Vanishing Point

I'll get to that question later. When I saw the photo on Champagne's Swamp Tours website, I knew I wanted to go if at all possible:  https://champagnesswamptours.com/swamp-boat-tours/  That was farther than I wanted to drive from Fairhope in a single day, but it was an easy day trip from where I planned to stay near Baton Rouge. They had openings in the 1pm tour on the day I planned to be there, so I planned the day around that. Soon I had other ideas: beignets and the LSU Rural Life Museum. That's where this photo was taken: When I arrived, I noticed a docent-led tour of a bunch of school-age kids beginning not far from the front desk. I slowly approached the group, looking at various exhibits, until I got to where I would have had to excuse myself to someone to get past them into the next room. Instead, I checked in with one of the adults in the group to ask if it was okay, and then I tagged along with them for a while. The adult that I spoke with explained that t

It was raining lightly when I started out from Fairhope, Alabama this time, heading out on the homestretch of my trip after a second visit with my friend there. From her house to I-10 is about 10 miles, then it's freeway all the way to the Mississippi border. Within the first 30 miles on I-10, I saw the aftermath of three accidents. And they make fun of Californians for not being able to drive in the rain... Of course I have no way of knowing that the accidents didn't involve California drivers 😊 I cut over to the coast at Biloxi and I came across the visitor center just as I was looking for a place to use the restroom. Right across from the visitor center is a pier: And the beach that was the site of some important civil rights demonstrations: Inside the visitor center I saw this postcard on display: I had suspected mosquitos were bad here and now it's confirmed. By visiting the Southeast in January, I've gotten off very easy bug-wise. I'm sure

During the last part of my drive back through the panhandle, I saw some pelicans fly close by overhead as I drove over a bridge and I realized I'm going to miss them when I go back inland. They've become a frequent sight these last few weeks. Once again I drove by lots of damage from Hurricane Michael, and the effect was different heading the other way. On the trip East, I didn't start looking for damage until I got close to Mexico Beach so I didn't notice it until I couldn't avoid noticing it. It was on the East side of Parker that I started seeing tarp-covered roofs and pieces of buildings missing. On the way back West, I noticed much more damage in Parker and Panama City. Whole blocks fenced off with big chunks of buildings missing. Whole apartment complexes abandoned due to damage. Whole shopping centers being torn down. A car dealership open for business, but with plywood for most of its external walls. A church with very tidy blue tarps covering the entire

When I saw Deer Island going over the bridge into Biloxi, I had that vivid moment of wondering what the undeveloped land in the area would have looked like. I might have finally found out when I visited St. Marks Wildlife Refuge in the Florida panhandle. They have similar areas of marsh next to the Gulf of Mexico, and those beautiful lace-top trees that I now know are most commonly called Slash Pine. This is what I imagine Biloxi, Mississippi was like before human modification. I know it's tiny, but if you look closely you may be able to see an eagle's nest with a bald eagle perched nearby: Here is the same shot zoomed in so that you can see that I wasn't imagining that eagle: This is why I think of Slash Pine as having lacy tops: The marshy land there requires that the visitor center be built on stilts: I like this photo because of the illusion that I used a fisheye lens when I didn't: This was a lot of the reason that I wanted to drive back

When I saw I'd be driving near Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on my way back to Florida, some old neurons lit up in my brain and I thought, "You mean I can visit Pogo's homeland?" (For readers who might not get the reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogo_(comic_strip)  ) I was a bit young to catch all the levels of meaning in Pogo in his heyday, but something appealed to me about the swamp critters, and now that I'm an adult I can more fully appreciate sentiments like, "We have met the enemy and he is us." When I was a kid I never thought of Okefenokee as anything other than a fictional place, so perhaps that's why I lit up when I saw it on the map. I lit up again when my navigator told me to turn right on Okefenokee Parkway and pronounced it the way I would. There's lots of stuff that winds up sounding awkwardly off when my navigator says it, but Okefenokee came out just right. I drove out to the end of the boardwalk that extends

