searcyf@mac.com – Page 95 – Travels with Fred

Road Trip – Day 2

26 January 2019

It’s been a long day. The drive to Hoover, Alabama to see Robert and Lynn Buford was a little over 9 hours. I ate breakfast at the hotel and was on the road by 10 after 8. The good news was my gps guided me through some back roads (albeit 4 lane) until I hit I-75 and I-10.

I-10 was interesting. During the last hurricane, stretches of I-10 were closed. I can now see why. Although the interstate was open all the way, as you traveled west from Tallahassee you were often a single lane both directions due to crews working to clear the hurricane debris from the sides of the interstate. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many downed trees. There must have been 20 different crews working along the I-10 corridor cleaning up. I suspect it will take them another 4-6 months to be completely done. Every so often, you would see a house along the interstate with major damage. I can only imagine the damage to Pensacola.

Once into Alabama,. I headed up through Dothan, then across to Montgomery where I picked up I-65 into Birmingham. I had phoned Robert to tell him to anticipate me around 7 pm with fuel stops and bathroom stops delaying my arrival. As I passed over the Apalachicola River, I remembered the time zone change which would put me at 6 pm Central time.

With minor exceptions, the speed limit was mostly 65 on state roads and 70 on the interstate so I was able to pick up some time and I rolled into Robert and Lynn’s place at 5:30 pm. Lynn had dinner ready: pot roast, turnips, and mashed potatoes with cornbread right out of the oven! All I needed to do was put pepper sauce on the turnips and butter on the hot cornbread.

Robert taught speech on my campus and Lynn was an Executive Assistant to a Vice President downtown. Robert and I worked with the faculty union and faculty senate. We’ve all remained good friends ever since.

After dinner, Robert showed me his newest hobby – leather working. He’s become very proficient. Most of his work currently is hand stitched and he does a beautiful job. He’s done purses, pocket books, holsters, and belts. He’s even done a beautiful backpack. Robert is very talented. He even makes his own knives.

Tomorrow, our goal is to do a Hank Williams tour. There are several sites in Birmingham and there’s a museum in Montgomery. Hank, Senior has always been a favorite of mine. I never have cared for junior (Bocephus).

Mother and Daddy used to frequent juke joints in the Mississippi Delta when I was a kid. These were real dives but they all had some type of juke box and enough wooden floor space to dance. Mom and Dad would often put a nickel in to play a Hank tune, drink beer (illegal in the state of Mississippi, of course) and dance to “Cold, Cold Heart”, “Hey Good Lookin’”, or my favorite, “Your Cheatin’ Heart”. They would start out on the dance floor and I would get jealous and get in between them and make them pick me up and dance with me between them. I suspect I was all of 4 years old. At home, I have a photo of me and Mom with me standing on the bumper of a really old Plymouth. It’s funny what you remember from childhood. When it comes to bars, I still prefer the beat up, worn down juke joint type.

And yes, I have almost every recording Hank made on my playlist.

Road Trip – Day 1

25 January 2019

The drive from Fort Lauderdale to Lakeland, Florida took around 4 hours, mainly due to a stop at Fort Pierce Turnpike rest stop and a line at Dunkin’ Donuts inside. Let’s just say the people behind the counter really didn’t want to be there. That threw me off by around 30 minutes. That and a notification from SunPass that my credit card renewal was denied. I spent some time accessing SunPass on my iPad and getting the credit card information updated so they wouldn’t send the HP after me on the Turnpike.

I pulled into The Terrace Hotel around 1:30 pm, took my luggage to the room (8th floor) and went back down to the lobby to wait for Bill Wood. He showed up about 10 minutes later.

Bill was a young ensign on board the. Coast Guard Cutter Reliance in Corpus Christi, Texas when I reported there in 1971 (can you believe 48 years ago). Unlike most of the officers on board, Bill was not an academy graduate (called ring knockers because they constantly drew your attention to their graduation ring by knocking it against any table at which they were sitting) but a graduate of Officer Candidate School in Yorktown. Va. after completing bootcamp at Cape May, N.J.. He had a more laid back attitude about things than the academy types. Even though he had nothing to do with my rating (Radioman 2nd class) we crossed paths often enough to become friends. We constantly ragged each other by Georgia/Ole Miss football.

