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June 21, 2003 Jacksonville, FL A long day. I slept in (surprised?) until 9:30. I
decided I would not eat lunch until I hit NC. This would not have been a
problem, except I stopped for a while at Petersburg National Battlefield.
I thought about skipping this, but then decided I wouldn't want to disappoint my
history buff readers (Dan K. and Bill L).
Late in the Civil War the Union was attempting to capture Richmond (the Confederate Capital). A couple of costly defeats showed that Richmond itself was impervious. But Richmond relied almost entirely on the transportation facilities in Petersburg for supplies. Grant decided that if Petersburg fell, Richmond would follow. Lee was aware of this as well and took significant efforts to fortify the city with a line of earthen embankments and bunkers. The Federalists made a successful first attack and failed to follow up. Had they continued the war might have ended almost a year earlier than Appomattox. But the failure to press their advantage gave the CSA a chance to dig in. 9 months of siege followed. During the siege Northern troops dug a mine-like shaft 500 feet to the Southern lines, they packed it with 8,000 pounds of explosives and blew up a Southern fort. Then it turned into a debacle as the US troops charge into instead of around the crater. Lee's troops devastated them. The North withdrew and the siege continued. In April of 1865 the North finally managed to cut off the railroads into Petersburg; the city fell. Richmond fell, without a shot, the next day. The war ended less than a week later. The National Park Service has better visitors centers and more informative displays elsewhere. This location does have an excellent lightshow that shows the development of the battle. See it if you are a history buff or have time. If not, don't go out of your way to get here. (Picture will be posted later) Then I slogged down I-95 more. The traffic was much better today. But it's still a lousy road. I tied to turn over a new leaf and not speed excessively. (Not to say I did not speed, just not 25 mph over the limit....) It was modestly successful. I spent most of the day doing 10 over; which makes for a nice ride when the speed limit is 70 mph. NC, SC, GA, FL all have stretches at 70, not VA. Just one more reason to avoid that state. Pine Trees. Pine barrens are a sure way to tell that you're just barely inland, and in all likelihood behind a series of barrier islands and coastal bays. Why? I noticed this long ago in NJ: as the GSP sweeps east towards Atlantic City one enters into the NJ Pine Barrens. The same seems to hold true for DE, MD, VA, NC, SC, GA, and FL. Somebody email me and tell me why this is: Jim@VagabondJim.com. Pulled into Jacksonville at about 11:30. It's time for bed now. Next up, lounging on the beach (trying to fix the tan lines on my ankles!) in Sarasota.
June 22, 2003 Sarasota, FL 27° 15' 08" North, Remember the torrents I spoke of in Delaware. They've followed me. The entire drive from Jacksonville to Sarasota, except for the Orlando area, was in a steady tropical downpour. (Tell me the mouse isn't evil. Only a deal with the devil gets you your own private good weather.) But I made it. I saw at least 6 cars off the side of the road. (Probably the result of some idiot going 15 mph in the left lane....) More interestingly I saw almost a dozen osprey. Very cool birds; I've always like birds of prey, especially falcons. The power lines outside of Bradenton are strung from very high towers. On the tops of these towers are nesting platforms. About half of them had birds in them as I drove past. Beautiful creatures. Made it to Sarasota eventually. It was a long 300 miles - rain, traffic, construction. It's good to see Mom & Dad. We went to Mass and had a nice dinner at Sharkey's. Sharkey's is on Venice beach, a stretch noted for being full of sharks teeth. Sure enough eagle eye Tom found a pair. Back at the condo we settled into the Florida routine: idle chit-chat and reading. I'm looking forward to much much more of this stuff.
June 23, 2003 27° 15' 08" North, The torrents continue. Deluge. Noah, get your boat built! Why doesn't Disney share some of their sunshine? Later in the day the sun started to overcome the clouds and things turned nice. We had a nice lunch in a little Cuban restaurant in town. The food was good. But frankly, I've had better Cuban food elsewhere. It seems that for good ethnic food one has to subject themselves to a little discomfort. The best places are often in "bad" neighborhoods and not exactly as clean as you would hope. Now these attributes don't guarantee great food, but they're almost always part of the experience. You could say they're necessary but not sufficient conditions.
