The Home Stretch
I got the early start I’d hoped for that Sunday morning. There were only two stops in Little Rock: the historic Central High School, site of the first effort by nine African American students to attend the all-white school 59 years ago, and the President William Clinton Library. I still had a ten-hour drive home and had some hope of getting there with enough time to get some sleep before going to work the next day. Little Rock Central High School was situated in a quiet neighborhood that seemed at least predominately African American, quite different than it must have been in 1957. Its size surprised me as the primary building took up the entire block alone. I hadn’t arranged to get a tour of the school in advance, so I had to content myself with pictures of the exterior. I did, however, go across the street to the visitor…
Ghosts of Oak Alley Plantation
During my short drive through Vacherie, Louisiana, on Saturday morning, I wasn’t paying much attention to the green stalks rising from the roadside fields at first because I see so much corn growing in Iowa, I’d assumed this was more of the same. Then I noticed that their appearance was all wrong and guessed that this was, instead, a sugar cane field. If you know for sure from the pictures below, please let me know. Oak Alley Plantation was one of at least three plantations in the area. I chose it because they had advertised their focus on the role of slavery in the life of the Antebellum Era community. I wanted to see how this was exhibited and discover how I reacted to it and what I could learn from it. Even with my studies and museum visits with their historical displays of the American South’s “particular institution,” I…
A Three-Hour Tour,…
(Really, the trip’s only 45 minutes each way, but you get the point of the title–I hope–and if you don’t, you should watch more 60’s television.) Friday was thankfully another glorious day, this one in Gulfport, Mississippi. And I appreciated this because I’m traveling in an area that can get some very fierce storms at times. As Gulfport is, well, a port on the Gulf of Mexico, it seemed logical to see if I could get on one of the excursion cruises available. I waited until the last moment to buy a ticket–my vacation trips tend to be too “up in the air” to want to purchase any more in advance than necessary–so I was glad that I was successful in getting one for the noon trip out to Ship Island despite it being a mid-summer Friday afternoon. In addition to the island having tons of beautiful, sandy beaches, it…
Tamiami Loop,… and Tallahassee, Too
: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Day-9-266x300.gif" alt="Day 9" width="315" height="355" />One thing I learned from my past visits to national parks is that some are not entirely civilized--or more accurately, near civilization's accoutrements, such as gas stations, stores or restaurants. One should not enter these parks or even go near them without a full tank and refreshments on hand. So, when I saw what I suspected was the only gas station and hotel within the approximately 50 miles of the Loop Road that was my destination, I decided it was wise to stock up and wait until Wednesday morning to head in. This worked out to be a good decision because there was no gas or anything else but beautiful scenery.
I didn't have an exact address to give the GPS, and the National Park Service welcome center didn't open until 9 a.m., so I fumbled around a bit. Finally got the correct directions from a ranger at the center, plus bought a new medallion for my walking stick and some postcards for the family.The Big Cypress National Preserve's : //www.nps.gov/bicy/planyourvisit/upload/BICY-Loop-Road-Scenic-Road-FINAL-2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Loop Road Scenic Drive is approximately 24 miles of nature. Mostly unpaved, it allows one to take in its beauty at a relaxed pace--in fact, the speed limit is 15 miles per hour on the gravelled portion. I had the road nearly entirely to myself, so I spent over 2 1/2 hours driving slowly and stopping regularly to take pictures. Was not lucky enough to see any alligators or other larger wild life, but there were plenty of biting bugs that seemed to have a voracious appetite for people driving by with their car windows open to take a picture. A small selection of the pix is below, while the larger selection is available at https://www.flickr.com/gp/singinone/L8LeuZ:
[gallery type="slideshow" size="large" ids="363,358,357,356,355,354,353,352,351,350,349,348,359,347,346"] Upon finally leaving the scenic road, I stopped by the Ochopee post office, the world's smallest, and mailed the post cards so that they would have its postmark. [gallery columns="2" size="medium" ids="365,366"]My destination for the night was a former colleague's home in Tallahassee, some 320 miles north. My GPS said I should get in about 8: 30 p.m., but it didn't account for two extended traffic incidents in the Tampa. I arrived a little after 10 p.m., and my friend kindly waited up for me despite having an early workday on Thursday.