Coast Guard Cutter Reliance. It’s hard to believe it is still in service. Photo from USCG Atlantic web page.

Before my retirement, we re-established contact via a CGC Reliance website and have kept in touch since. During my last posting about my last trip, he read I was in Lakeland and from there, we decided to get together in Lakeland. He’s in town from Atlanta (by way of Celebration, Florida) as a judge for the Lakeland Pig Fest Barbecue contest. Since 2015 he’s been judging contests throughout the south and now has 27 contests under his belt.

Before he needed to head to the contest, we had lunch at Harry’s Seafood Bar and Grill (the best place to eat in Lakeland). He had the Jambalaya and I had red beans and rice -Harry’s is the real deal as far as Cajun food goes.

Bill had printed me out a judge’s parking pass and I followed him out to the site at the SUN ’N FUN/Florida Air Museum grounds on Medulla Road about 6 miles outside Lakeland. He said they anticipated 80 professional barbecuers and some 30 amateurs.

He’s judging tonight and tomorrow. The barbecue is approved by the Kansas City Barbecue Society and judging is quite strict in the guidelines and how the food must be prepared by the barbecuers.

Bill walked me around the site pointing out various outfits, types of smokers and grills, etc.

As we walked we talked barbecue and Coast Guard days. We both lied and told each other we hadn’t changed a bit. Right! I seem to remember us both with more hair and less weight.

To be a judge, you do have to go through some significant training and once certified, you can work your way up into the system, judging more and more events and more events open by invitation only. Bill is about to hit the 30 contest mark where he will then qualify for master judge (after passing a written test).

New paint job on my jeep. What do you think?

He headed to a judges orientation and I headed back to The Terrace. After the late lunch, I suspect I will find something simple to eat. I need to get an early start tomorrow morning for an eight plus hour drive to Hoover, Alabama where I’ll stay with old Broward College friends Robert and Lynn Buford.

And no, I didn’t eat any barbecue. They were just setting up and beginning the prep for the next day.

Colt Creek State Park – Day 2

10 January 2018

It must have been a cold night. When I got up this morning, there was a sheet of ice on the top of the ice chest. Apparently the dew froze. However, with my down sleeping bag, I was plenty toasty. Only around 4:30 am did I reach over and pull a blanket over me and the bag. The only real problem was getting up in the middle of the night for bathroom breaks!

After two cups of coffee and a bowl of cinnamon/apple oatmeal, I started my hike. I left the campsite at 9 am and finished the hike at 2 pm, so that seems to be around 5 hours of walking. Of course I took breaks but never longer than 5 minutes.

The trail begins near the campground. It then loops around Mac Lake and then crosses the road and begins to meander through long leaf pine forest with saw palmetto as an understory.

There were a couple of open fields here and there but most of the hike was in the shade of pine trees. The temperature was perfect – hovering around 60 most of the day.

For the first part of the hike I had a jacket, gloves and a woolen watch cap to cover my head and ears. I needed all three. By the time I circled Mac Lake, the sun was getting higher and I came out of the jacket, gloves and watch cap and shifted to my beloved Tilley hat.

They have warning signs for alligators and bears posted all over the park. The only problem with the bear warning is the park showsa map of bear areas in Florida and north of Lakeland is not in one of the bear areas. Since they were so dedicated about the bear posters, I did carry my bear spray with me. I have to admit, it certainly looked like bear country with all the berries available with the saw palmetto.

The trail is pretty well marked except in three places. Once you get near Mac Lake, it assumes you know to loop around one of the smaller lakes next to Mac Lake. Later, I did take a side trip on the loop accidentally. There was a marker and underneath the marker was a sign that said “trail” and pointed one direction. It was not the way to go and I had to backtrack. I suspect it was for horses. Most of the trails in the park are open to bikes, horses and hikers. No motorized vehicles are allowed on any of the trails.

