September 2, 2010, Palm Bech Gardens, Florida
The trip from New Orleans to Home was more or less a slow sprint. We made a few unexpected stops. First, we followed the sign to the Free Space Tour in Alabama only to find that they were closed on Mondays. The closed Monday part is only on the door, not the zillions of signs leading you to that door.
Further down the road, we screeched into the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library. You may recall that Jefferson Davis was the first and only President of the Confederate States of America. We had already visited the Lincoln Library so we thought it only fair to make this stop. It was not free and they do not accept the National Park Annual Pass but they do give a discount for AAA and the Confederate States Annual pass which expired in 1865. The Library is under construction so we visited the trailer museum and gift shop. The price of admission included a tour of Beauvoir, President Davis' last home, later a home for Confederate veterans and short movie. According to the movie, President Davis was immensely popular despite losing the Civil War. We were unable to add to our collection of Presidential playing cards because you-know-what was the image on the back of the cards. I know how I would feel if I saw an innocent group playing cards with swastikas on the back.
Since the Confederate flag adorned just about everything in the shop (we could have bought a copy of "Liittle Black Sambo" which it did not adorn) so we left empty handed but fascinated.The scenic route took us past beaches on the Gulf coast and the beaches were deserted although the temperature was warm. Was it oil keeping the tourists inside? Or was it the high winds and rain?
After a quick overnight in Panama City, we proceeded to Gainesville, our last stop. For the record, there is absolutely nothing between Panama City and Gainesville except a long road dotted with Dollar General and Subway.
Gainesville was quite pleasant although mostly unrecognizable. Our Pong arcade had been replaced with a yogurt by the ounce shop, which we thought was a positive move. We had fun walking and biking past our old haunts. We found the campus populated by "kids" and realized we are not only much older than the students, we are older than most students parents. When we found youngsters who were not on the phone to take our picture, we were referred to as "cute" by those who we would have referred to as "cute." We did not notice anyone wearing a calculator on their belt. The gift shop had merchandise with a much more acceptable logo so we made our contribution there.
Here is a cute couple sporting Leonardo's shirts, outside of Laurie's dorm (now air conditioned and co-ed) very close to the spot where we first met. The actual cafeteria in which we met was closed in favor of a food court nearby. Excellent move gastronomically, but would that have changed our past/future?To those who bet that I would drive into a low garage and rip bicycles and the roof off my car, it's time to pay up. Amazingly, my BMW made this grueling trip with no need for service other than a false flat tire warning which was easily corrected. We drove at high speed in high heat and high altitude with a heavy load. Whatever needed to break broke before we left. We hope you enjoyed riding with us. There are so many stories to tell, there just isn't time to share them all. Lucky for you.
Many of you, my well traveled friends, shared advice which helped plan this trip. Laurie and I thank you very much for your input. Four people who deserve special mention for their special contributions are Michael Kahn, Nevins Baxter, Gordon Schafer, and Elaine Feit. If you are planning a trip, speak to these folks for good advice.
These emails are (or will soon be) posted at: smillerdadtravels.blogspot.com Go to the column on the right of your screen to start at the beginning.
Total Miles traveled door to door: 8258,
Time in the car out of 42 days total: 8 days 5 hours
Books listened to:
Snowball, Warren Buffet
Paul and I, about life with Paul Newman
Eat, Pray, Love
The Wrong Hostage
Could not finish, ran out of time: The Time Thief
Until the next adventure . . .
Regards,
Steve & Laurie