Dinner was BBQ. I think if Dad and I had our way we'd have BBQ 2 out of every 3 days in the South. Good pulled pork with a nice Carolina style (i.e., vinegar based) sauce is a thing to behold. A nice evening of reading and bed later. I'm starting to ponder the big question: "Where shall I go next?" North up the coast again, yuck; head over to AL, MS (poker in Tunica?) , cut up through TN, WV, PA to NY; relax in KY for a week; make a very quick day to South FL? I'm committed to being back in NY for the 4th of July. Any suggestions? Next: A visit from Aunt Mary (Dad's sister) and a day on the beach, if the weather permits. June 24, 2003 SARASOTA A sunny day at last. And I did nothing of importance. I sat at the beach and read. A little sun, a little sand, some swimming. Chatting with Mom, Dad, & Mary. Makes for a damn fine day. It got even better in the evening. Sid called. Despite a crappy cell phone connection I was able to hear enough to learn that we are going sailing! Looks like I'll join him in Norfolk on 7/7. We'll spend a few days getting the boat squared away and provisioned . When the 3rd crew member arrives from Vancouver, we're off to Bermuda. June 25, 2003 SARASOTA Another sunny, beautiful day. Took a long walk down the beach. Saw lots of pretty people, walked my feet raw on the sand. The pretty folks got me thinking, see my ramblings at On Gawking. Nice dinner at a local Vietnamese restaurant. Nothing extraordinary, but still pretty damn good. I really like pho. This place served up a nice bowl of it. After the frustration of trying to find this stuff in the Hampton Roads this was great. I'm starting to fret over what to pack for this trip and what
to carry it in . Do I take all my dive gear? (Bermuda is not a great
dive destination, but there is diving...) I'm thinking that whatever I
take I have to be able to carry all at once. If I find my self parting
ways with the boat I don't want to be overburdened -- if something is out of
sight it will disappear (true almost anywhere in the world....). On the
other hand, not having something that's needed can be expensive or troublesome
in its own right. It's a complicated and delicate balancing act.
I'll probably take some snorkel gear but leave the dive stuff on land; clothes
will be minimal and I'll plan on washing regularly. The good thing about
T-shirts is that they're damn near disposable since they're so easily replaced.
Don't even get me started on where to leave and how to secure the car; that
causes me mucho angst. Any suggestions gang? June 26, 2003 SARASOTA Spent a pleasant afternoon with Dad today. We started
out on the great tire search. I'm in
Then we headed up into Sarasota proper and visited the Mote Aquarium. (Mote Aquarium) A really nice facility. Lots of good stuff including a giant squid that's 25+ feet long (it's dead). They have some nice aquaria with tropical and local fish, a few sharks, tarpon, and other nice things. They have a rescue facility/hospital that has a nice selection of turtles. Their most remarkable exhibit is a pair of manatees. Damn they're huge. Like most places, they don't have enough of the stuff I like to look at: nudibranchs, sea slugs, anemones, feather worms, etc. Oh well, just another reason to keep diving. Next door is the Pelican Man Bird Sanctuary. A local guy
started tending to injured pelicans Stopped for a beer and a BLT. Looked around to see if I could rent a sailboat for a few hours -- nope. But, all-in-all, it's been another fine and relaxing day. Late evening update: the Boys (Dad & I ) went t watch a ballgame. The local minor league team, The Sarasota Red Sox (a Boston Red Sox A League farm club) took on The Jupiter Hammerheads (a Marlins farm team). Now, I love hammerheads as sharks and I'm more a fan of the Yankees in the AL East, so I had to root against the home team. The Hammerheads won 4-0 in a game that wasn't even that close. A typical low key evening with Dad. June 27, 2003 Sarasota, FL Not a whole lot to report today. Finally got new tiers, a set of Toyo Proxes T1-S (Toyo T-1S). They're great. They hold the road as well as the Dunlop FM Sport 901s they replaced but are a lot quieter. It took about 4 hours to get them mounted and installed so that basically killed the afternoon. A nice dinner at a little local oyster bar down in Venice, Marker 4, rounded out the day. Really good fried grouper sandwiches. Back to the condo to pack and get some rest.
June 28, 2003 Marietta, GA Another road day -- Sarasota to just north of Atlanta. Not a bad day at the wheel, I-75 is substantially better maintained and mannered than I-95. Varied weather: sometimes clear blue skies, then fluffy clouds, then scattered squalls then blue skies again, mid 90s down to low 80s. Had the windows open anytime it was dry and below 90 degrees. It was weird to be able to feel the difference in how the wind feels blowing over my left hand without a wedding band. This is the first thing I've noticed that feels really different in the 6+ months I have not worn it. Settled into a Wingate Inn. This chain of hotels is a gem: $69 weekend rooms, every room in every inn has high speed net connections, free breakfast, free faxing and printing. They're worth seeking out! Tomorrow: Chattanooga and Chickamauga national Military Park. Tim Nowak was kind enough to recommend this stop; he says it will be memorable. Depending on the time it takes to do the park, I may head due east and take back roads up through the Smokey Mountains. I may not. We'll see. June 29, 2003 Savierville, TN Dixieland. Oh yes we're talking land of the "Cracker". Today was an encounter of the redneck kind.... Started out nicely with breakfast with Mom and Dad. Then they zoomed all the way home and I dilly-dallied. I moseyed up to the TN/GA state line area.
