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slowdriving.us 2004 Trip Key West N24 32.9421 W81 47.5175 to Palm Bay N27 59.8168 W80 37.8488 Day ten Tuesday April 27, I drove 331 miles
I have seen Key West, now it's time to go
north. It's the only way I can drive now without getting wet. As I drove back
across the Keys and the many bridges, I stopped several times to get
pictures.
There are concrete spans and steel ones too. Here is an example of the old steel bridge with a segment cut out to allow sail boats to go through.
There is another bridge along side of the one I was driving on. Research tells me that the other bridge was built in the late twenties and is one lane. Flagmen would stand at each end of a bridge and flag the cars through one at a time.
This is a good picture of the old one lane concrete bridge. It's the one on the right. Look at how narrow it was.
It was built low to the water and blocks boats from crossing. Hurricanes would blow water up and damage it too.
The State Highway crews cut the ends off of the old bridges to prevent idiots from driving or walking on them.
There was a lot of traffic going north on highway
1. I noticed a sign that said Hurricane emergency route. No one was driving on
it so I turned off at the next sign and continued north with no traffic. After the Keys I continued north through Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach. By the time I got to Port Saint Lucie, I was tired of the coast traffic but continued on to Palm Bay for the night. On the way there, the traffic stopped on the freeway and I could see a truck on fire. While I was waiting for the traffic to move again I saw these houses being built. They have concrete walls to withstand the hurricane winds. Some have wood second floors.
The traffic moved slowly past the fire.
It was a trash truck with it's load on fire.
A short time later I saw the trash dump, the only mountain in Florida.
Palm Bay N27 59.8168 W80 37.8488 to Jacksonville N30 08.439 W81 35.5593 Day eleven Wednesday April 28, I drove 221 miles.
After leaving Palm Bay I turned inland to see what was there. I found a very nice area with large trees and small hills around the Fort McCoy area. It was the Ocala National Forest. The directions my sister gave me to her house were from the west on I-10. A short time later I arrived at I-10, and followed the signs into Jacksonville. Then on to her house. I arrived before she got home from work. As I was waiting for her to arrive some neighbor kids came by to see the car. They were very interested in it.
Jacksonville area Day twelve Thursday April 29, I drove about 52 miles
My sister had to work today, and left me at her house to relax. Patty was not to arrive until later in the day, so I had time to change the oil. I went to a local auto parts store and purchased the oil and a pan to drain it in to. Once I got back to my sisters house, I drained the oil out, reinstalled the drain plug, and went into the house to wash off the oil spilled on my arms. I must have gone to the bathroom, started the laundry or something to have distracted me. When I went back outside I checked the water in the radiator and greased the water pump. Next, I started up the car and waited for the oil pressure gauge to show pressure. It did not show any pressure, so I ran the engine faster, still no pressure... I did not put any oil in the engine. I shut the engine off and filled the pan with oil. Then I restarted it and everything was ok. As I was returning to the auto parts store with the used oil I felt the car was not running as well as it had been. Oh, its just my imagination I thought, it runs fine. Later in the day I drove to the Jacksonville Airport to pick up Patty, we returned for a surprise birthday party for me, from my sister.
Paul is enjoying his cake.
Happy Birthday, Paul
Jacksonville area Day thirteen Friday April 30, The car rested.
Sara and Paul on Fernandina Beach. Sara drove us to Fernandina Beach on the Atlantic Ocean north of Jacksonville near the border with Georgia.
Patty and Paul on Fernandina. It is warm and there is a wind blowing. The weather is quite nice.
Sara, Paul and Patty looking like tourists, and another tourist took our picture.
There are nice old houses everywhere.
The following narrative is from The William Bartram web site. www.bartramtrail.org/ William Bartram was America’s first native born naturalist/artist and the first author in the modern genre of writers who portrayed nature through personal experience as well as scientific observation. Bartram’s momentous southern journey took him from the foothills of the Appalachian mountains to Florida, through the southeastern interior all the way to the Mississippi River. His work thus provides descriptions of the natural, relatively pristine eighteenth-century environment of eight modern states: North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee. William Bartram published an account of his adventure in 1791. It quickly became an American classic and Bartram's Travels has been described by one scholar as the most astounding verbal artifact of the early republic. Bartram's book became an immediate success in Europe where it influenced the romantic poets and armchair travelers who savored the descriptions of exotic, sub-tropical Florida as well as the relatively unexplored southeastern interior. Particularly enlightening and appealing were Bartram's accounts of the Seminole, Creek and Cherokee Indians. During the first quarter of the 19th century William Bartram became the grand old man of American natural science, advising and mentoring the first generation of naturalists who were beginning to explore the new territories being added to the young nation.
Many old towns have a train station, but no tracks. The trains have been gone for many years.
Sara brought Patty and me here for the Fernandina Beach Shrimp Fest. It is held the first weekend in May each year. We were early and the shrimp was not ready yet. Patty does not like shrimp and said she did not want to stay. Sara reluctantly drove us back into Jacksonville to another sea food restaurant near her house. She ordered shrimp, and was happy. I like shrimp and would have liked to stay at the fest. Next time, I'll stay for the shrimp.
Sara likes to camp in comfort, and purchased this pop up camp trailer. She tows it behind her SUV.
This is one of Sara's cats.
Jacksonville area Day fourteen Saturday May 1 we drove about 83 miles.
Sara, Brenda, Patty and I rode in the old car to St. Augustine. On the way we stopped at a small fishing pier where Brenda's Father used to go and fish.
There were several fishing piers like this one on the Bay.
I found the following on a site about Saint Augustine: It is the nations oldest continuously occupied European settlement. It was founded in 1565, over forty years before the English settlement of Jamestown was built. The Spanish conquistador Ponce de Leon first set foot in this area in 1513. Later a permanent settlement was established by the Spanish in 1565. Numerous battles with the French and British over the area ensued for nearly 200 years. Castillo de San Marcos, a fortress built of coquina seashell "rock" in the late 1600s, withstood several attacks and sieges. The Spanish remained entrenched in the area until 1763 when they ceded the area to the British in exchange for recently captured Havana. Twenty years later Spain regained its old possession through another exchange, this time by returning captured Bahamas to the British. Spain retained the area until 1821 when Florida joined the United States as a territory. St. Augustine's historical sense can still be experienced
through the narrow cobblestone streets, and restored coquina and stone
buildings. Picturesque streets with stone buildings from the 1700 and
I really enjoyed looking at the old buildings. It is amazing that they are still standing after all these years. In California it is hard to find anything that is one hundred years old.
Located near the City Gates, The Old School House is a surviving expression of another time. Built over 200 years ago, while Florida was under the rule of Imperial Spain, it was constructed of red cedar and cypress and put together with wooden pegs and handmade nails. The schoolmaster and his wife lived upstairs, above the small classroom. Their kitchen was separated from the main building, because of the threat of fire and to spare the house of any excess heat during the long summers.
Walking down George street.
There is a large brass bell hanging from a short framework. I do not recall it's place in history.
This is the Bridge of Lions it first opened to traffic in 1927 and connects the historic St. Augustine downtown business district with Anastasia Island. The drawbridge opens to allow the passage of commercial and recreational boats. In 1982, the Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The traffic was bumper to bumper, we drove over to say that we drove on it, and then turned around and went back.
More history from another site about the area. Whisked south in their private cars on the railroad, notables such as the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and Morgans made St. Augustine their winter home. There are many well preserved buildings here. An exotic Moorish Revival style residence with courtyards and towers built in 1883 on King Street is from this glittering era.
Memorial Presbyterian Church built in 1880.
After a long day visiting old St. Augustine, Sara and Brenda wanted to show us where they work. We drove to the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind.
This is Brenda's classroom.
And this one is Sara's
I had never seen an electronic blackboard before, the instructor's computer screen shows up on the board.
Time for some more gas. As I was filling the tank, a truck drove up, the woman riding passenger, jumped out and took a picture, jumped back in and sped off. They did not even stop to say hello.
Jacksonville area Day fifteen Sunday May 2, I drove just a few miles.
Sunday, Brenda's brother and his family drove down from Savannah. Here we are eating. I have been doing a lot of that lately.
Eating Birthday cake my sister got for me.
Brenda's mother poses with the old car.
Paul is explaining something to three interested nephews of Brenda's.
Still explaining or bragging about the car.
Here I am taking the boys for a short ride.
The weather was warm and we needed to drink plenty of water, the car does not come with cup holders. Patty discovered that an extra pair of shoes works very well as cup holders.
That's all for today. Now it's time for rest. Sara and Brenda have to go back to work tomorrow. And Patty and I have to leave in the morning to continue with our trip.
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