As many times as I have driven from my hometown in North Carolina to Florida State University in Tallahassee during my years as a music graduate student and then as a music cataloger for the university’s libraries, I thought I knew the route like the back of my hand, as they say. However, most of this drive from Atlanta to Tallytown reflected the creation of shorter, faster routes on interstates. I didn’t exit onto US-319 until just north of Tallahassee.
It was much too late to catch former colleagues on campus when I arrived at nearly midnight, so I checked into a local motel with the plan to get an early enough start to hunt for the elusive parking spot near the music buildings. My start was later than I planned because an incident at the motel caused the electricity to be turned off. I didn’t learn what happened until I searched the Web as I was writing this post.
The part of Florida State University looks very much like it did when I was there, but there are differences. One good one is that a parking garage is now a block away, easing the search for parking. On the not-so-positive side, the buildings are locked down and require use of identification to enter. A staff person even had to open the interior door of the music library so I could enter. This was due to the university coming under attack by a shooter several years ago.
I got to spend several minutes catching up with a friend and colleague, pictured here:
My plan was to see if there were resources there that I would find useful to my research of concert spirituals. I was surprised when my online search yielded notice that the National Association of Teachers of Singing’s journal had just published a review of my second book, Recorded Solo Concert Spirituals, 1916-2022, which the head librarian was kind enough to email a digital copy of the review to me. I ended up going to the library’s stacks and taking a picture of their copy of my first book.
I had just enough time to exchange greetings with one of the voice faculty before getting dinner and hitting the road. I made it to the Atlantic coast of Florida very early Friday morning and decided to see the sun rise at Daytona Beach. Unfortunately, this unplanned stop yielded nothing but a series of hotels and other private or commercial property that cut off any view of the ocean. There was insufficient time to search further, so I turned south towards my next destination.
Biscayne National Park is very much off the beaten path with plenty of poorly maintained dirt roads on the way. Information about the park made it clear that virtually all of the park was water and required boats or other water-based activity in order to most effectively use its resources. They normally offer a boat tour, but the high winds of that day caused the tour to be cancelled. Still, it was a beautiful day, so I walked around the visitor center and took in its exhibit. Pictures are below.
It was less than 100 miles drive to Everglades National Park. Since I needed to allow time to drive to Key West to make a 7:00 a.m. scheduled departure the next day, I decided to allow myself enough time to stop by the visitor’s center and to make a scenic drive of as much of the park as I could. There had been serious storms across the state recently, but that day continued to be a beautiful one. Some of my pictures are below:
My pictures from Biscayne are located at http://singin1.pics/piwigo/index.php?/category/Biscayne-National-Park-110124, and those from Everglades are at http://singin1.pics/piwigo/index.php?/category/Everglades-National-Park-110124.
I previously visited Key West in 2016. I had wanted to visit Dry Tortugas National Park then, but the only means to reach the Gulf of Mexico island approximately 70 miles west of Key West was by ferry or sea plane. I would need to get a reservation well in advance for either option. It took me eight years, but I was finally onboard the ferry for the once-a-day round trip.
With Have-Seat-Will-Travel-Too, I was able to sit at the boat’s stern and get lots of pictures along the way. Again, the weather was lovely, mild and warm enough that I could comfortably wear my national parks t-shirt in early November.
After an enjoyable ferry ride, we approached Fort Jefferson that dominates the park, which the NPS website describes as a “100-square mile park mostly open water with seven small islands.” A pair of seaplanes also landed as we docked. When the fort was built in the 19th Century, it was purposed as defense for region. Now, tourists walk its grounds and engage in various water activities in the gulf. Several visitors walked the moat wall, but I stuck to the ground level where gun rooms had been. It is a large facility built to be self-sustaining because of its remote location.
I got plenty of pictures of the fort and its display, some of which are below:
All of the pictures and the map with their geolocations are available at: http://singin1.pics/piwigo/index.php?/category/Dry-Tortugas-National-Park-110224.
The boat ride back to Key West was much more turbulent than the one out. I sat outside about two minutes before the surf made things too wet to stay. During the ride, I felt sorry for those onboard who had difficulty handling the rough trip. Fortunately, I rather enjoyed it and was thankful that I didn’t need the dramamine I had brought, just in case.
My drive back home was uneventful except for a stop to Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen in Key Largo. I had been recalling the taste of the restaurant’s Key Lime Pies since I stopped there for dinner eight years ago. Once SB was loaded down with whole pies and a seafood dinner for me, we took the direct route home. According to Mapquest, the trip that began the previous Tuesday covered over 3,000 miles, which I can only say the trip was at least that distance.
As always, I thank the Lord for granting me the stamina to make the trip, the damn good reflexes to steer the SB as she needed to be guided, and the ability to enjoy His handiwork as it whizzes by my windshield.
My last big trip for 2024 is scheduled to begin November 20th.
With the addition of these three national parks, I have now visited 31 with 32 to go. I’ve got one more short trip to post about that will add one more.