: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Day-10.gif" alt="Day 10" width="532" height="163" />
BTW, if you have ever driven through or visited various parts of Florida, you surely would have found the differences between the peninsula and the panhandle striking, almost as if visiting two separate states. Certainly for me, with my only prior knowledge of Florida consisting of "Miami Vice" episodes, driving into Tallahassee my first time was a stunner. There is a reason why some have called the panhandle "south Georgia with a north Florida zip code." Anyway, back to the present day. I wanted to wind down a little before the stretch run ending of my vacation, so the only thing I had scheduled for Wednesday was to visit my old grad school stumping grounds at Florida State University. I had an enjoyable lunch with Sarah at a new restaurant (it used to be a Hardee's in my student days) before actually going on campus.As I suspected, none of the faculty were around, but the halls were full of my 20+ year old memories. I spent a couple hours doing some research in the music library, and then it was time to head out before the evening rush hour began. Of course, I got a few pictures of the music buildings:
[gallery size="medium" ids="372,373,374,375,376"]Made good time getting into Mobile, Alabama, just in time to find some dinner. My mistake was not investigating the area's BBQ before buying a dinner consisting of it. In one word: ACK!! It was only 7:45 p.m. when I gladly left the restaurant, so I decided to see if I could make Gulfport, Mississippi, before calling it a night.
In doing so, I crossed my 47th state off my US-states-to-visit list:
: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2016-07-07-21.16.08-1024x576.jpg" alt="2016-07-07 21.16.08" width="415" height="234" />
As I've blogged previously, while Mississippi has one of those "Bathroom Laws" in place, I'm not going to spend my tourist dollars there. I'm making an exception with Gulfport because it, like Charlotte in North Carolina, is vehemently opposed to that law. I'm planning on having a fun day in Gulfport.: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/loudmusic-e1465435175950.jpg" alt="loudmusic" width="358" height="340" />The music in my playlist finished the C's on Wednesday while driving down the Loop Road. Thankfully, because the D's--especially the disco sounds of Donna Summer--got me into Tallahassee. I started feeling the many hours of driving well before I got there. The drive across the Florida panhandle and eventually into Mississippi saw the end of the D's and was just beginning the E's: Ella, Elton, and Elvis, plus others.
Still haven't made up my mind which part of the playlist is my favorite. Guess I'll have to listen to it a few more times to decide.: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% / 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;">Save
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Singin’ in the Right Keys
For unintended reasons, I continued to rise early and was on the road pretty early. I left Islamarada and headed west down the Overseas Highway. Fortunately, rush hour traffic wasn’t bad, so I made very good time, reaching Key West around 9 a.m. I didn’t have a specific destination in mind, only knew that I wanted to get out as far south and west as RB could take me. I soon saw a pair of cruise ships in port and by heading their way, happened upon Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park. Since I had nothing better planned at that point, I decided to see what there was to see inside the park. Past the fort just a short distance beyond the park entrance was a beautiful beach that I learned was bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the transitional waters of the Gulf of Mexico. An area…
I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy….
Like every other day in Miami Beach, the 4th of July started as a warm and sunny morning. I began gathering my things so that I could vacate the room I’d been using the four days while in town. Wimbledon men’s tennis was playing in the background, of course. Since I didn’t plan to go to Day 4 of Supercon and had purchased a ticket for the 5 p.m. Duck tour, I didn’t leave until 12:30. Unfortunately, RB’s battery troubles had reached a head. She didn’t even have enough power for me to unlock the doors or trunk. AAA to the rescue! The technician did a check and determined that the battery should be replaced. Thank goodness it wasn’t the alternator. He showed me the old battery after removing it, and even I could tell the way the plastic body bowed outwards was not normal. Oh, well, one does what…
These Are the Voyages–Florida Supercon (Day 3)
I thought I had more time to get to the convention hall than I did, so I watched Serena kick butt on the tennis court at Wimbledon. Then, I wanted to kick myself when I discovered that I’d missed Chase Masterson’s Q&A because she is reputed to good for an interesting tidbit or two of dirt. I did make the session with Michael Dorn. He was hilarious and very attentive of the questioners, except a couple who tried to take pictures while he was answering their questions. Even then, however, he posed for pix after he finished answering. He sounds very different in person than his “Worf” voice, so the audience applauded appreciatively when he switched to it upon request. I stayed a little bit afterwards to hear part of the Q&A session with Bruce Boxleitner. While wandering while waiting for the afternoon session I wanted to attend, I also…
These Are the Voyages-Florida Supercon (Day 2)
I thought Friday was busy, but Saturday was nearly overwhelming. Thankfully, I had received an email warning that tickets were sold out, so I knew big crowds were to be expected. I learned a new term: cosplay, short for costume roleplaying. (My roleplaying on the old Stargame pbem (playing by e-mail) was solely online, so we never needed costuming. The costumes at Supercon were amazing. Everytime I thought I saw one that was the most incredibly elaborate, another would surpass it a few minutes later. Still, this one has to be in the top ten: This was a late start, late finish day. Since my interest in the convention is solely Star Trek, the earliest event was William Shatner’s Q&A session at 3:00. I got there early, though, in the hope of getting a relatively close seat and got a pleasant surprise of hearing the Q&A with Henry Winkler…
These Are the Voyages-Florida Supercon (Day 1)
The day started with a thunderstorm, but by the time I was ready to leave, all that remained was a bunch of big water puddles. Gave RB a break and used Uber to get to the hall because it would be cheaper (I hoped), and it's hard to beat curbside service. Below are a few shots at the hall entrance:
[gallery ids="166,156,157,158,165"] There were folks who clearly put a lot of work into their costumes, most of which I didn't recognize, but I'll bet one of my brothers or one of my nieces would have known the anime-based ones.I pretty much wandered until the two ST guests were scheduled to talk that afternoon. They were Rene Auberjonois, from Deep Space Nine (Odo) and Star Trek VI (Adm. West), and Denise Crosby, from Star Trek: The Next Generation (Tasha Yar). Both shared interesting tidbits.
