incorporated village, town, or city. It’s a broad census area northeast of Jacksonville, and it serves as a suburb of the big city. It’s the population center of Nassau County – located in the northeast corner of Florida. It’s a mostly young military region – with U.S. Navy bases to the north and south. It’s a rapidly growing area, and there are an abundance of new homes, stores, and restaurants under construction. Traffic was very busy in both directions (east and west) along the main thoroughfare – Florida State Road 200. They even have a “diverging diamond interchange” over I-95.

Fernandina Beach and the adjacent beachside communities were originally on my itinerary for Day 17 of my road-trip, but I opted to stay and hang out and reminisce with my friend at his house instead. I’ve actually been to Fernandina Beach before on a daytrip with my Mom and Dad when they actually lived in Jacksonville in the late-1990s and most of the 2000s. I want to visit again on a future road-trip. On an early rendition of my road-trip itinerary – Day 18 would’ve taken me from Yulee – over to Fernandina Beach – down A1A / U.S. 1 for 250+ miles to Vero Beach or Fort Pierce – and then finally inland from there to return home. (There was even a Day 19 considered as well.)

But I really love my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida, and by this time I was homesick and exhausted. I wanted to get back home and relax and recuperate and return to my daily life.

So – I did just that on Day 18. I drove away from the Yulee area – westward and southward along Florida State Road 200, and onto U.S. 301, U.S. 441, Florida State Road 33, a series of old narrow backroads in northern Polk County (following Google Maps), and back to U.S. 27. I stopped for Lunch at a very busy Sizzling Grill in Lake Wales, and then 29 miles down the road – I was back home again.

Next #TravelThursday on the Fourth Of July – I’ll summarize and wrap-up my April retirement road-trip with lots of fun numbers on America’s 248TH Birthday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Geography Travel

Georgia

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my scenic drive southeastward across my birth state – Alabama – from the college town of Tuscaloosa – to the State Capitol of Montgomery – to the historic Chattahoochee River city of Eufaula.

Before I reached my pitstop for the night – I came across a good friend – U.S. 27 – as it crossed U.S. 82. I live on U.S. 27 some 400+ miles southeast.

Day 16 of my April retirement road-trip ended in Albany Georgia – the population center of Southwest Georgia – with a metro area population approaching 150,000.

Funny Story: The next morning – Day 17 of my road-trip – I decided to ignore Google Maps, do my own thing, and immediately get back on U.S. 82 to continue my trek southeastward. Sounds innocent enough. Well – (as I’ve written before) – weird things happen when I deviate from Google Maps. I suddenly found myself on a busy freeway during the morning rush hour, and I was a bit terrified during much of the experience. If that wasn’t bad enough – I missed my exit to actually stay on U.S. 82 (the non-freeway version of it), and I ended-up exiting onto Business U.S. 82 (which ironically is the way Google Maps was telling me to go the entire way from my hotel). After a few miles on Business U.S. 82 I took a side-road to get back onto U.S. 82. Of course – I didn’t realize that I could’ve just stayed on Business U.S. 82 for a few more miles until it ended at U.S. 82. So that was a comedy of errors on that particular Wednesday morning, but I survived the Liberty Expressway Experience in Albany Georgia.

The rest of my trek through South Georgia was fairly uneventful (thankfully). U.S. 82 goes under I-75 in Tifton. I’ve been on that portion of I-75 quite a few times (back when I used to drive the Interstates without fear and anxiety). I was originally planning to spend the night in Tifton (right by I-75), but hotel rates in the area were much higher than hotel rates in the Albany area, so I opted for Albany over Tifton.

As a U.S. Highway nerd – Waycross Georgia greatly intrigues me. It’s where 6 railroad lines meet, and it’s also where 4 major U.S. highways meet. On one street I was on U.S. 1, U.S. 23, U.S. 82, and U.S. 84 – all at the same time. It was good to see U.S. 84 again. I took her westward from Mississippi into Louisiana back on Days 3 and 4. On this day – I lost U.S. 84 quickly, as she continues on in a northeasterly direction through and away from Waycross. A moment later – I lost U.S. 82, as she continues on in a mostly easterly direction. Both U.S. 82 and U.S. 84 end at I-95 about 47 miles apart. Both of those U.S. highways made this road-trip truly special.

I continued southeast along the concurrency of U.S. 1 and U.S. 23, and just north of the Florida border – U.S. 301 joined us.

Fun Facts: I’ve lived within the vicinity of U.S. 1 for nearly all of my life – from 1969 to 1985 (Washington D.C. area), and then again from 1987 to 2023 (South Florida). I also lived just off U.S. 301 in Bowie Maryland from 1972 to 1975.

The St. Marys River serves as the border between Georgia and Florida in this area. Once upon a time for many years in an era long gone – a Florida Welcome Center greeted out-of-state tourists alongside U.S. 1 / U.S. 23 / U.S. 301. You know you could count on two things there – a cup of complimentary cold orange juice – and bathrooms. Only remnants and memories remain today.

Next #TravelThursday – I return home to the Heartland of Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp