Dalton, Georgia to Florence, Kentucky

Super nice traveling conditions - light traffic and nice weather. We saw gas for 2.86 in Knoxville - the cheapest we've seen for a long time.

We ate lunch at the Dinner Bell in Berea, Kentucky. I loved that place! The food seemed genuinely homemade - I had ham, and it was delightful.



The Clarion Hotel in Florence gave us a bit of a problem. Our room was far away from the office, and the wi-fi was not working. I tried for an hour to get on the internet and it just wasn't working. Called the office, and we were moved way down the hall to a room very near the office. Voila! Instant internet. The motel was very accommodating and understanding of our problem.

Valdosta to Dalton - New Year's Day

Marching through Georgia.

We were a bit surprised at the billboards along I-75. We think of the South as the Bible Belt and assumed that the population would mostly be conservative Christians. However, the Interstate is lined with rows of billboards advertising adult stores and all kinds of massage parlors, usually illustrated with Asian women. Most of these places seem to be "near the truck stop", so you can guess the target audience. It didn't seem to compute that the whole State of Georgia is so into these types of establishments!

North of Cordele in Bibb County we saw the remnants of a horrible crash. A southbound semi had barreled through a concrete median strip, jack-knifed, and caught on fire. When we passed by, there were all kinds of emergency vehicles there, and the firemen were still pouring water on the wreckage. The south bound traffic was backed up for miles and miles! We found out later that it took nine hours to re-open southbound I-75. Luckily there were no fatalities, and only one injury - a man who was injured when debris hit his windshield. It caused a never-ending backup and many, many people were severely inconvenienced.

There was another crash on the southbound side in Atlanta. Two white vehicles had smashed together and looked to be totaled - not such a bad backup this time, but a severe crash. We felt very lucky to be going north.

Other than the horrifying crashes and the heavy rainfall, it wasn't a bad drive. We knew we were stopping early to watch football so it wouldn't be a long haul.





Of course we watched our poor, sad Michigan team in the Gator Bowl - our sadness intensified with every Mississippi State possession. Heavy sigh.

Site: Jacksonville, Fla. (Everbank Field)
Event: Gator Bowl
Score: #21 Mississippi State 52, Michigan 14
Record: U-M (7-6), Mississippi State (9-4)
Attendance: 77,497
Next U-M Game: Season Complete

The Rose Bowl game was great fun - Wisconsin lost, but at least they looked good doing it! The Texas Christian quarterback is named Dalton, we were in the city of Dalton, and the hero in the book Dick is reading is called Dalton. It was cosmic.

New Year's Eve - Palm City to Valdosta

Started the day with a trip to the Treasure Coast Urgent Care, where Dick had a lovely hour in the waiting room (not). They were very nice, thorough and efficient, and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic (Cipro) and told me that if I took it to Publix, it would be free!

We arranged to meet L, C & D at the Galaxy Diner for breakfast. I went in and got a table for 5 while Dick took the prescription to the Publix next door. It seems that they really do have a Free Antibiotics Program, so there was no charge for the Cipro.

We had a great breakfast, and a wonderful time until Chip got a phone call from his Mom saying that his Grandma (Nana) had passed away. She was 102 and seven months old, so her passing was not totally unexpected, but still a solemn event.

We hugged everybody goodbye, and headed to the Florida Turnpike north to Valdosta. Traffic was a little crazy, and the plazas were super-crowded, but generally an uneventful trip to Georgia. It was fun to see the Georgia cotton fields - that's how you know you're not in Michigan!

The woman at the Comfort Inn recommended the Texas Steakhouse for dinner, and said "Here's you a coupon for 10% off". See? We're not in Michigan for real.



At the restaurant, the couple at the next table over heard us saying Traverse City and came over to say that they were from Grayling! How coincidental is that? Then we ran into a man wearing an M hat - it turned out that he lives in Sarnia, but has been an M fan all of his life.

Gas price in Florida this morning was 3.11. and tonight in Valdosta it's 2.91.

Seminole Inn

One of my favorite things to do near Palm City is lunch at the Seminole Inn in Indiantown. It's an historic old inn - yummy food, lots of ambiance, and a museum-like second floor. Laurie took us all out there today, I think to humor her Mother! Thanks, Laur.

These Seminole garments are fascinating - they're all hand-stitched, just like quilt making. The colors are so vibrant and the fabrics are beautiful.

This is the Seminole Inn parrot, whose name is Cracker. They say he can pronounce several words, but all I could get him to say today was Hello.

We had all just seen the movie "The King's Speech". It's about the time when Prince Albert's brother King Edward VIII abdicated the throne of England to marry a divorced woman, Wallis Warfield Simpson, thereby making Prince Albert King George VI. Just by total coincidence of which we were unaware, we discovered a royal connection to the Seminole Inn! The Inn is located on Warfield Road, which was named after an Uncle of Wallis Warfield Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. It seemed a cosmic coincidence to us. Who Knew?

Indiantown, originally established by the Seminole Indians as a trading post, was later settled in the 1890's by white settlers. With the arrival of Baltimore banker S. Davies Warfield in the 1920's Indiantown began its short and unsuccessful rise. Warfield planned to make Indiantown the southern headquarters of his seaboard airline railroad (now known as seaboard coastline), then stretching from central Florida to West Palm Beach. He planned a model city. He laid out streets, built a school, constructed houses, and a railroad station. He also built the Seminole Inn which is the only remaining feature of the 1920's boom. Warfield was the uncle of the Duchess of Windsor who visited the inn several times. Indiantown is a proud little town with the Inn as the only remnant of Warfield's dream. It is a must see for the reconstruction of the pre-depression era. You are allowed to wander around and look. Submitted by: Mike Woodfin

Cricket Court

Hanging out at Cricket Court. WoW and tenderloin - a nice combo.

Boxing Day

Walking around Halpatiokee Regional Park is a good way to start the day. Dick and Jana and I went over there for our constitutional. Dick got a kick out of this sign telling what's prohibited in the park - he especially loves that last item!



The best find of the morning was this gopher tortoise hiding in his home. They are really big! Dick said he didn't know what they go-fer.



Florida has some strange vegetation - especially strange to our white pine eyes.



For Christmas, Dylan got a Kinect system for his Xbox. Looks to me like it will be good exercise for the whole family!

Christmas in Pictures

MERRY CHRISTMAS !

We had a perfect day - best yet. Hope you did too.

These pictures are in reverse order! Sorry about that.

Diva Duck

Palm Beach's Only Sightseeing Adventure over Land & Sea

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Tour Details:

• A 75-minute, lively, fully narrated, historical & musical tour
• USCG inspected Amphibious Vessel
• See the charming neighborhoods of old West Palm Beach
• View the estates of Palm Beach's Rich & Famous as you cruise South Florida's waterways

We had such a good time! Laurie treated all of us to this tour and it was a blast. The Duck can go from land to water with no hesitation, so half of the time you're on a bus ride, and the other half is a boat ride.

The couple sitting behind us overheard Dick saying that we are from Traverse City. The woman got very excited - it seems she was an exchange student in T.C.H.S. in 1964. They live in Stockholm, Sweden, and also have a home in France. They were planning to spend Christmas in London with their grandchildren. It was a unique experience.


After the tour, we ate at the Cheesecake Factory, which was right across the street. Nobody had cheesecake!