[gallery ids="159,160,161,162,163"] Saturday and Sunday are the main events, in fact, I got an email that Saturday's already sold out. More later.
The Art of Driving, Florida Edition
: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Day3-300x261.gif" alt="Day3" width="424" height="369" />I got out early Thursday morning, but there seemed to be one delay after another along the way. Plus, I didn't account for finally crossing from CDT to EDT, losing another hour. One delay was my fault. My original plan was to drive past Tallahassee (Tallytown) heading south and to stay there overnight on my way back. Well, Floridians seem to have a thing about putting their college decals all over their cars (admittedly a mild exaggeration), and well, my FSU decal was so damaged, it was unrecognizable. I couldn't represent like that, so I drove into town and bought a replacement. Thing is, this placed me barely a block from my old haunt at the FSU School of Music, and I owe folks an explanation for why I didn't stop by while there.
Grabbed lunch to go--I still thought it was before noon and not actually 12: 30 at that point (reminder: set clock on cameras, please)--and noticed the intown traffic was already getting heavy. Once I was back on I-10, things really got serious. You see, this was the Thursday before a 3-day, 4th of July, weekend in Florida. Everyone who could start their vacation/holiday early was on the road. And the driving was not for the faint-hearted. Fortunately, my big city driving skills still exist, and RB responded to the situation as she always does.
FYI, for those not used to this kind of driving: one, the speed limit is totally irrelevant; two, that barely there space in the lane beside you also looks pretty attractive to at least one other driver in the lane on the other side; three, if you take time to think about braking, it's probably too late; four AND MOST IMPORTANT, if you are crazed enough to be out there and want to drive no faster than speed limit, please don't take up permanent residence in the far left lane--you will be the likely cause of the multi-car accident or, if the rest of us are lucky, solely be the recipient of floods of profanity.
I realized that time was getting late, so instead of taking the site-seer route I'd originally planned, I took the more direct one using the Florida Turnpike. By then, however, the rush hour traffic had joined the vacation/holiday traffic. I will spare you a description of THAT, but I will only say it's the stuff of nightmares. Oh, BTW, it rained regularly throughout the day, so bad weather was also a contributing factor to the day's adventures in driving.At one of the few quiet moments, I saw a beautiful double rainbow stretching across the sky. A few pictures are below:
[gallery type="rectangular" ids="142,143,144,145"] I do wish that it hadn't been so late when I finally approached Miami Beach. It was too dark to see much of the area, but I hope to have some time to get out and explore before I leave next week. Other than that, RB will get a much-deserved four-day break. For this part of the trip, I've arranged through Airbnb to stay in a room at a residence in Miami Beach. It's a great location--only two blocks from the beach and a ten-minute Uber ride to the Miami Beach Convention hall, where the Supercon is being held. The host has been very gracious thus far, and the room is very comfortable with my own bath.: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/loudmusic-1-300x285.jpg" alt="loudmusic" width="300" height="285" />
The music for a day like this was critical for me. Believe it or not, it kept me focused on the task at hand, which is why I don't put Classical music on the list. And I'm glad I broke up the "The" groups to add an even more pleasant variety of solo performers and groups to the playlist. The B's part of the playlist is huge (remember that the playlist as a whole is nearly 14GB) with my usual obsession session on Barry Manilow's "Could It Be Magic"--don't try to figure out why I obsess over that song, I gave up trying to understand why long ago. The first of the C's didn't begin until I had passed Orlando. Some great music to look forward to hearing.: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% / 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;">Save