Ocala, Titusville & Jupiter, Florida

We had a good night’s sleep in St. Augustine, Florida. Friday morning, the Budget Inn didn’t offer breakfast, so we used Google to find some food on the way. Sheila’s Cafe at Anastasia Kitchen is a tiny place that has outstanding food. Only after we ate did we find out that they only took cash! When we were younger, my mom used to give us kids a hundred-dollar bill on each of our birthdays. Fortunately I still had three of them in my wallet, (after 20 years), so we didn’t have to spend the day washing dishes to pay for our breakfast.

While we were having breakfast, we noticed the St. Augustine light house just behind the cafe, and we drove over and had some after-breakfast sightseeing.  

Our destination was Ocala, Florida, in the center of the state. Rather than going there directly from St. Augustine, we drove down the coast to Daytona Beach. The sun was out, there was almost no wind, and, when we could see the Atlantic, it had two-foot high clean waves, with a scattering of surfers.

Unbeknownst to us, Friday, October 16^th was the second day of the 34^th Biketoberfest, which brought thousands of motorcyclists to events at the Daytona International Speedway. Many of those riders found their way to the coast road, and, traffic was a little hectic. 

Instead of driving all of the way to Daytona Beach, we turned off on Florida 40 at Ormond Beach, which was probably a good idea. (In addition to all of the bikers, we did see one large turtle, scuttling along the sidewalk on the tips of his flippers. I always thought that turtles were slow, but he was going really fast.

We got to Silver Springs State Park, near Ocala, at about 3:00 PM. I thought that we could take one of the glass-bottomed boat rides, and maybe see some alligators to go along with the turtle. First, though, we had to eat, since we hadn’t had anything since breakfast.

Near the kayaking concession we found the Paddle Trail Grill. Kathy had a southwest chicken wrap and I had a BLT. They say that the best food you’ll ever taste is the food you eat when you’re really hungry. We were both really hungry, but it was so hot and humid that the food didn’t seem that exceptional.

I have to admit that Kathy and I are both wimps; the heat and humidity, and the thoughts of an air conditioned hotel room, drove all thoughts of a glass-bottomed boat ride from our minds. We left the park and drove to Ocala, and settled in. Kathy had planned to meet another of her cousins in the evening, but that didn’t work out.

Saturday on the Space Coast

When we left Ocala, it was raining, so it took us a little longer to get to the coast. As we were driving, all of a sudden the traffic just stopped. Ahead, we could see the flashing lights of a police cruiser. He was stopping to let a group of Sandhill Cranes cross the road. Once they were across, the line of cars started moving again. However, when our car got to the cross-walk, the cranes decided to cross back, so we had to wait again. 

We had originally planned to spend Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center. The night before, when I went to buy the tickets (about $200 for both of us and parking), I decided to read some blogs. I asked Google “Is the Kennedy Space Center Worth It?”, and then spent the next couple hours going down the rabbit hole. Most people thought that it was worth the price, but one blog went into detail about the long lines in the hot sun. That was really a deal breaker for Kathy and I, because we haven’t been adapting well to the heat and humidity.

Instead of the NASA site, we went to the Sands Space History Center, just outside the gates of the Space Force Base on Cape Canaveral. This is a small, one-room museum, dedicated to the original, military part of Cape Canaveral, including artifacts from most of the original launch sites.

There were no large rockets, or interactive exhibits, like the space shuttle simulator at the Kennedy Space Center, but it was very interesting seeing the history of space flight from the 1950s. Kathy and I spent a little more than two hours there, which is our comfortable limit. 

The Space Force docent, Chris Bannister, spent much of that time talking to us personally, and explaining the different missions that went out from Canaveral.

Chris encouraged us to take the longer, guided tour that included many of the original, decommissioned rockets and control centers, but we couldn’t do that because you have to apply 72 hours in advance to get a security clearance. If we went again, though, I think I’d do that.

We got back to our hotel in Titusville around four. After checking in, we went looking for dinner, and ended up at Sonny’s BBQ. Sonny’s is a chain, like Lucilles, in California. The food was great, and pretty inexpensive.

Kathy had pulled chicken, green beans and cole slaw. I had the three-pork platter with pulled pork, sliced pork, and ribs. You can see there was a lot of food. With tip, the bill was $38.00. We couldn’t do that in California.

Sunday in Vero Beach & Jupiter, Florida

On Sunday, our destination was Jupiter, Florida. Halfway between Titusville and Jupiter is Vero Beach, where Jim Gallagher is pastoring Calvary Chapel of Vero Beach. For several years in the 1980s, Jim was on the pastoral staff at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. And, his wife, Kristie, was active in the CCCM Women’s Ministry, so Kathy knew them both well. By getting off of the side roads and picking up the highway, we were able to get there for the 11:15 AM service.

