Tag: Miami-Dade

Walking Around The Neighborhood

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date December 26, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. While most of my travel posts have to do with driving or flying somewhere – this post is about another form of transportation – my own two feet.

17 years ago this past Christmas Eve I started something new that I had never done before. I intentional walked around my neighborhood. I did it for a few reasons back in 2007. I did it for fitness – to get healthier and stronger. (I was neither back then.) I did it to honor my dad. He was slowly losing the ability to walk due to the effects of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) – AKA “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. I did it for my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ – to thank Him for rescuing me and saving me and blessing me with His gifts – such as the gift to pray for my neighbors, and my neighborhood, and my city, and beyond.

This is the start of my 18TH year of walking around my neighborhood. (Technically – each season begins near the start of the dry season here in South and South-Central Florida.) In this 18TH season – I’m still walking for fitness, and for my dad in Heaven, and for God. And when I walk around my neighborhood – I’m praying for my neighbors, and for my neighborhood, and for Sebring, and beyond. The Lord placed me in my dream home – in my dream neighborhood – in my dream part of Florida. I can’t stop thanking Him for that, for I’m living my best life today !

Statistically – Season 17 (2023-2024) – was the biggest one yet. I walked 87 times for a total of 113.50 miles. That’s an average of 1.30 miles per walk. I walked from September 2023 through July 2024. Season 18 started this past September 2024. My goal for this season is to walk 100 times. I’m about one-fourth of the way there, and I’m way behind last season’s numbers at this point. I need to get to steppin’ !

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my driving year in review. Let’s keep traveling together.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook. I usually post there on Mondays and Thursdays. I’m also the Social Media Director for the Sebring Historical Society. I post on our Facebook page 6 days a week – Mondays to Saturdays.

Tags Broward, Clewiston, Florida, Glades, Heartland, Hendry, Highlands, Homestead, Love's, Miami-Dade, Moore Haven, Palm Beach, Sebring, South Bay

Blogging Driving Food Geography Home Travel

Homestead And Back

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date December 19, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last Thursday morning I drove down to Homestead Florida for the 32ND time since I bought my new home in Sebring Florida 22 months ago. Traffic was a bit heavier than normal for a Thursday morning with lots of truckers and tourists from the north.

I actually drove straight to Longhorn Steakhouse – where I met up with two former coworkers / supervisors for another one of our reunion lunches. We meet about every 3 months. It’s a great tradition that we’ve continued for many years now.

This will likely be my final monthly visit to Homestead. I’ve kept my longtime condo since moving away. I hope to put it on the market next month, and hopefully it will sell fast. I’ll still visit Homestead in 2025 – just not as often – maybe every 3 months or so.

It’s a nice 3½-hour drive between my new home and my old home. 99% of it is on just two highways – U.S. 27 and Florida State Road 997 (locally known as Krome Avenue in Miami-Dade County).

I drove back home this past Sunday afternoon after church and lunch in Homestead. My scenic (mostly rural) drive includes 6 Counties – Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hendry, Glades, and Highlands.

Once I’ve reached U.S. 27 near the Miami-Dade / Broward line – I’m on the road that I live on. (My neighborhood’s entrance is directly on U.S. 27 just shy of 150 miles away.)

Once I’ve reached South Bay near the south end of Lake Okeechobee in far-western Palm Beach County – I’ve reached the halfway point. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped anywhere in South Bay. I’ve only driven through it. A new RaceTrac Travel Center is currently under construction. That holds promise for potential future stops.

Clewiston (in Hendry County) is next up on the trek. It’s actually the most populated city directly along the road between Homestead and Lake Placid (in Highlands County). Over 7,000 residents call Clewiston home. A longtime Sonny’s BBQ recently went out-of-business along U.S. 27 in Clewiston. I’ve stopped there a few times for a mid-trip meal. If only I were driving through the area before 1999 when Old South Bar-B-Q Ranch drew in the hungry locals and tourists along U.S. 27 for over 40 years.

I’ve written about Love’s here on my blog in the past. It’s just west of the small town of Moore Haven. It was built in 2016 and opened in March 2017. I remember driving by it a few times while it was under construction thinking that I’d very likely be a future customer there. I’ve stopped there many times – in fact – more times than not heading northward. Their employees are friendly. Their restrooms are wonderful – large and mostly clean. They have an Arby’s on-site, and lots of gas pumps. That Love’s stop is right at the two-thirds point of my trek back home.

And then there’s the ordinary (but beautiful to me) “ENTERING Highlands COUNTY” road sign at the slight rightward bend in the road. Once I reach that sign – I’m 40 miles / 45 minutes away from home. I used to dream of living in Highlands County every time I saw that sign during my road-trips northward. My dream came true 22 months ago. Now I’m glad to be back home again when I see that sign. (The whole County is my home.)

From the Highlands County line northward – it’s a slow ascent from elevations in the 60s (feet above sea level) to more than 3 times higher !

Although my visits to Homestead 3½ hours down the road will be fewer starting in 2025 – I can’t envision a time in the future when I stop driving southward to Homestead. As long as I have friends still living down there – I’ll be visiting them. That – and the scenic drive alone – is well worth the trip to and fro. The portion of U.S. 27 from I-75 northward is a trip along the main highway through rural and unspoiled South-Central Florida (“The Heartland”). I imagine that much of it looks mostly the same today as it has for the past 65 years.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my progress on Season 18 of my fitness walks around my neighborhood. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Broward, Clewiston, Florida, Glades, Heartland, Hendry, Highlands, Homestead, Love's, Miami-Dade, Moore Haven, Palm Beach, Sebring, South Bay

Blogging Driving Geography Home Travel

SW 328TH Street In Homestead Florida

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date December 14, 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. There’s a street in Homestead Florida that I’ve driven on more than any other in America. It’s SW 328TH Street – a Miami-Dade County road that runs about 13 miles due west / east in the far-south of the county from the edge of the Everglades on the west-end through Homestead in the middle to almost Biscayne Bay on the east-end. At its most primitive – it’s a narrow dirt road through rural farmland. At its most busy 2½-mile stretch – it’s a sometimes congested 4-lane divided road (recently widened from 2 lanes) with a couple of dangerous intersections.

My longtime home of the past 28½ years is near the middle of that busy stretch. That easily makes it my most driven road of my lifetime. I can’t go anywhere without getting on that road. It’s much nicer now than it used to be when it was a narrow and bumpy 2-lane road (up until just a few years ago).

Fun Fact: SW 328TH Street is exactly 20½ miles south (as the crow flies) of Flagler Street (which is Zero Street and divides Miami-Dade County into north and south). Every 16 streets north / south is exactly a mile on the county grid. Most streets that are a multiple of 8 (particularly in the south part of the county) are major thoroughfares.

SW 328TH Street is also known as Lucy Street for its western-most 5½ miles – and North Canal Drive for its eastern-most 7½ miles. It’s also known as SW / SE 8TH Street within the city limits of Homestead. For 1.7 miles Lucy Street serves as the border between Homestead (to the north) and Florida City (to the south). And speaking of Lucy Street – Lucy was one of the daughters of the first Mayor of Homestead in 1913. It’s been Lucy Street ever since, and it’s one of the longest-named streets in the region.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll follow the Sun. I’ll write about the Winter Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere. And I know that I have readers in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the South American continent. I won’t forget about your Summer Solstice. Let’s keep traveling together.