Trail Marker: blue is connecting trail, white is main trail.

The last area that signage was poor was where you loop back toward the campsite. I took the horse trail by mistake but the trail was marked with white and blue markers. White markers generally refer to the main trail. Blue markers are connecting trails. The blue mark under the white mark was the letter “H” so I assume it as a horse trail. There was certainly enough horse poop.

My major concern on the hike was the distance and whether my ankle would hold up from the sprain from April of last year. It did!. The park brochure says the loop trail is 10 miles. My gps said 10.7 miles and that could account for the side trip I made accidentally. In any case, I made it the distance without any ankle problems. One favorable point is that it is very flat. The only real problem was some mud. I am tired and plan to take it easy for the rest of the day. A hot shower sounds wonderful at this point.

Tomorrow, I pack up and head home.

Colt Creek State Park – Day 1

9 January 2019

There’s no getting around it – I needed to get out of the house again. My Key West trip, instead of satisfying my wanderlust, only stoked it. I decided to combine an invitation from the Reiss’ for a visit to their new home in Temple Terrace (outside of Tampa) with a Florida State Park.

Judith and Chris are long time friends (and I do mean long time). Chris and I became full time faculty on South campus around the same time. It was 1985 for me. Chris probably predates me a few years. Judith was the one who wrote my mortgage where I have now lived for 24 years. We are opera buddies, New World Symphony buddies, and buddy buddies. I hated to see them leave the east coast for the west coast of Florida but where one door closes….

I spent two nights with them in probably the quietest “big city” area I’ve ever been in. They live next to the Hillsborough River in a home probably over 50 years old. They moved in December 2018 and I’m the first non-relative house guest. I had a wonderful time. The house was recently renovated at Judith has had the entire inside of the house repainted. Chris is currently working on landscaping with native plants. It’s a beautiful home and Judith has put her touches on it.

They toured me around the Temple Terrace neighborhood, downtown Tampa, Davis Island and Ybor City.

Although I have visited Tampa with the United Faculty of Florida, I never made it to Davis Island or Ybor City. Both were a treat.

Judith getting ready to into The Columbia Restaurant

An especial treat was to be treated to lunch at The Columbia Restaurant. The decor was old Cuban/Floridian and the meal fantastic and tradition Spanish/Cuban cuisine.

Atrium Dining Room of The Columbia Restaurant, Ybor City

I headed out around 10 am this morning from their place to Lakeland, Florida. I stopped for a view of Mirror Lake and then headed to the nearest Publix to stock up and some food for the trip to Colt Creek State Park.

Colt Creek is probably one of the newest state parks in Florida. The main purpose of the park, according to the ranger, is to preserve the Floridan (FLOR eh dan) aquifer from where much of the state derives its water.

The park is mostly undeveloped. The paved road of the park stops just before the family campground but a dirt road extends to an equestrian group camp and family group camp. There are some 25 miles of trails in the park and I intend to hike at least one major trail tomorrow.

Tent camping is in the family campground with all the rv campers but separated from them. You have to walk your camp gear into the tent campground from the parking area. Of course, I chose the one site farthest from all the others.

It’s predicted to get to 37 F tonight, so I decided to erect the 4-season tent. I would have preferred my smaller side-opening tent but it might be a little too airy for the night temperatures.

For those of you who follow my blog, you probably have read where I have never been able to get the vestibule of the 4-season tent to work. There is a short tent pole that I thought fit inside the vestibule to hold it up. No matter how many times I tried to get the vestibule pitched, it always collapsed on me. Duh! I finally figured out the vestibule pole fits, not inside the vestibule, but in a pocket on the outside of the vestibule! I’ve only owned this tent for 4 years and only now am I figured out how to pitch the vestibule portion of the tent.

Look closely. The vestibule tent pole is on the outside of the vestibule. It works!

After getting camp straightened out, I drove the length of the dirt road to the equestrian group camp and the family group camp. I then returned to Mac Lake and walked a short nature trail.

Mac Lake Nature Trail. There are signs all over the place to watch out for alligators.