From Chattanooga I headed east into the Smoky's. What a great drive. I took US-64 to Cherokee, NC. Along the way there are wonderful stretches along the Oceela and Nantahal rivers. Both are loaded with rafters and kayakers; fun to watch. Did you know there's a casino in Cherokee, NC? I didn't. Do you think I stopped? Of course I did. A few hours and $100 latter I left. That's + $100, I actually won playing mini baccarat. It's not a very pleasant casino: too much smoke, too many po' white trash patrons, no craps tables, no actual cards (it's all digital.) Would I go back, no. Cherokee itself is a pit. At that point I thought it was the worst place on my trip.... Up through Smoky Mountain National Park on US-411. WOW!
It was dusk and a great drive. Too many slowpokes. I had to pull
over and wait a few times to get a cushion between me and the cautious fools
ahead. When I had some space I would race along at 65mph (in a 35 mph
zone) --up and down, twisty, turny. My new tires held well, the halogen
headlights were outrageously good (they're so bright it's very hard to outdrive
them.) See my rant about slow drivers if you haven't already. I came down back into TN in Pidgen Forge. Now this is the worst town I've seen. Summary: DOLLYWOOD and it goes down hill from there. See my rant about tacky overdevelopment that sacrifices quality of life for money, if you haven't already. This place scares me. (It also scares me that my dear sister likes to travel to the area for a weekend every fall, maybe she was too young and impressionable when we moved to KY!) Try this sometime: drive all day by yourself without ever turning on the radio/tape/cd/md. It's kind of scary/wierd/enlightening/difficult/enriching. You could do this at home by not reading, watching TV, or listening to the radio -- fill your time with your thoughts. Next stop: Villa Hills June 30, 2003
Villa Hills, KY 300 miles driven today Another scenic detour day. I woke up in Sevierville,
late of course, and decided that I had time to head back into the hills.
So I scooted up I-40 to I-81, after a few miles I jumped onto US-25E. What
a great road. It winds through beautiful hills, lakes (formed from TVA
Made it to Mom and Dad's in time to enjoy a nice dinner on the deck and settle in for a pleasant evening. |
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Spent
party of the evening in the water. The surf was up enough that I could do
some body surfing, which I love. I managed to get into a groove and ride
pretty well; no skinned, knees, face, belly (from a rough encounter with the
sand) at all! A few minutes in the hot tub chatting with Mom rounded out a
nice evening.
need of
a new set of tires -- the old ones have bubbles on the sidewalls (pothole
damage). But the blue rocket takes a funny sized tire (p215/50/17r).
It's a bit difficult to find performance tires in stock in that size. I
ended up having to order some Toyo's that will be in tomorrow.
years ago. It turned into a massive volunteer effort. Most of the
birds they rescue are nursed back to health and released. The permanently
disabled are kept in large display cases. They have some wonderful birds.
The two pictures today are of Ospreys ("fish hawks" but they're really members
of the falcon family). Beautiful birds. They have a lot of other
birds of prey and of course countless pelicans. 
On
Tim Nowak's advice, I decided to stop to see Chickamauga National Military Park.
It's well worth the side trip. The park has a decent visitors center.
The multimedia show is not worth the $3 for much more than getting an idea of
how the battle unfolded (in a nutshell: CSA wins at Chickamauga Creek, USA falls
back to Chattanooga, a 2 month siege ensues , USA breaks the siege and uses
Chattanooga to start the infamous march by Sherman. In a cliché: the South
won the battle but lost the campaign.) At first the park is not much in
and of itself: it's 1,600 monuments that you drive around. Then you
realize why there are 1,600 of them. Each state was invited to place a
monument, many did. But the rest were placed by veterans and other groups.
They typically represent a particular regiment, brigade, division, etc., and
where they were in the action. Then it dawns of one exactly how big this
was. It's a lot like Gettysburg in that respect. Unlike Gettysburg,
this is heavily wooded terrain which adds something to the horror of the battle
(additional confusion, difficulty in moving).
On
the other hand, Lookout Mountain is a waste of time. It's 25 minutes North
of Chickamauga and the first breakthrough the USA won in the battle of
Chattanooga. You get there and you see.....not much. A view of the
Tennessee River and Chattanooga. No meaningful visitor center or
educational plaques. Skip it.
There were so many bugs fly around and into my light that it was if I was
driving in a light snow flurry.
projects)
and small country communities. Everything on this road is the antithesis
of Manhattan. Neither bad nor good, just very different. In the
mountains it was a very hazy day and the weather flip flopped between soft humid
haze and heavy squalls. Not a bad day to be traveling. The
Cumberland Gap Tunnel is the nicest tunnel I've ever been in. Large, well,
lit, well ventilated, clean, everything the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels aren't.
Those three tunnels though are the only three that I know of that allow you to
cross below a state boundary rather than above it. A bit later I hopped
back on to I-75. Between Corbin and Lexington the temperature
fluctuated wildly: 84 degrees dropped to 77 degrees in about 2 miles, then after
10 more miles it climbed up to 91 degrees! Very weird.