One
real benefit of this place is its proximity to a sea food restaurant, I
discovered on my last stay, frequented by the locals -- great food, at reasonable
cost.
Rev. 01/31/02
Florida Adventure - continued
1/20 - 01/30
Down to Key West, then north to
Pittsburgh & south to Florida again
Since I was unable to spend the night in the Everglades, I drove down to Key Largo. Spent the next morning doing my laundry -- a weekly chore -- and then took a leisurely drive down to Key West, Hemingway's town.
I'd forgotten that the RV park where I stay -- I'd stayed here about a year and a half ago -- is in line with the main runway of Key West NAS. As I drove in, a AWACs plane, with its big revolving radar array on top, was coming in for a landing. Night time can be a real zoo here, with "top guns" taking off and landing all night long.
One
real benefit of this place is its proximity to a sea food restaurant, I
discovered on my last stay, frequented by the locals -- great food, at reasonable
cost.
There was another Roadtrek there in the park, I hadn't noticed it. It was '90 model, which were brown, not white like mine. They used to live on Kaui, and were wondering about my Hawaii plates -- it always takes some explaining. They told me they had retired there, but all their kids were on the mainland, so they left too -- to be close to their grandkids.
A problem all RV'ers have is what to do for transportation after you have parked your RV. Its not a major problem for those of us with Roadtreks. Guys with the big Class A's, tow a small car -- some people carry a motorcycle -- others, a couple of bicycles -- this couple bought "a bicycle built for two," which they carry on a rack on the back of their 'trek.
Hadn't thought about the tourist jam
created by a three-day week end. So stayed out of downtown Key West.
Pulled out early and decided to take a leisurely drive up to Cape
Canaveral. An interesting sunset that evening.
01/22/02
Stayed at a RV park south of the cape, to be ready for an early start -- "best laid plans of mice and men..." -- awoke to a pea soup fog. After the fog lifted a bit, I started out. My map pinpointed the location of some twenty-five Launch Complexes.
What
I wanted to do was to get as close as possible to photograph one. But
every time I went down a road, I was blocked by some guard gate. The
closest I seemed to be able to get was from US-1, some twelve to fifteen
miles from the complexes. Guess I'm going to put more time and effort
into this. Have to try this again.
Finally
quit and headed north, as far as Savanna, GA. for the night.
01/23/02
From Savanna
I drove up to Raleigh, NC to see Carol and Bud, friends from Hawaii. Spent
the night with them, and had a good time catching up on what they'd been
up to.
From Raleigh, I headed up to Jamestown, Va. This was a place I'd always wanted to visit, but just had never made it.
Jamestown, or James Fort, was founded in 1607. Its mission was a military fort to stop the Spanish from moving north. At that time area was the home of the Powhatan Indians, some 30,000 to 40,000 strong.
Three
ships left England to locate, build and man the fort, and create the settlement.
The fort, a three sided affair, was built on an island that had water
deep enough to moore the ships right against the shore.
This was where Pocahontas, in real life, played a major role as emissary between the English and her father, chief of the Powhatans.
The museum there is one of the best I've seen. It portrays the history of the area, and the Jamestown settlement is an excellent manner. If you get a chance, don't miss it -- I visited the museum twice..
01/25/02 - 01/27/02
From Williamsburg area I headed for Pittsburgh to visit Liz,
a friend I met in Honolulu.
"Who's Liz?" you ask. Well, that's a story all by itself, and you've got to ask me directly.
She showed me her Pittsburgh -- far cry from the dirty, smoky steel mill town I remember of fifty years ago. From up on the hills you can see where the rivers meet to form the Ohio. And you can ride the Duquesne Incline.
This is the home of Pitt. That stained glass windows of
the Heinz Memorial Chapel are not only beautiful, but depict historical figures
as well as religious ones.
In the Pitt Cathedral of Learning, a 535 foot skyscraper, are 24 Nationality Rooms. Each authentically depicts the ethnic culture of the land it represents, and was funded by that ethnic group. Liz took me through all of them, ending with the Scottish Room. In it is a panel with a large picture of Robert Burns in the center. Carved on both sides are the names of ten Scots who made important contributions to education.
While there, in Pittsburgh, I listened to the anguish of the city when their cherished Stillers (Steelers) lost.
01/28/02
From Pittsburgh I headed south through the mountains in a direct line to Savanna, GA. I stopped some place in North Carolina. Hungry, I went into a local restaurant -- and for $5.95 all you can eat -- turnip greens, pinto beans, beef stew on rice. Ono, real ono -- must be some distant "red neck" heritage coming out.
01/29/02
A
side trip into Savanna was in order. Of course I was curious about
a blank area on the map north of Savanna. Turned out to be a swamp
(a National Wetland) in South Carolina. So I approached Savanna from
across the river. The bridge is a very tall suspension bridge with
an interesting type of suspension. The engineer in me always marvels
at bridges -- they help define each city. I take pictures of all of
them, but seldom use the pictures -- just collect them.
The treatment of streets is another characteristic that defines a city. Savanna's Ogalthorpe Ave., with its wide median and arched trees, is such a defining element.
01/30/02
Back in Margate, FL where this all began.
Florida does have beautiful flowers, similar to home.