The lake is quite nice with rental canoes and kayaks available and you can apparently fish the lake either from the dock or from the canoe/kayak.

Pier on Mac Lake at Colt Creek State Park

I don’t expect this park to develop much more than it is. The family camp and tent camp is the smallest I’ve been in. I think they intend to adhere to the idea of preservation of the Floridan aquifer and not do much development.

The park is only 30 minutes away from Lakeland but I probably will stay here for two full nights and not go back into the city. Looks like it’ll be dehydrated food for me for two nights. After the great meal at The Columbia Restaurant, it’ll be a let down but I also probably need to eat less rich for a while.

Tomorrow, I plan to hike either the 10 mile trail or the 6 mile trail. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Key West – Day 3

7 December 2018

It’s altogether fitting that today is the 77th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and I just visited the CGC Ingham, a WWII ship much decorated for that war and for Vietnam. It has certainly been a date that even now lives in infamy.

Last night’s dinner at Azur was excellent. I started with a pear salad with frisée lettuce. Why do they serve frisée? It’s too difficult to get into your mouth without first cutting it to bits. The salad was delicious but a workout.

My entrée was yellow tail snapper with shrimp in a lemon butter sauce. Yummy! I had forgotten that Tom and Kurt had introduced me to this restaurant a couple of years ago. It’s associated with the Eden House Hotel. Eden House claims to be the original hotel in Key West. It was constructed in 1924. I remember it from the movie Criss Cross starring Goldie Hawn.

It wasn’t a busy night at the restaurant and the service was excellent, the food was excellent and the atmosphere was excellent.

I made an early night of it after dinner and was asleep by 9:30 pm. I got up around 6:30 am and had coffee and a bagel and packed. I was on the road by 8:20 am and arrived home just a little after noon. Traffic was pretty light for most of the trip except for the section from Key Largo to Homestead where there was a slowdown but no real reason for it. In addition, continuous construction on the turnpike is always problematic but even that moved pretty well.

Key West is always fun but I think I need more than 3 nights to get acclimated to the laid back pace of the town. I remember I used to go for a week in the summer and after about day 4 I started to unwind. The great thing about Old Town is the ability to walk everywhere and get some exercise and see the sights.

I can only hope it’s not another two years before I get back to that island paradise.

Key West – Day 2-ish

6 December 2018

…or as I like to call it, the misadventures of Fred. Mangia Mangia will have to wait until my next trip. Around 4 pm I took advantage of the two pools and two hot tubs at the Equator, biding my time until happy hour at 5 pm.

Since I was heading to Mangia Mangia for dinner which only serves wine, which I knew I would not be drinking there, I had a martini at the Equator bar. Against better judgement, I accepted an offered second one by the bartender. I remember commenting to a guy from Delray sitting next to me that I thought the second one exceptionally strong. In addition, the first one half filled the glass. The second one was to the top.

The next thing I knew (literally) I had lost my keys and a guy from Pensacola was walking me to the front desk for another key and then to my room. He was afraid I would fall on the stairs. At least I remembered to say thank you to him and then went to bed. This had to be around 6:30 pm. I waked around 9:30 pm, couldn’t get back to sleep until 2 am and then got up at 6:30 am.

Never has a drink hit me so hard. I don’t know if it was an empty stomach, the lack of sleep the night before, or if someone slipped me a mickey (do they still say mickey)? Everything after about 1/2 of the second drink is a blur.

I saw the guy from Pensacola this morning and he confirmed I only had two drinks. I thanked him again. He assured me I didn’t do anything wild or crazy at the bar. However, there are cameras everywhere on the premises so I may be a YouTube star before you know it.

I’m not going too far from the guest house today – I don’t want to be too far from a bathroom – and at 2:30 pm I have scheduled a 90 minute massage. It will be my first this year and I need my neck and shoulders worked on from sitting in front of the computer at home for long periods of time. I can now add to that a hangover.

My plans tonight for dinner is Azur which is within a block of the guest house. It is Mediterranean cuisine and the place has garnered some great reviews. I just hope I have an appetite.

