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Published: January 9th 2010
Spanish Moss
Eagle Roost RV Park Vadosta GAMost of the drive on Thursday, September 17, 2009 was in the rain! Sounds like a broken record, doesn’t it? Again, we chose to take the scenic byways instead of the major highways. We headed East on KY 84 through Sonora and on to Hodgenville where we turned South on US 31E towards Glasgow. KY 90 took us on through a multitude of small villages to Burkesville. We followed KY 61 South until we crossed the state line and it became TN 53 on our way to Smithville. As we continued East and South, we passed through Crossville, Spring City, Sweetwater and Madisonville on the way to Blue Ridge GA. Even though the drive was mostly in the rain, we did see some spectacular views of several cloud-shrouded mountain peaks. Too bad there were very few good stopping points for photography. This visual sample definitely taunted my desire to return for a longer stay.
We continued South through Gainesville and Athens on our way to Eatonton GA where we planned to stay in the Lawrence Shoals Park which was open year-round according to my new Woodall’s Guide. Wrong, Sherlock! Believe the Woodall’s disclaimer - call first! It was closed for
the season, so we landed in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Milledgeville GA and got a decent night sleep in spite of the late night skateboarders and the early morning street (parking lot) sweeper. Heading South from Milledgeville, we found ourselves in much flatter terrain - more reminiscent of the Midwest than Tennessee and northern Georgia. The plan was to have a short leisurely day traveling South on US 441, US 221 and GA 31 to the Eagle Roost RV Park in Vadosta GA. Eagle Roost is a nice park close to I-75 with shady sites and lots of what I believed to be Spanish Moss hanging from the trees. Everything was going well until Sunday morning when I discovered the soil pipe from the galley grey water tank had broken just outside the tank discharge outlet and was hanging by its bracket. Since it was Sunday, I chose to press on to Sanford FL and hoped to find the parts on Monday.
Kay and I set out southbound on the flat, unremarkable I-75 for several hours until we reached the junction of FL 44 near Wildwood. We headed East on FL 44 and FL 46 through Leesburg and
Around Key West FL
Larry Gorman & Kay Baker Mount Dora to Sanford where my sole surviving biological aunt resides. The Twelve Oaks RV Resort had only two vacant sites. The office was closed but, fortunately, one of the assistant managers was passing by as we pulled in and said we could set up the rig and do the paperwork on Monday - both sites were reserved for the winter but would not be occupied for a few more days. Who would have thought an RV park would be near capacity on September 20? Did all these folks come from the Arctic Circle? Again, believe the Woodall’s disclaimer - call first! Lesson learned. A phone call to Aunt Lena found her, her friend Bill and her daughter Sharon at our campsite in a very few minutes. We all went to dinner together where we were joined by Sharon’s daughter Jessica.
On Monday morning, I got my business completed at the Twelve Oaks office and inquired about RV service facilities where I might get my soil pipe repaired. A trip to the RV dealer with my broken pipe in hand found the service manager looking at my pipe configuration and giving me a time frame of, “Definitely not today
- not even this week. Probably not for a few weeks.” Have you ever felt like your money just wasn’t green enough? I asked if I could get the parts and complete the repair work myself - not exactly the way I envisioned spending my vacation! When we were walking to the parts department, I saw a sign with the labor rate posted at $150/hour and was actually relieved they wouldn’t be doing the job. The parts man was extremely helpful - he brought me half of the parts I needed and offered to order the remainder (“Should be here in a week or two.”) - I declined. That afternoon, Aunt Lena took us on the Grand Tour de Sanford. Much better vacation time than lying on my back under the Pilgrim! During our tour, we stopped at Wal-Mart, bought a pair of small dishpans and emptied the dishwater in the toilet for the remainder of the trip.
After breakfast the next day, I went to get the oil in the truck changed while Kay readied the trailer for departure. Since we wanted to get to the Florida Keys that day, we decided to head South along the Atlantic
Coast on I-95. We reached Miami in mid-afternoon just as the rush hour was beginning. Getting through Miami was interesting! Our atlas had names for the various turnpikes; whereas, the road signs on the Interstate had numerical descriptors. Fortunately, the compass in my truck kept us on a general course to the South and West until we located US 1. There, we had to deal with the rush hour on the “surface streets” of Homestead. In the middle of the rush hour (about 4 PM), the owner of the Jolly Roger RV Park in Marathon called to ask where we were and if we still planned to stay at their park that night. Most RV parks (based on my limited experience) have a check-in time of noon so her call set me wondering - and not without reason. Suffice it to say, I’ll find a different RV park on my next visit to the Keys.
Kay and I set up the trailer and hit the road for some good, fresh seafood at The Island Fish Company (both nearby and recommended by the RV park owner). The sunset was beautiful! The food was extremely overpriced and quite ordinary at best,
but we were not without excitement. Looking towards some commotion a couple of tables away, I saw a man was being helped to the floor by his companions. By the time I arrived, he was surrounded by folks whose major contribution was, “Oh, my God!” I could see the victim was breathing, and there was one person at the patient’s head who seemed like she knew what she was doing. A bystander said she was a nurse. Good enough for me - back to my dinner. EMS arrived and transported the victim. I never did notice if he had finished his dinner or if his companions got a carryout container for him. Hmmmm!
The next morning, September 23, 2009, we set out for Key West. Neither of us had been there, and both of us were anxious to see what (other than the weather) gave Key West its fame. We quickly found the downtown tourist area, purchased a trolley tour and got a terrific overview of the island’s history as well as an orientation for our independent exploration. We decided we wanted to see the historic lighthouse and Earnest Hemmingway’s former home. Somewhere along the way, we discovered the
Hog’s Breath Saloon so we shared an order of french fries, and I washed mine down with - what else - a bottle of Hog’s Breath Beer. Key West is interesting but definitely a tourist trap. There are bars, historic sites, bars, restaurants, bars, souvenir shops and bars - after all, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere.
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