Road Trip Day 1

I don’t know that there will be any other days reported on, but Mother and I left West Palm Beach somewhere between half a day behind schedule, two hours behind schedule or – since I never leave on schedule – ON schedule.

We stopped at Nubbin Slough on Lake Okeechobee long enough to spot some gators, then paused at my old lab tech Hilary’s neat place on Taylor Creek.

Okeechobee Golden Corral

We were hungry by that time, so we pulled in to the Golden Corral. Before you sneer, this one is a cut above any I’ve eaten at anywhere else. Mother was so pleased by the all-you-can eat buffet – particularly the dessert bar – that the manager asked her to pose for a photo. I think they put it on the wall so if they see her coming across the parking lot they can quickly hang up a CLOSED sign.

1990 U.S. 27 Trip

In 1990, a reporter and I retraced the U.S. 27 leg of the 1960 Steinhoff Florida Vacation to see how many of the old tourist traps were still around. We started in Little Havana in Miami and went all the way to Havana, Fla., on the Georgia border.

One of the places we stopped on both trips was the Florida Citrus Tower in Clermont. In 1990, there was a sign at the top that said we were overlooking a gazillion billion citrus trees. Maybe that was true in 1960, but by 1990 there had been a series of disastrous freezes that left us looking over a gazillion billion dead stumps. Today, had the tower been open, we’ve have been looking at a gazillion billion houses.

House of the Presidents

In the shadow if the Citrus Tower is the House of the Presidents. At least, that’s what the sign says below a disgracefully tattered U.S. Flag. It has been rebranded to Presidents Hall of Fame these days.

Abe Lincoln wanted to pose with Mother

Here’s a review on RoadsideAmerica that speaks fondly about the House of the Presidents.

Side trip to Mt. Rushmore

I must have never wandered around to the back of the building to see Mt. Rushmore. How could you pass up a tourist shot like this, even if the sun was about to set?

We’re meandering the back roads to get home. We’ll be passing through Tallie, Circle City, Monkey Town, Smoke City, Choo Choo and Guitar along the way. More adventures to come. Maybe.

By the way, an amazingly large number of my readers didn’t look at the calendar when I posted my “Well Has Run Dry” April Fool post. I’m still around.

 

8 Replies to “Road Trip Day 1”

  1. It looks as if your mother is having a wonderful time in the picture-perfect weather! What a good son you are, Ken, to take her on these road trips! She’s a sweet lady and a good traveling companion!
    I feel the same way about Perkins eateries as you do about Golden Corral, but we had breakfast in a WONDERFUL Perkins restaurant/bakery in Ft. Meyers, Florida before we left. I think it all depends on the management.

  2. I heard that she was getting along quite well with her new arm, it appears in the photographs that she is also very proud of how well they match, as well. Perhaps by the time she gets back home you will not be able to tell which is which, other than left and right. I will be scrutinizing more photographs as you head closer to the 63701 zip code.

  3. Please, an occasional photo of the two of you together. Waitresses always protest that they take terrible photos, but they turn out great!

  4. You are so right about the Citrus Tower and that area. We have traveled by there many times when we lived in Florida. In the “old” days the orange groves were beautiful and if you were there at the right time you could smell the orange blossoms. We, too, were so sorry when the groves were decimated by bad weather and disease. Many of them were even burned to eradicate the disease. Do we really need more houses?

  5. strap on a couple of 6 shooters on her hips. she looks like she is ready for gunfight at OK Corral…moms are great! enjoy your trip back to Cape. your fans were so worried you ran out of stories…even on April 1.

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