After the service, Kimberly Williams, who lead the morning’s worship, recognized Kathy, and took us in to say hello to Jim and Kristie. We were able to visit for a little bit, took a picture together, and then headed down the coast to Jupiter. Before we left, though, we asked for lunch recommendations, and ended up at the historic Waldo’s Restaurant and Bar, right on the beach.

There was a band playing Jimmy Buffet songs, kind of like the band that plays by the pool on every cruise ship I’ve ever been on. So, since it was hot, windy, and loud outside in the sun, Kathy and I snagged a table inside. The food was pretty good, and not too expensive, considering the location.

Our hotel in Jupiter was the Best Western Intracoastal Inn. Earlier in our marriage, before I discovered how easily I get seasick, I had dreamed of living aboard a sailboat on the Intracoastal Waterway. So, I was interested in seeing the scenery. Just in front of our hotel is the Jupiter Florida Riverwalk, a two-and-a-half mile raised walkway that goes along the shore and out into the bay.

Kathy and I walked about half of it. We saw some small lizards, and some coconuts washed up on the shore, but no alligators. Monday we’ll be heading for three days in the Florida Keys.

Charleston, Savannah, & St. Augustine

By Tuesday morning we had spent three days driving through the Appalachian mountains, and, was time for a change. We left Asheville, North Carolina after breakfast at our hotel, jumped on the Interstate, and headed for Charleston, South Carolina under clear skies. 

We got to our hotel, the Starlight Motor Inn, by 1:30, and they let us in early. The Starlight has been thoughtfully renovated, trying to bring back the era of classic motor lodges. In the lobby, for instance, the reading material on the coffee table was old Life and Look magazines from the 1950s and 1960s.

The exterior looks like a mid-century motor lodge, but the interiors have been nicely brought up to date; especially the bathrooms. 

Even with the updating, though, the owners put some effort into the decorating, trying to keep an early 1960s feel. Our room had a poster for a Sean Connery James Bond film on the wall, and the refrigerator looked like a late 1950s refugee. It was all very cute and comfortable. (It was kind of in a sketchy area of town, though.)

Once we got unpacked and settled in our room, Kathy and I set out to explore the historic old-town. We parked at the downtown city parking garage, and caught one of the three, free, downtown shuttle busses that make a loop through the old town. Here’s a picture of the famous pineapple fountain in the Joe Riley Waterfront Park. 

At the waterfront we walked to the end of the pier where we could see Fort Sumpter (where the Civil War started) in the middle of the harbor, and the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier on the other side.

By 2:30 PM we were really hungry. We fired up Google Maps and found The Griffon, a 4.7 rated pub, almost right on the harbor.

The food was good and inexpensive (a surprise, given its location). Kathy had a salad and I had fish and chips. I don’t know if you can see it, but every surface of the room was covered with signed one dollar bills, including the ceiling. I’d never seen this before, but apparently it’s quite common.

After lunch, we walked around the French Quarter in the historic district. Here is a picture of the US Customs House. 

We spent an hour walking through the Charleston City Market, where Kathy found some perfume that she had been looking for. I pondered replacing my 30-year-old straw hat, but the ones offered cost north of $200. I’ll wait until we get to south Florida.

We finished our sightseeing after 5:00 PM, picked up the free shuttle back to our car, and were back at our hotel by 6:00 PM. 

Wednesday in Savannah

The Starlight Motor Inn didn’t offer breakfast, so we got an early start on our drive to Savannah, Georgia, skipping the freeways and sticking to the local roads. Just after dawn, the marshes and inlets of South Carolina were breathtakingly beautiful. This is the prettiest picture I could find, and the actual scenery was better.

At around 9:00 AM we reached Beaufort, South Carolina, which is about halfway between Charleston and Savannah. We hadn’t yet eaten breakfast, so we used Google, which directed us to Blackstone’s Cafe.

The food was good. I had an omelet and Kathy had a breakfast scramble. Afterwards, we walked down to the water before heading out again for Savannah.

Because it was only around 11:00 AM, we couldn’t go to our hotel yet. So, we decided to take a Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour. I bought the tickets the night before, so all we had to do was hop on. Here’s the map with all of the different stops. 

The first four or five stops were great. We had seats in the very front of the trolley. Then, at one stop, we had to change trolleys and we got seats in the back, where I wouldn’t fit with my long legs. Fortunately, after two more stops, a whole load of people got off, and we were able to move back to the front.

