Spoffords Travel

October 30, 2023 Day 23 Florida City Florida to Key West Florida 141 miles

The skies are partly cloudy again. As we drive along we go in and out of sun. More open space with not much of anything. We finally got to the bottom of the mainland and began crossing bridges from one island to the next.

We went through Key Largo which is full of water sport activities. Definitely lots of people. Also lots of accommodations. Lots of bicycle riders. Looked like some of them out on some kind of scavenger hunt.

Some of the bridges we went over were really tall. Others were really long. Hopefully no vehicles break down because there is no place to get off the road.

We arrived in Key West about 11:30. We are staying on a naval base that sits right on the coast. We were able to check in. We have a suite on the ocean side of the building. We decide to go for a seafood lunch. Connie searched options and picked one. Off we went. Well the streets in the old part of town are very narrow so there is no street parking. Small lots are scattered around. We found one close to where we were going. Parking was $15 for 0-3 hours. We walked the two or three blocks back to the restaurant. Well it was really more like a hole in the wall. We both had garlic shrimp rolls. That was really good and very filling. The bread was similar to two slices of garlic bread that was not cut all the way through. Very tasty.

Then we decided to go to the Little White House which had been a favorite of President Truman. Other presidents also used it just not as often. We found the house but the parking is again an issue. We had to turn around and go back and wind around. A lady told us of a lot very close. Well we found a lot but I don’t think it was the one she meant. Worse yet it cost $25 for two hours. Then we walked to the White House about 3 blocks. We took the half hour tour which was really good. The house is decorated as it would have been in 1949. Most of the furniture was what Truman used. Our guide had lots of stories to tell about Truman that made the tour more interesting. During World War II Truman brought Thomas Edison in to help design a submarine to combat the Germans. Truman went for a ride in a German sub that was caught. When it came time to the surface there were complications and an onboard leak. The makeshift crew got lucky and was able to surface the boat and save Truman after some very anxious time. Truman loved to play poker. Many guests had to play whether they knew how or not.

The original size of the island was about one mile by one mile. The Navy needed more space so now it is four miles by two miles. This was the first US submarine base.

Connie found a key lime pie bakery where they make extra tart pies. Rob found a place to park for free and went back to get a pie. We will have that for dessert several times. Sure hope it is good. FYI it was VERY good.

We tried for a place to take a picture of the woodie that said Key West. No place at a water front park. No place at the lighthouse. But we did get a picture at the furthest place south. Pictures of the car have been taken all over town. The car has been a real novelty.

A few things about town. Chickens run free all over. They are taller and thinner than a banty. Lots of people drive around town on four to eight passenger golf carts. Lots of alcoholic drinks available. Lots of tourists. Lots of boats. So many in fact that they are stored on racks about 4 boats high. We got a little rain in late afternoon. Lots of small lizards.

Rob says there was an unusually high number of law enforcement folks on the road. Then during lunch two mounted officers rode down the street.

October 29, 2023 Day 22 Davenport Florida to Florida City Florida 237 miles

Today is mostly cloudy which makes it seem cooler. The sun does peak out from time to time. The wind is much stronger today. It is amazing how it seems to always be a cross wind.

A baseball team is staying in the same hotel. They are playing in a tournament. The players look about high school age.

The road remains 3-5 lanes in each direction for quite some distance. Businesses line both sides of the road almost continuously. I think we are going through different towns you just can’t tell where they start and stop.

Lots of apartment complexes and still more under construction. RV parks are everywhere. The rigs are parked very close together. Also numerous prefab home parks. Traffic is terrible. It’s like Eagle Road in Boise only on steroids. The speed limit is usually 55 MPH and we can do that most of the time. However, there seem to be a few drivers that try to do 80 MPH no matter what the limit is on the signs.

We encountered several sections of road construction. Fortunately they weren’t working today. Finally the road dropped down to only two lanes each direction. Every time we came to another town the road widen out again.

Finally we got to stretches of open land. Boy is it flat! A few orchards and a few fields of sugar cane. Palm trees are beginning to replace the deciduous trees. We drove along a couple of lakes and canals were in some stretches. Egrets were along the canal banks.