P.S. No drinking tonight.

A Trip to Key West – Day 1

4-5 December 2018

I was going a little stir crazy at home watching the iguanas poop on the pool deck. It’s a losing battle. I checked my calendar and I had a few open dates so I checked availability at the Equator Resort, my favorite place to stay in Key West. I wanted the 4th, 5th and 6th for my stay (to return on the 7th) and as luck would have it, those dates were open for my favorite room at the resort, #25.

View from my balcony at the Equator Resort

Twenty-five is at the top of the stairs in the original part of the guest house. There is no one on either side of me and a single room behind me, so the noise level is pretty low. The only time I had a problem with the room was years ago when you young people were running up and down the stairs. These days, young people cannot afford the rates in Key West, so it is not an issue.

After scheduling my time at the Equator, I checked TripAdvisor for things to do and then checked on my favorite restaurants for reservations. I made reservations via Open Table and the only thing left to do was pack.

One unusual aspect of packing was a predicted cold spell. We were to be down in the high 50’s in Fort Lauderdale for the 6th. I checked the weather for the Keys and Key West would be 10 degrees warmer. I did pack one pair of long pants just in case.

I needed to reach the resort around 3 pm for check in and decided to leave Fort Lauderdale around 11 am to make the 4 hour trip. For some reason, it always takes me 4 hours, no matter how many stops, how many traffic tie ups, or how long I take for lunch.

The turnpike is the best way from my house and until you get to Key Largo, things move along well. From Key Largo on down, it is mostly 45 mph even when the speed limit ups to 55. Tourists often are in awe of the overseas highway and they slow to gawk, even in the 55 mph zones.

I made it exactly at 3 pm. The next issue is parking. Several years ago Key West instituted “residential parking” sites. People who live in Old Town can reserve sites in front of their houses for a fee. That took away a lot of on street parking. Fortunately, since I am here for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, there are still some non-residential spaces available. I parked one block over from the Equator. I usually never move the jeep once I park in Key West and simply walk everywhere I wish to go in Old Town.

The Equator has a happy hour from 5 pm to 6:30 pm where any and all drinks are free. It’s a good chance to socialize with other guests. They post a listing of all guests, their home towns, and their room numbers. I met a couple from Sweden, one guy from Kentucky who was amped about their bowl bid, and a guy from NYC.

Dinner was at Cafe Marquesa. About five years ago I had the best meal of my life at the Cafe Marquesa. I usually prefer to sit at the bar and the bartender does the serving of the meal. Then about 3 years ago, I returned to a new chef. The meal was simply OK. Tonight, there was another new chef and to be perfectly honest, the meal was a complete disappointment – an expensive one at that. With a single drink, and an entree, the price came to $58 without tip. I had grouper and I think it was actually previously frozen. It’s been a while since I’ve had grouper (you have to worry about cigautera poisoning from large fish found on reefs). I’ve always found grouper to be a delightfully flaky fish. This was tough and stringy – more like shark than grouper.

I was tired and turned in early. Unfortunately, I could not sleep. I tossed and turned and finally dozed off around 3 am. Of course, I waked at 6:30 am. I stole down for a cup of coffee (they serve Starbucks 24/7 – eat your heart out Wilson) and returned to the room to surf the web for news, check email and do a crossword.

The Equator does a free breakfast from 8-10:30 am and I finally made it downstairs around 8:30 and had breakfast.

One of the things I came upon on TripAdvisor was a Coast Guard ship museum. I was later to learn the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham had been docked in Key West since 2009 and I never knew about it. I had heard about the Ingham since my induction in the Coast Guard in 1970.

It was commissioned in 1936 and eventually was assigned convoy duty during WWII. It actually was one of the few ships to sink a u-boat during the war. The Ingham was also in Vietnam and until its decommissioning was the longest serving military ship in the United States after the USS Constitution (which is still under commission).

The Ingham is docked just east of Mallory Square in a section that has been renovated into a park called Truman Park (a part of the Truman Annex). This was all new stuff to me. It’s a great park that borders on the harbor that abuts the Key West Naval Base (still in use with guards at the gates with M-16’s).