As enticing as hop-on, hop-off sounds, after one 90-minute trip around the city, neither of us was anxious to hop on again. The trolley was open to the air, and, it was really hot and humid, and, much of the time we found ourselves in sunlight. Instead, we decided to go check into our hotel (which was south of downtown). 

As we started driving out of the city, though, I got an urge to walk through Forsyth Park, one last time. We found a free place to park on the street, and we walked down Whitaker Street to look at the house where I lived for almost all of 1971. At that time, this house was a Christian Commune that was part of the Shiloh Youth Revival Centers, which came out of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.

The house has been very nicely restored. When we (about 20 of us) lived there it was pretty run down. Three houses away, a block of these old houses has been knocked down, and they are digging a foundation for some type of civic building. So, it was nice to see that this one survived.

Before we left, we walked around Forsyth Park. You may have seen the park in different movies, from Burt Reynolds’ chase scene in The Longest Yard, to Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. We had to get a picture in front of the famous fountain.

And, Kathy wanted to get a picture with the iconic Spanish moss that decorates the oak trees in the park. On the trolley tour they warned us not to try and take some home because of the insects that live inside it.

After the park we drove to our hotel, which was located right next to Hunter Army Airfield at the south end of town. After checking in, our first task was to get some dinner, since we hadn’t eaten since our breakfast in Beaufort. We went to Outback Steak House, and I ate way too much. When we got back to the hotel, I fell into a food coma.

Thursday in St. Augustine

On Thursday morning, we both woke early, and got to breakfast just as they started serving at 6:00 AM. We were on the road by 7:00 AM with Google Maps set to “Avoid Highways”. It is really relaxing driving on the smaller two-lane roads, seeing a slice of rural America.

On Highway 17, we passed a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, but it was closed. That’s on my bucket list to visit one, but apparently the company is not doing that great. A little further down the road, in Townsend, Georgia, we found “The Smallest Church in America”, Christ’s Chapel.

It was built in 1949 by Mrs. Agnes Hopper, and deeded it to Jesus Christ. Inside it is very cute. I don’t know who maintains it now. According to Google, there is no official “smallest church”.

Just before we left Georgia and crossed into Florida, we had one more iconic experience. We visited our first Buc-ees, the Texas-sized and Texas-founded travel center. Since we aren’t going to Texas, I didn’t know if we’d run across one. On further research, I found that they are now in 10 different states. Inside, the size is simply overwhelming. We bought some snacks, got back in our car, and headed to Florida.

Kathy’s cousin, Linda Sundberg, and her daughter Connie, live in Jacksonville, Florida, so we stopped there to have lunch at “Grumpy’s”, a local breakfast and lunch chain.

After lunch, we continued on to St. Augustine. Our hotel, the Budget Inn, was across the Bridge of Lions, on Anastasia Island. Like the Starlight Motor Inn, the Budget Inn harks back to the motels of the 50s and 60s, and is, perhaps, a little more authentic. We both liked it.

After checking in, we decided to walk around the old town. We parked in the city parking lot, which was $5.00 after 5:00 PM, instead of $20.00 during the day. The famous fort was closed, but we could see it from outside, and take a picture.

We had a tourist map, so we walked up and down the old city streets, admiring the buildings. The sun was down, but it was still very hot and muggy. On the river front there was an air-conditioned pastry shop serving gelato (for $7 a scoop). We would have paid twice that just for the air-conditioning. Afterwards, Kathy had a short conversation with the statue of Frederick Douglass.

We got to bed a little late. Tomorrow we’re heading inland to Ocala, Florida.

Some Scenic Drives

We left Winchester, Virginia after breakfast on Saturday, headed for Shenandoah National Park and the scenic Skyline Drive. Finding it turned out to be a little difficult. The AI “Ask Maps” function seemed to work just fine; it provided a detailed itinerary. However, as soon as we turned on the automatic navigation, the map reverted to sending us down the freeway. Finally, we reverted to the pre-AI behavior and just asked it for the entrance to the park, instead of the entire itinerary. That worked to get us started.

As we drove through the town of Front Royal we saw banners advertising the “Festival of the Leaves”, taking place on the second Saturday of October. Since this was only the first Saturday, the leaves were not yet in all of their glory. However, the leaves had started to turn, and the scenery was still beautiful. Skyline Drive is 105 miles long. It starts in the town of Front Royal and goes south to Pigeon Gap, and the town of Waynesboro, where we planned to spend the night. The speed limit is 35 mph, and so, with stops to enjoy the scenery, the drive took us a little more than five hours.