We found a park with a gazebo where we ate lunch. A couple of small lizards were nearby. At least 10 boat-tailed grackles were in the trees and occasionally on the ground. A gentle breeze was blowing so not bad.

Another area had several nurseries and they were really busy. Everybody must be planting fall plants. Open air restaurants are crowded as well. Lots of people out doing things.

We got to our hotel about 3:45. On the bed was a swan made out of a towel and a wash cloth. I think the cleaning person worked on a cruise ship at one time. We stopped for a little bit and then took off for the grocery store to get salad mix for supper. Well that was interesting. They had garlic sold by the clove as well as by the bulb. They had at least three vegetables that neither of us had any idea what they were. Yellow yams had been cut down but were still the size of a small cantaloupe. Malanga islena is on sale. That is a round rough hairy skinned root vegetable. Didn’t look appetizing to us. Then we came to the meat counter. Today’s sale was fresh chicken feet and premium chicken hearts. Pigs feet and fish heads were available too. One of the fish heads was significantly larger than a salmon head. Cookies were different too. Many of them didn’t have English names. Up by the check stand was a cabinet with Cuban bread. Looked like French bread.

We can no longer understand most of what is being said. Everyone seems to have their own language. We neglected to bring our sign language tools. Maybe we need to put those on our travel checklist

October 28, 2023 Day 21 Thomasville Georgia to Davenport Florida 264 miles

The Glidden Tour is over so everyone is leaving including us. By the time we leave most of the other vehicles are already gone. The skies are mostly cloudy but it’s going to be a very warm day. Predicted high of 86. We are headed for Key West Florida.

About twenty miles or so from the hotel we cross into Florida. The road is a divided highway with very little traffic. Google maps still calls this a “no highways” route. We came to a town that was having a big car show and flea market or something. Cars were parked all along the road on both sides. Numerous policemen were directing traffic. They thought we were part of the show and tried to get us to participate.

Another town a little further down the road was also having a car show. Not as big however. We did see a Model A coupe parked for the show. Lots of places had flea markets. Obviously a big thing in the area.

Lots of trees line the road on both sides so not as much to see. It got hot early so we opened up earlier than usual. We should have pulled out the spray bottles of water.

We ate lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. Food was ok but not the best. The salsa was good. The men’s restroom was out back. It was two steps above an outhouse. I think that was a first. From lunch on the traffic kept increasing in volume and speed. The divided highway is three or four lanes in each direction.

We went through an area of lakes so lots of boats. The air was a little cooler there. Connie’s side of the car was in the sun all afternoon. We did pass a sign for Disney World so it must have been somewhat close.

We arrived at the hotel about 4 pm. We were both hot and tired. The room was cool so we both took a nap. It felt very good.

October 27, 2023 Day 20 Thomasville Georgia 149 miles

We have an earlier departure this morning. When we left the hotel it was dark so we had to turn on the lights. Our headlights have taken on a new life. They think they are intermittent strobe lights. Good thing we don’t have far to go. For those that don’t know your cell phone flash light might be brighter than the woodie’s headlights.

The sky looked mostly sunny so before long the sun is up shining in our eyes. Then we got to add the low ground fog that was in some places. Put that with the Spanish moss and it must be getting close to Halloween. A rather eerie look to everything. The mist came over the road in a couple of spots. Glad it wasn’t too thick nor for too long.

About fifteen miles into our trip we misunderstood the directions and took a wrong turn. When the next instruction didn’t work we knew something was wrong. We turned around and went back about four miles. Now we were back on the correct route again. The beauty of a wrong turn is a new perspective.

The coffee break today was at a large greenhouse facility. We didn’t see much activity other than the tour group. There was a long line at the portable restrooms.

An error in the directions would have taken us way out of the way. It said to drive 68 miles when it should have said 6.8 miles.

We are headed for the Georgia Museum of Agriculture. Luckily one of the tour people was out pointing to the road or we would have missed it. Then the directions said to turn into the parking lot. What they didn’t say was the parking lot was half a mile down the road.