I waited until 10 am and went aboard. I was thoroughly welcomed by the volunteer on duty and proceeded to take the self guided tour through the ship. The tour is amazing. It has all kinds of memorabilia from WWII and Vietnam, and you can walk through most of the ship. You can’t get into the engine room but you get an overhead view of it on the tour.

As a former radioman, I was, of course, interested in the radio room. You could walk right in and look at the transmitters. If you are ever in Key West, this is the tour to take. However, you are warned the ladders (stairs for landlubbers) are very steep.

I found I was close to Fort Zachary Scott and decided to walk over there. I think the last time I went to the fort was in 1985. Back then, you had to slip through an opening in the fence of the naval station to access the fort. That has all changed.

There’s a modern entrance with great walkways and paths. The fort hasn’t changed any, but the maintenance of the facility is now much better. The fort has one of the largest collections of civil war cannons on display anywhere.

My lunch stop was at Starbucks. My reservation tonight for Sarabeth’s was canceled. The owner actually called me to tell me their hood was scheduled to be cleaned on Monday but they notified her today that they couldn’t make it until today. She had to close the restaurant for hood cleaning because of the Key West attitude about work from contractors. I’ll try Mangia Mangia tonight for their scallops and pasta dish.

Cross Country Trip – Day 81

8 June 2018

Actually, today is 9 June but I was too tired to write the blog last night. I pulled into the driveway yesterday around 1:30 pm (after skipping the breakfast at the B&B). John, who had been staying at my place, apparently went on a cleaning frenzy before leaving and left me a sparklingly clean home.

Unfortunately, after I unpacked the jeep, it is no longer as clean as it was.

The biggest task was to unload the cargo carrier and hang it in the garage so I can park the jeep in there. I also wanted to clean the outside (debug it literally) before hanging. I used hot, soapy water and a scouring pad to get all the corpses off the carrier.

I washed a ton of clothes, even those that didn’t need washing, and put them away.

Next was going through 81 days of mail. I can’t believe I get so much junk mail. Every so often, I’d find an important piece, but most of it is pure junk.

It’s interesting that after 81 days, I am having to re-establish my routine. I forget little things – like the alarm code, where to put folded clothes, and even how to make my coffee.

It’s a good thing I wrote out how to make the coffee for Steve when he stayed or otherwise I would have to re-experiment on the amount of grounds.

Today, other than my usual Saturday chores of cleaning the pool, the patio desk, and house (which I don’t have to do thanks to John) my goal is to completely wash and clean the jeep. It needs a deep clean. I also need to get the oil changed but that will have to wait until Monday.

I also need to pitch the big tent and let it air out and eventually, over the next several days, re-store all the camping equipment.

This has been a great experience. I can’t wait to get started on all my photos: editing, compiling, labeling, etc. That should keep me busy until December and that’s good, because I certainly can’t afford to go anywhere.

Amazingly, my actual cost of the trip’s lodging was within a few hundred of the estimated. I did a pretty good job of that. The other expense was diesel fuel and dining out.

I now dread trying to balance three months of bank statements!

Cross Country Trip – Day 80

7 June 2018

I left Jimmie and Stephen around 8:30 am and headed south. I always have mixed emotions when leaving. Jimmie and I were so close as kids – more like brother and sister. She’s found a gem in Stephen.

It’s official. I love Fernandina Beach. I think I remember my friend Joel telling me he and his extended family used to have family reunions here. I can certainly see why. It’s like a clean, upscale Key West. I will be back!

The Addison – Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, Florida

I checked in around 4:30 pm and met Ron and Lisa, the new owners. Apparently, from the time I made the reservation to showing up, the inn had changed hands. Lisa is a former pharmacist and both were in corporate America and decided they had had enough stress.

This is a lovely place to stay. I highly recommend it. They have a wine social where they serve h’ors d’oeuvres and offer breakfast. The couple are very personable and the rooms are quite nice.

