Tag: Sebring

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Blogging Geography Travel

AMTRAK

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. My new hometown of Sebring Florida has its very own AMTRAK station (#SBG) downtown. Located at 601 East Center Avenue (less than a half-mile from The Circle) – the Sebring Train Station is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built 99 years ago in 1924. I imagine that some type of celebration may be observed next year for its centennial. It’s been in near-continuous operation ever since.

Many trains have stopped in Sebring to pick-up and drop-off passengers to and from the Florida Heartland. But the trains of the Silver Meteor and the Silver Star continue to do so to this day. Both routes run between Miami and New York. The Silver Meteor has been running since 1939. The Silver Star – 1947.

Headed southbound to Miami the two trains depart from Sebring at 1448 and 1514. They arrive in Miami about 3 hours and 45 minutes later. (They remain there overnight.)

Headed northbound to Washington D.C. the two trains depart from Sebring at 1123 and 1445. The 1123 train arrives in D.C. at 0725 the next morning. The 1445 train arrives in D.C. over 24 hours later at 1504. (It takes a slightly longer route.)

It’s a busy half-hour each afternoon from 1443 to 1514 at the Sebring Train Station with 2 southbound trains and 1 northbound train pulling-in for no more than 2 to 3 minutes each.

I may be wrong, but I don’t think that I have ever ridden on an AMTRAK train in my life. I’d like to change that and eventually take a trip sometime during my retirement years. I checked-out a trip from Sebring to Dallas Texas (where my family lives). It would take almost exactly 72 hours to get there with transfers in Washington D.C. and Chicago. Layovers would be 8 hours and 40 minutes and 5 hours and 10 minutes respectively. I’ll hold-off for now on checking the cost of that trip.

One of these days I’ll just go to the train station to take pictures of it.

Next #TravelThursday – I’m headed back to the Fort Myers campus of Florida SouthWestern State College. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Blogging Driving Food Geography Movies Music Sports Television Travel

Footloose

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last Saturday I went on my first day-trip with some of my friends at the Sebring Historical Society. We gathered on our chartered bus at around 9 AM, and 30 minutes later we left the parking lot of our downtown Sebring museum for Fort Myers – 2 hours away.

We arrived at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre just in time for the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet – or – as I like to pronounce it – boo/FAY. The salad bar, the main course bar, and the dessert bar – it was all wonderful. Lots of choices, and everything tasted great. Service was pretty good too. You get your own food, and the wait staff brings you your unlimited drinks (water, iced tea, soda, coffee, etc.).

As a large group of over 20 we had 4 tables assigned to us up near the front of the 400-seat dinner theatre. We all had an excellent view of the stage for the after-lunch show.

And that show was #Footloose. I saw the original movie with my family as a 16-year-old in Fairfax County Virginia. I also saw the late-2011 remake. Good story. Good music. The Broadway-style show held true to its origins. I forgot about the whole minister / church part of the plot. It was interesting watching that this past Saturday afternoon as a minister.

I actually want to see the original 1984 movie again. Next time I see it on my TV listings I’ll have to DVR it. (Oh wait a minute – I forgot – it’s 2023, and I mostly stream. I have MAX, and I can watch it anytime on there.)

Well our next trip with the Sebring Historical Society is next month to a Tampa Bay Rays / New York Yankees Major League Baseball game in St. Petersburg Florida. I won’t be blogging about that, as I won’t be going on that trip. I just don’t like baseball. But I’m sure that the trip will be popular with a lot of the guys in our organization.

I hear that our next trip after that is in December to a Christmas show at a theatre in Winter Haven – or is it Winter Garden ? I get those two cities mixed-up. (And then there’s nearby Winter Park and Winter Springs.)

Next #TravelThursday – ALL ABOARD ! Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Blogging Driving Geography Home Travel

Miles & Meters

Welcome back to #TravelThursday.  This past Sunday afternoon I surpassed 22,000 miles on my 2020 car. It took me 34½ months to get there. I reached the milestone in the southern part of my home county – Highlands County Florida.

The topography of Highlands County is quite interesting, and it explains its name.

My neighborhood – for example – is on a gentle slope, and it’s most noticeable after a thunderstorm when the water quickly runs and drains downhill from west to east along the culverts and into the lake. It starts at 43 meters (141 feet), and it runs down to 40 meters (131 feet). The large neighborhood to our west on the other side of U.S. 27 is as high as 52 meters (171 feet). In our northwestern part of Highlands County – the Lake Wales Ridge runs along the west side of U.S. 27. (Think of the Lake Wales Ridge as Florida’s little mountain chain along its spine.)

The highest elevations in Highlands County are in the southwestern part – south of Lake Placid closer to Venus – where the land peaks at 62 meters (203 feet). That’s where U.S. 27 rides along the top of the ridge. The land starts rising from 22 meters (72 feet) just as soon as you enter Highlands County from the south.

So – I got sidetracked there with the fascinating topography of my new home county, but isn’t that what blogging should be all about ? You write what comes to you in the moment – not knowing where your thinking mind and your typing fingers will lead you.

Well – (circling back) – I surpassed 22,000 miles on my car 32 days after I surpassed 21,000 miles on my car, and that was 18 days after I surpassed 20,000 miles on my car. So it was a slower 1,000 miles this time around. I’m settling-in to my new home here in the Heartland and the Highlands of Florida. The view is wonderful from up here on the Ridge !

Next #TravelThursday – I gotta cut loose – footloose – kick-off my Sunday shoes. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

Categories
Blogging Driving Food Geography History Travel

Moore Haven Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. There’s an interesting small town along my 185-mile retirement route between my new home and my old home. It’s located roughly two-thirds of the way driving northward to Sebring, and one-third of the way driving southward to Homestead.

Nestled along both banks of the Caloosahatchee Canal (connects its namesake river with Lake Okeechobee) – Moore Haven Florida is an historic small town of just 1 square mile in size and a little over 1,500 residents. It’s the county seat and only incorporated municipality of Glades County. Glades is one of the most rural and least-populous counties in the state of Florida with just over 12,000 residents.

The biggest and most notable landmark in Moore Haven is the Mamie Langdale Memorial Bridge – a modern 4-lane causeway built in 1999 that carries U.S. 27 traffic high atop the Caloosahatchee. Mamie Langdale (1903-1973) was a longtime bridge tender for the old 2-lane drawbridge that formerly crossed the canal.

After climbing the bridge from the south and reaching the top – the sight of the large U.S.A. flag down at the bottom in the center of town is so beautiful to see.

A couple of miles west of town lies the busy Love’s truck stop, gas station, convenience store, and (Arby’s) restaurant. I watched it being built along the north side of U.S. 27 back in 2016-2017 when I was already driving through the area a few times a year to and from my eventual retirement area. Once Love’s opened – I became a regular customer. Well – sort of. I only stopped there to use their spacious and clean bathroom. I felt a little bit guilty back then because that’s all I would do. I wouldn’t buy anything. Just passing through. But nowadays I almost always stop there – in both directions – to fill-up with gas, to use their bathrooms, and to also eat inside at the adjoining Arby’s. It’s my comfort stop, and the employees at the front counter at Love’s usually greet you upon entering and thank you upon exiting.

Next #TravelThursday it’s another milestone on my car’s odometer. Let’s keep traveling together.

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