I had a different idea about this road trip before I took it than I have now. To some extent I guess that can be said about any trip, but this one in particular has been a surprise. I thought it would be a matter of completing the Southeast in my quest to put a checkmark next to every state that I've visited. But it turns out that I've discovered some things about the South that aren't so easy to just check off a list. The Florida panhandle contains some of those things -- the pure white sand beaches, the pine and palm trees, the vast vistas of the Gulf of Mexico -- compelling enough to make me want to drive through again on my way back home. Then heading North into the marshes and swamps creates another feeling entirely that's hard to put into words. I first started to think about the low country of the Carolinas thanks to the writings of Pat Conroy and the movies made from them. You've probably heard of at least one of the ones I've seen: Conrack , The Great

This was the first day of my trip when I wasn't either traveling to a new location or staying with someone I knew. So I had the whole day to myself and nowhere I needed to get to. I drove around Savannah looking for historic squares, interesting thrift stores, and Whole Foods Market, a total of about 50 miles of driving around looking at stuff. The city is much more tree-covered than I'm used to cities being. Not all streets are tree-lined, but big chunks of the city have mature live oaks draped with Spanish moss and mixed in with palm trees. On this overcast day, the subtle shades of green, gray, and brown were a really soothing feast for the eyes. This first shot is looking down one of the promenades in Forsyth Park. Here's a closer view of the fountain: Can you spot the palm tree in this photo: In my travels, I found this giant orb with the name of a business on the side. According to RoadsideAmerica.com https:// www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/336?offset=5  i

About once a year in cold weather, the tire pressure light comes on in my van. I got the tires rotated and checked just before this trip, so I thought maybe I would be able to skip the warning light this year. Alas, on a frosty morning just a few minutes after I hit the road toward Savannah, the light came on. I slowed down a little and stayed in the slow lane more than usual, just in case, but I really didn't want to try to do anything about it until I got to Savannah if I could avoid it. That would be about 100 more miles. A hundred miles later, I arrived at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Museum of Art. Founded in 1978, it is relatively new as colleges go and has an interesting approach to its campus. They have chosen to restore historic buildings in the older parts of Savannah for their classrooms and are spread out in 67 buildings throughout downtown. It seems everywhere you look, you see SCAD on the side of a building. I didn't read about the spread-out na

As with most legs to a trip like this, there's an option for a slow way to go and another option for a fast way to go. The morning I planned to drive from Altamonte Springs (Orlando area) to Kingsland, Georgia, I had big plans to take the slower A1A all the way from Daytona Beach to Jacksonville Beach. But as much as I enjoyed the morning drive up the coast, by the time I got to St. Augustine, the fast way started to look a lot better to me. The scenery was great, but the traffic was prone to sudden, unexpected slowdowns, which is not relaxing, and potentially even dangerous if you're trying to enjoy the scenery and drive at the same time. First, I drove over to the coast at Daytona Beach, which is like a fantasy vision of Florida. Daytona Beach is a clean, colorful feast for the eyes from the Welcome sign: To the race track: To the endless pastel mid-century buildings (which I can't find any good pictures of online) and brief glimpses of ocean waves along th

I was concerned that the drive from Englewood to Altamonte Springs where my cousin lives would be stressful, but I set out with an intention of not being in a hurry and as a result it was mostly pleasant and relaxing. There was one exception to the smooth flow of that drive, which was  highway 4 through Orlando. It's heavily under construction, and the freeway repeatedly curves left and right around construction sites instead of following its usual straight course through the city. This confused my navigation software, which kept telling me to take every exit and then merge back onto the freeway in an attempt to keep me on the course it expected to see me taking. I only fell for that once before figuring out what was going on. Fortunately it was not a busy day in Theme Park Land because the exit it told me to take was the one that goes to Universal Studios. That could have been very unpleasant on a busier day, but it only resulted in slowing me down by a few minutes. Usually I us