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Florida Panhandle, Part 2
(August 2018)
I went back for more.
Ever since my previous trip, I've wanted to see more of Georgia. Yes, it was on my mind! I think James Taylor preferred the Carolinas, though.
In Valdosta, I wandered around the dirt roads until I found this tiny church. Yes, it's a shed with a steeple. But a stay in the South isn't complete with seeing an unusual church.
The road heading northwest, Route 133, was being widened. I don't care for road works; however, there were no cones, machines, or workers. The road was two lanes each way and mostly limited access. That gruelling half-hour in a 45-mph construction zone with a $100 minimum fine for speeding made me think twice about Georgia. Could my opinion be changed?
Ever wonder what an early intercontinental ballistic missile looks like outside of the silo? Wonder no more. This is a Titan I. Click here for a shot of the sign at the base of the rocket.
Near Americus, quiet Souther Field has a claim to fame: here, Charles Lindbergh made his first solo flight in May 1923, after only 20 hours of flight instruction. He flew to Montgomery, Alabama in his new purchase, a Curtiss JN4.
The monument looks a bit strange. I read that it is supposed to show the famous pilot on a section of the wing during flight. Hopefully, he wasn't flying that airplane and just climbed out of the cockpit for a stroll!
Also in Americus is the headquarters for Christian humanitarian organization, Habitat for Humanity. They help less fortunate folks in developing nations build quality houses. The girl in the welcome center was knowledgeable and excited about the work of her employer.
I had once helped Habitat by testing the "tightness" of a recently refurbished house near my university. There was concern that the house would be difficult to heat in the winter due to being drafty. To test it, a door is opened and a "blower door" is fitted in its place. This fiberglass door is equipped with a large fan and is instrumented with gauges. The fan can reduce the pressure inside the building enough to allow occupants to determine where air is coming in with either their hands or smoke. The Scandinavians invented this clever idea.
I was ready to laugh at the exhibit in Americus. Their small park shows slums and examples of buildings from Asia and Africa. Above is a shot of the slums replica. I visited because some folks joke that this is "the slum theme park". I had figured that I should visit at least one theme park whilst in Mickey-Mouse-land. In reality, I felt a bit guilty.
Fortunately, next stop was the smiling "Jimmy Carter" Peanut. This statue resides outside a convenient store in Plains, the hometown of the former president.
A story states that the lower rear section of this sculpture was removed to allow the Secret Service to check for an assassin inside. I couldn't check for the hole, because of the shrubs.
Before leaving Plains, I pulled into Billy Carter's filling station for some "high test". This pleasant little town really does play up the fact that the Carters live here.
Though, they may have gone a bit far with the large banner in downtown! I drove past the Carter "complex" on the way out of town. It was pretty typical of federal complexes: a guard house and fences topped with barbed wire. However, Mr. Jimmy Carter did dedicate the new hospital in Plains the day that I visited. I learned about this coincidence on the local radio, and I wondered if I would be stuck in traffic or stopped from visiting the town. No, enjoying the town was as it should be: up to the visitor.
On my way to that night's stop, I visited Thomasville. There is a Live Oak tree that is about 337 years old. Yes, this tree set its sight sky-ward before the Shot Heard Around the World was cast! Remember this is the well-developed East Coast, not the, still, sparsely-developed West Coast of the United States.
Every precaution is taken to protect this wonderful tree. OK, they don't have electrified fence surrounding it with sharpshooters in nearby towers! But the town constructed metal supports for the ancient limbs, as shown above. They, also, added steel bars to keep the heavy limbs from weakening the tree. See a few here.
Also, there were signs around requesting visitors recognize the magnificent age of this tree by keeping off its branches. Click this link to see some facts about this tree. Georgia has redeemed itself.
After a restful night in a hotel near Midway, Florida, I pulled in for some fuel. The Gulf station in Quincy didn't have any unleaded. Unfortunately, the Mazda can't use "That Good Gulf Gasoline"! Instead, I filled up on that best fuel: history! Click on the thumbnails below to see what I mean.
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The "Under New Management" sign was correct. As I drove through the town and then out again, I saw many people walking, and a few driving. I was the only fair-skinned person around. The town is, indeed, under new management. However, I would cheerfully return to this small town. It has a good feel.
You know a town is in dire need when they erect a monument to a possum. The monument blatantly admits that early settlers enjoyed consuming this rat, which can feign a sickly death. Ahem. I parked adjacent to the town library to avoid being noticed. It didn't work, because a man and a boy who were walking along a small road saw me with a camera. As I headed back to my car, I saw them doubling back.
I headed for the coast. The traffic in beach towns near Panama City is terrible. I had deliberately headed for the community of Seaside. This town is where outside scenes of The Truman Show were filmed. It's a planned community like Disney's Celebration.
If you like watching people and cyclists, then this town is where you want to be in the summer months. Needless to say, I was not impressed. I had hoped to park and walk around a quaint, if planned, town. No way. I drove by the house from the film and headed out of town. The above photo is the only one that I could shoot without being a hindrance.
Living in this town must be difficult. Every house, which I looked at whilst driving through this town--that's almost all of them because the speed limit is so low--, has the names of the occupants/owners listed on a sign outside. Is that the modern way?!
Happily, I left the beach communities that spawned adjacent to Seaside. I passed through Panama City, in Florida. I continued south through Tyndall Air Force Base. I was hoping to see an F-22 jet, but no luck!
Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe greeted me with rain. This was the hardest rain that I've experienced in many years. Fortunately, the rain was kept at bay when I stopped at a somewhat lonely beach on the "Forgotten Coast".
What a beautiful beach! This is the first one that I've set foot on in Florida, as an adult at least. When it comes to beaches, I am very particular. Click for a larger image.
The storm, which I passed through, was coming. Still, if I were to live in coastal Florida, I think I've found my destination! Sadly, I needed to head out before the rain arrived.
In West Point, or in modern time, Apalachicola, I stopped at the John Gorrie Museum. I questioned my choice when I saw an obviously double-digits-IQ guy leaving confidently reciting facts about early refigeration!
Inside the museum, I found a well-educated ranger who taught me about the man who made Florida tolerable during the summer months. The history is fascinating! When he asked for questions, I stated that I was an engineer from the accursed New England and enjoyed his somewhat technical tour. You'd think that he'd walk away from me, after all: I'm the enemy. He didn't, and we enjoyed a conversation steeped in historical inventions.
Doctor John Gorrie wanted to help those suffering from yellow fever in 1850s Florida. (Remember, at that time, there was no such thing as air conditioning: summer months were miserable.) Dr. Gorrie quickly met, perhaps, the most powerful woman in Florida. She ran a hotel in 1840s Florida. They married quickly. Gorrie made use of her hotel's ice box to help his patients, by keeping them cool. But when the lakes thawed in New England, there was no longer a source for ice. This inspired Dr. Gorrie to invent the first ice maker. His creative air conditioning system needed ice. Dr. Gorrie is, now, credited with inventing mechanical air conditioning. What would life be like in Florida without Gorrie's work?
Continuing along the "Forgotten Coast", I found the Carrabelle police station. It is the smallest in the world, or so they say! Carrabelle needed a second police man and he needed a phone. That's how this phone booth was born. It really is a cool slice of Old America that hasn't been destroyed by tourism. That concludes my final trip around Florida!
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