The museum is nicely done. It really helped explain more about cotton, pecans, tobacco and turpentine. Outside they had several old buildings to explore. One of the houses had the most beautiful wooden corner cabinet. It is made of curled pine. You can only get curled pine from old trees. That wood was incredible. Today trees are cut down too soon to get that grain.

We had lunch at the museum. A box lunch with pulled pork, potato salad and baked beans. Once again lots to eat.

Two fields other than cotton or peanuts were on the way back. One was cabbage. The other not sure what but it was planted in three arch rows then an empty space and three more arched rows and an empty space. This continued for several acres.

We headed back and stopped at Walmart for more oil, filled the car with gas, and did laundry. Then it was time to go to the closing banquet. Some people dressed in period attire. We won a trophy for driving the furthest. When we read the trophy it said furthest trailered. We got a good chuckle. Time to pack up some to prepare to leave tomorrow. Key West be on the alert. We are headed our way.

October 26, 2023 Day 19 Thomasville Georgia 158 miles

Today is mostly cloudy except when we are going east. Then the sun is right in our eyes. Every morning we go to the fairgrounds to check our mail box and get the news and any corrections. A short article about us is in the news today. We are rather unique because we did not trailer our car to get here.

When we arrived the parking lot was full which is very unusual. Well some sort of national duck hunting dog competition is starting today at the fairgrounds. The event is sponsored by the national retriever organization. A really big event for the dogs and handlers.

Well we are off shortly after 8 am. Even more cotton and peanut fields. They are harvesting both so farm equipment is in the fields and on the roads between fields. Most of it is really big and takes up most of the road.

Not many farm animals in sight. We did see one donkey in a field with other farm livestock. Further down the road we saw another donkey all by itself in a huge field. Poor thing must get lonely. However, there was plenty to eat.

Our coffee break this morning is in a church parking lot that happened to be across from an elementary school. I thought we left reasonably early but a bunch of cars were already there. The parking area quickly filled up and more cars kept coming. Well getting out is going to be a challenge. Several folks say the bathroom break is more important than the coffee break. Argument here. Three port-a potties were available. There was a line most of the time. The school principal came over and asked if some of the cars would drive through the school’s circle drive. Pretty soon lots of kids were lining the drive and the cars made the circle before departing. The kids enjoyed the cars or maybe they enjoyed getting out of class.

A couple of miles of road had tractors pulling mowers cutting the grass in the barrow pits. Amazing how much grass they cut. Then a little further was another one.

Saw a sign for a cane maze. Looks like a corn maze but it is in a sugar cane field. That was the only sugar cane field we noticed even though cane syrup seems common here.

We are to have lunch at the Community Hall in Nashville Georgia. We parked the car and before we could get out a local lady came up and started talking to us. She must not have anyone to talk to at home because she spent at least 20 minutes with us. She had a doctors appointment in another town or she would have stayed longer. As luck would have it we were to eat in the second shift. We looked around some and then went in early. A live band was playing as we ate.

After lunch we passed a peanut processing plant and another cotton gin/peanut processing plant. Both of those seemed quiet today. Then we came to another very large solar farm.

Today we have an ice cream break in the afternoon. It is at Burton’s Brooks Orchard. Everyone got one scoop but you could buy more if you wanted. We had peach which didn’t taste much like peaches. Hard little chunks were in the ice cream they had no flavor. The little gnats here were so bad we left early.

Almost all of the houses today have front porches. The porches have some kind of furniture. It could be made of wood, wicker or upholstered. The style could be rocker, stationary or swinging. Single person or double. Didn’t see many people sitting on them. The houses out of town sit way back off the road with at least an acre of lawn in front. Sure glad I don’t have to mow that. Even a riding lawn mower would take a long time. A few houses have big bows or other decoration on their mailboxes. Not sure the significance.

Rob spent time this evening modifying the shipping boxes for Connie’s lamp. What a job!

October 25, 2023 Day 18 Thomasville Georgia 72.6 miles

Another partially cloudy day. We have a short driving day today. No rain overnight so that is good.

