Tag: Mississippi

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Blogging Driving Geography History Music Nature Photography Travel Weather

The Renaissance City

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about Huntsville and Decatur Alabama. On my upcoming American Cruise Lines paddlewheeler ship we will cruise from Decatur westward less than 40 miles to our next port-of-call. It’ll be a slow and meticulous 40 miles over the course of 6 hours as we drop nearly 140 feet in elevation. We’ll essentially be dropping from the Upper Tennessee River to the Lower Tennessee River via a couple of dams and locks that will lower the ship gradually like an elevator. Before the dams were constructed from the late-1910s to the mid-1930s that stretch of river was shallow and rocky with steep sudden drops creating rapids and waterfalls.

That 6-hour trek downstream will occur late at night, so unless I’m out on my balcony watching us enter the locks, lower, and exit the locks – I’ll probably be sleeping right through it.

As the dawn of a new day arrives I’ll be waking up in Alabama’s Renaissance City – Florence. It’s actually 1 of 4 cities that form what locals affectionately call “The Shoals”. Florence (about 45,000 residents), Muscle Shoals (about 18,000), Sheffield (about 9,000), and Tuscumbia (about 9,000) make up the region that collectively include well over 150,000 residents including adjacent smaller towns and communities.

Fun Facts: Historic routes U.S. 43 and U.S. 72 meet in the region, and they form a concurrency through The Shoals. U.S. 43 runs 410 miles from Columbia Tennessee southward to Mobile. U.S. 72 runs 318 miles from Memphis eastward to Chattanooga. There are long-term plans to upgrade U.S. 43 along the entire western Alabama corridor from Florence to Mobile to Interstate standards. Decades from now it could perhaps be I-63 (not currently in-use).

That day will be busy for me in Florence. (The ship will be docked at Florence Harbor Marina adjacent to McFarland Park.) I’ll be part of a guided tour of multiple historic Shoals music studios in the morning. That afternoon I’ll be visiting Ivy Green – a historic house museum in Tuscumbia. It’s the birthplace and childhood home of Helen Keller.

I’m looking forward to my two days of cruising the Tennessee River in northern Alabama (203 miles across the state). Hopefully the Fall weather is nice, so that I can fully enjoy Huntsville, Decatur, and The Shoals.

And that’s a hint as to when this cruise will actually occur. Some of you close to me already know when I’ll be on this cruise, so if you know then you know to keep it between us. Everyone else will find out all about this cruise when I actually begin writing about it after I return home.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about Savannah Tennessee. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
1990s Blogging Driving Geography Military Nature Travel Weather

The Yellowhammer State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. The great state of Alabama is known as “The Heart Of Dixie”, “The Cotton State”, “The Camellia State”, and of course “The Yellowhammer State” – named after the state bird – the yellowhammer woodpecker. Those “northern flickers” are flying and making lots of noise all across North America and southward into Central America. Alabama must be the staging point during the wintertime months for those snowbirds.

I was actually born in “Sweet Home Alabama” – Selma to be exact – 59 years ago. I lived my first 2 years there before my parents moved us up to Maryland in 1969. (My dad was stationed at Craig AFB at the time.)

I’ve visited (and driven through) Alabama many times since 1990. Maxwell AFB-Gunter Annex (former Gunter AFB) in Montgomery was a memorable visit during the early part of my USAF career. I mentioned one of the trips last week to pick-up my little brother at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville after a fun week of Space Camp. (He attended during the Summers of 1990 and 1992.)

A whole bunch of my first church friends from Homestead moved to the Mobile / Semmes area during the late-2010s, and I’ve visited them a few times on my way to North Texas. I also got to sightsee a bit in and near downtown Mobile. There’s a lot to see and do in and around “The Port City”, and I’ll have to visit again to complete more items off of my Mobile checklist.

During the Summer of 2020 my family drove southeastward, and I drove northwestward. We met for a fun 5-day vacation in Orange Beach. I remember back when I was a kid I would send away for free travel brochures of Alabama via the mail – basically to help me research and learn more about the state where I was born. I would dream of some day in the future visiting the Gulf beaches of Alabama. 40 years later it became reality.

Most recently – my 18-day, 7-state, and 2,807-mile April 2024 “Retirement Road-Trip” took me west across South Alabama (through Mobile), and then back east across Central Alabama (through Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, and Eufaula). You can look back at that eastward trek (Days 15 and 16) across Alabama here.

I’ll soon be returning to Alabama via the Tennessee River on an American Cruise Lines ship. I’ll be visiting Decatur, Huntsville, and Florence. I’ll write more about those 3 cities in a few weeks. Incidentally – my upcoming cruise also visits Mississippi – sort of. About 9.3 miles of the river forms the border between Alabama and Mississippi, and then those 2 state lines meet the Tennessee state line at the river. With an average cruising speed of about 9 MPH – Mississippi will be on the port side of the ship for about an hour. (I won’t see it, as that will occur in the middle of the night.)

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll take you back to “The Bluegrass State” – Kentucky. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
1990s Blogging Travel

My First Caribbean Cruise

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. 33 years ago this weekend on the 18TH of August of 1991 – I stepped foot on a cruise ship for the first time ever. It was my Dad’s idea at the time to go on a family vacation at sea. He worked with a local travel agency in our hometown of McLean Virginia. He selected the Norwegian Seaward out of #PortMiami. It was a fairly new cruise ship at the time – about 3 years old.

I did not know what to expect prior to stepping foot in a brand-new world at sea. Remember there was no Internet 33 years ago – as least no Internet that normal people like You and I could use. But once I stepped foot on that cruise ship – it was love at first sight – starting with the first buffet meal.

I don’t remember much from that first cruise. It was 7 days and 7 nights – a Sunday afternoon to Sunday morning. There were several ports-of-call including Ocho Rios Jamaica and George Town Grand Cayman. I think we also visited The Bahamas and Cozumel Mexico. It was my first time in those 4 nations. In fact – I haven’t been to Jamaica since then.

We had our family portrait taken on formal night, and I actually wore my military service dress blues for that photo session.

I think I had determined during that first cruise that there would indeed be a 2ND cruise, and a 3RD cruise, and so forth and so on. That 2ND cruise occurred almost exactly 3 years later – on the exact same cruise ship. Just 8 months after that I was on my 3RD cruise – on another NCL ship out of Miami. In January 2023 I sailed on my 24TH cruise – and my 16TH on Carnival. (I sailed 6 times on NCL, once on Royal Carribean, and once on Disney.)

I’m fully retired now – only collecting a monthly pension. I don’t know what the future holds as far as cruising is concerned. That 24TH cruise was a great one on a great ship. Perhaps it was “The Grand Finale” – my last cruise – at least for a while. But I’ll never say never for a 25TH cruise.

I would really love to go on a 22-day Mississippi River Viking cruise, but I don’t have that kind of fun money. Can you imagine how many #TravelThursday blogs I could create based on that cruise ? !

I have been quietly checking out Carnival’s web site for short 4, 5, and 6-day cruises out of Tampa (the nearest cruise ship port to me now), but even those cost a bit more than I can afford right now.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about the Avon Park Depot Museum, and how my life today could’ve been a bit different if that museum had been open on a specific day in 2021. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

Categories
Blogging Driving Geography History Holidays Home Travel

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