I used TripAdvisor to see what was available to eat locally and decided on España, a tapas bar and restaurant. It was a great choice. I had their traditional shrimp in butter and garlic and their patatas brava (potatoes with spices). This is a great place. The wine selection is good and I chose a Rioja and later ended with a tawny port.

España Tapas Bar and Restaurant – I highly recommend it!

I wish I had more time to explore the town. It has great restaurants like Key West, very interesting architecture and numerous old buildings to add character. Like I wrote, I will be back.

A small correction. I misread the odometer yesterday. I think the trip has been more along the lines of 12, 000 miles rather than the 15,000 I wrote before. In any case, I climbed the equivalent of 4.3 miles (22,481 feet elevation gain) on 69 different hikes. The maximum elevation I reached was 9,271 feet above sea level. My greatest increase in elevation for one hike was the 3000 feet at Guadalupe Peak at Guadalupe Mountains National Park (and yes, it almost killed me). I also had one hike of over 2000 feet and three hikes of over 1000 feet. I feel pretty good about that.

According to my gps in the jeep, it’s a 6 hour drive home. I suspect I’ll need to add an hour to that because of traffic jams of 95. If I leave here around 9:30, that should put me at 2451 around 3:30 pm.

Cross Country Trip – Day 79

6 June 2018

I got a great night sleep. I always do at Jimmie and Stephen’s. Maybe it something to do being with family.

Breakfast was coffee, a bagel, and some more of the Waldorf salad. I never thought about it making a great breakfast but I asked for it specifically. Since Jimmie and I were kids, we always did the unusual with food: mayonnaise sandwiches (sprinked with sugar), banana sandwiches with mayonnaise, gutnuts, etc.

Jimmie’s Waldorf is apples, pecans, celery, raisins, with yogurt instead of mayonnaise, and in this case, she had some left over shredded coconut. You have to admit it’s very healthy and I can testify it’s delicious!

We then got an early start to North Carolina Botanical Gardens at Chapel Hill. Somehow, even with Garmin gps, we overshot the place by a mile or more. When we doubled back, we found the gardens just off the highway we exited.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but these are the best native plant gardens I’ve ever experienced. They had wonderful shaded trails with accurate signage identifying the plant by common name, scientific name, and family.

The gardens are broken down into habitats found within the Carolinas: piedmont, sandhills, coastal plain, and mountain. It also had speciality gardens like cooking herbs, medicinal herbs, poisonous plants, and native American plants.

If you ever get the chance, and are in the Chapel Hill area, these are a must stop. Entrance is free except on holidays and special events.

We stopped in Burlington at Hursey’s Barbecue and had broasted chicken. Before you you ask, it’s fried chicken done in a pressure cooker. It was crisp, moist, and delicious. Apparently, it’s a famous stop on the campaign trail as all the state governors and several Presidents, ex-Presidents, and future Presidents make the stop. Hopefully, one day, I’ll return for the barbecue. However, you can’t go wrong with the chicken.

Tonight, we’re staying in and eating in. That’ll give us more time to catch up with each other before I leave tomorrow morning for The Addison B&B on Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach, Florida. Tomorrow is my last night on the road for the foreseeable future.

Jimmie made a wonderful chicken dish with egg noodles. The chicken was done with garlic, tomatoes, and spices. It was very tasty. There was a side dish of green beans and also garlic bread.

I’m still compiling some statistics for the trip but so far, I know I’ve hiked 123 miles with the largest elevation gain of 3,000 feet at Guadalupe Peak National Park.

My last cross country trip in 2016 was 66 miles of hiking with the greatest elevation gain of 1300 feet at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. I can only assume I would have done more miles this trip than 123 if my ankle hadn’t convinced me otherwise. I’m not sure I would want any more elevation gain than 3000 feet in one hike.

My odometer was reading 10,000 plus miles when either I accidentally reset it or some glitch occurred. Since then, I’ve added 5,500 miles with around 800 more to go, so I think my trip will end up at over 16,000 miles with one oil change (and ready for another) and a new set of tires.

Again, I’ll keep posting until I get home and maybe a day or two afterwards.