Most of the way to the first stop was roads we covered yesterday. In some ways that helps. Our first stop today is the Four Corners Cotton Gin. They only had one tour guide and he was late. Not a good start. Luckily we were in the first group. This plant is where they bring in the cotton from the field and remove the debris and then bale it in smaller bales to be stored for about one year. Then it is taken to the thread makers. The removed debris is made into cottonseed oil, cotton meal and other things. The cotton meal is fed to cattle. They really like that. The processing plant is extremely noisy due to the many machines. They charge $100 an acre to cut and bale the cotton. To extract the debris cost $0.06 per pound. Some of the fields look whiter because they have most likely been irrigated. The company also processes peanuts in another corner of the property. We didn’t see that process. The brown bales that we saw yesterday are the remains of the peanut plants after they are harvested. It was difficult to hear the guide and he took too long. Some people gave up the wait and left. Too bad because it was interesting.

Our next stop was the coffee break at an antique store. It had some beautiful merchandise. Rob bought Connie’s Christmas present there. It’s a book press lamp. Now we just have to figure out how to get it home. We stopped at Lowe’s for some packing tape to make some custom cardboard boxes. Now we just need to find some magic to make the boxes fit in the car.

Then off to the town of Cairo. We went to the Zebulon Movie Theater which is the oldest in Georgia. They gave us each a bottle of Coke and a bag of fresh popcorn. The movie was titled Genevieve. It’s a British comedy made in 1953 about two guys driving their antique cars from London to Brighton and back. It was pretty good.

Lunch was in their cultural center. They had boneless pork chops and fried chicken. The pork was incredibly good. Rob asked for the recipe but they don’t give it out. One of the tour folks said just slow cook in a smoker.

Not far from there was Wayne Hadden’s museum. He is another person who has collected lots of stuff. Some might call it junk. He had cars, gas pumps, fire engines, tractors, match box vehicles, records, Coke bottles, and too many other things to list. Impossible to absorb it all.

The evening dinner was included. They gave out awards for participation in Glidden Tours and recognized the freshman. Freshman are first time participants. Nearly 1/3 are freshman this year.

October 24, 2023 Day 17 Thomasville Georgia 135 miles

Today is partly cloudy but no rain is predicted. We are headed for the Albany Exchange Club Fair. This is the 100th anniversary of the fair.

The drive along the back roads is most enjoyable. More canopy roads and cotton fields. Some of the cotton has been harvested so those fields are bare. Others the plants still look green. Some of the fields look much whiter than others.

Well here is a first. We past the company Oil Dry. They make cat litter. We never thought about how or where that is made. The plant is very large and has several large piles of gray stuff. Not sure if that is the before, after or by product. A dust blows across the road so we are breathing in whatever that is. Lots of semi trailers are parked on one end of the plant. No cats were spotted.

Today we had a short coffee stop in the town of Pelham. I think they must have timed it with a modern car because we got there about the time we were to leave.

Then we came to some pecan orchards. At least that is what we think they are. The trees are in nice even rows quite some distance apart. They need to be because these trees are tall and wide. The ground under the trees is bare. In one orchard vehicles with big brushes are going down the rows. This is to clear the ground of debris before they bring in a tree shaker to make the pecans fall to the ground. Then another vehicle picks them up and takes them to the processing plant for the remaining steps in the process. A nut worthy job.

Next comes two extremely large areas of solar panels. The areas are on both sides of the road. Looks like someone’s cotton fields are now growing solar panels. Ironically a few miles down the road the local power company has a coal fired power plant. Competition is usually a good thing.

We stopped at the Flint Riverquarium. This has many very well done exhibits mostly for river dwellers in the area. Lots of different catfish, turtles and alligators. They had several interactive displays which would be especially wonderful for kids.

Then we were going across town to the fairgrounds. We actually got there early. I guess we didn’t visit the aquarium long enough. The fair isn’t to open officially until later this afternoon so nothing is running. Newspaper and television reporters were on the scene taking pictures and doing interviews. We may appear in the Albany Herald. The reporter was desperate and we were early targets. After lunch Patsy Cline came in and sang for about 40 minutes. We left after her concert rather than stay at the fair. Thankfully the drive to the hotel was uneventful. Supper was good and filling even without grits.