I mentioned earlier the problems we had with Google Maps. Every time we asked it to take us down Skyline Drive, it routed us to a different highway, eventually getting us on the right road half-way through the park. Apparently that happens to a lot of people. At about the half-way point on our drive, we came to the Thornton Gap entrance station and the park was suddenly filled with cars, clogging all of the pullouts, and parking for some distance on the narrow shoulder. Ten miles further on, we found ourselves mostly alone again. 

We took quite a few pictures with our phones, but none of them really did the scenery justice.

Kathy really liked the trees that turned red, while I liked the yellow ones better. Even though the fall colors hadn’t fully arrived, the changed leaves seemed almost fluorescent. If the sun had been out, they would have been even more spectacular.

At the Neighbor Mountain trailhead, we parked our car and walked a little ways into the woods, hiking a short way up the Appalachian Trail. In 2022, when we took our Northeast road trip, we hiked a couple of miles on the trail in Connecticut. This time we were satisfied with a couple hundred yards. 

Inside the forest, the trees seemed even brighter. Here is a picture of the canopy from the section of the trail that we walked.

As we got near the end of the drive, there were more open overlooks like this. They were really impressive, but I wish it had been clearer.

We got to Waynesboro at 2:30 PM, checked into our hotel, and went looking for dinner which we found at the Fishin’ Pig. Kathy had pulled pork, and I had a shrimp po’boy. We were really hungry, and the food was very good. 

As I mentioned in another blog post, I originally planned for two sights or activities each day. My plan for Saturday was to drive through Shenandoah National Park, and then visit Jefferson’s Monticello and take a tour. Since we didn’t finish lunch until almost 4:00 PM, this turned out to be just too ambitious, so we decided to skip the Monticello tour, and turn in early.

Sunday on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Sunday morning dawned rainy and windy, the remanent of the post tropical cyclone Isaias. Back home, in Southern California, they were getting rain and flooding on the Balboa Peninsula, courtesy of Hurricane Rachel. Today’s plan was to pick up where we left off yesterday, and to drive the first 200 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We drove on the freeway to the point where Skyline Drive ends, and picked up the Blue Ridge Parkway at Rockfish Gap, a few miles from Waynesboro. Even with the rain, the scenery was still striking. After driving about 40 minutes, we came to a tree that had fallen across the road. I got out to see if I could move it, and I couldn’t.

Just as we were turning around to go back, up drove a ranger in a small pickup. In the front seat he had an electric chainsaw. In ten minutes he had one lane cleared, and we were on our way again.

Well, for the next fifteen minutes or so, until we came to the next fallen tree. This one was smaller, and I thought that I could move it myself. I threw some branches over the edge, and tried to shift the main trunk. I couldn’t move it at all. Its root-ball was tightly stuck in the mud.

As we sat in the car, trying to decide what to do, a group of four motorcyclists (two couples) arrived and tried to move it together. They couldn’t move it either. However, there was enough room for them to get by on their bikes, so they took off down the road.

While we were turning our car around, another (larger) pickup truck appeared driven by a middle-aged fellow with his son. He assured us that it would be no trouble to move the tree with a strap connected to his trailer hitch. He drove his truck over the tree, hooked up the strap, and moved the tree.

However, just as he was finishing up, the motorcycle group returned, and told us that the road got progressively worse. We all turned around, went back to Rockfish Gap, and caught the freeway down to Hillsville, Virginia. Weren’t we surprised when we found the four motorcyclists staying at our hotel.

Monday on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Monday morning was cloudy but windy, with the sun shining through. If all went well, today we’d tackle the second half of the Blue Ridge Parkway, from Hillsville, Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina. At breakfast, we talked to the cyclists, who were also heading down to Asheville. They said that the road was clear, and showed us how to check for road closures on the National Park Service web site. I checked and everything looked OK. Kathy and I drove the few miles to Fancy Gap, Virginia, headed south.

Of course, after 20 minutes of driving, what should we find? An even bigger tree fallen across the road, of course. And, of course, I couldn’t move it.

Fortunately we had a couple of bars on our phones and were able to use Google Maps to navigate to the next access point, further south: Cumberland Knob. This meant that we missed the Appalachian Music Center, though. We talked to a ranger and he told us that the road was open to the south.

The Blue Ridge Parkway meanders along the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with expansive vistas on both sides. Unlike Skyline Drive, the speed is 45 mph, although I usually drove much slower. This is the view towards Mount Airy granite quarry, the largest in the United States.

Looking on the other side of the ridge, to the west, you could see small farms and forests.

One of our stops was the Brinegar Cabin, built in 1886 by Martin and Caroline Brinegar. The 125-acre farm contained livestock, gardens, and an apple orchard. For extra income, Martin made and repaired shoes and Caroline wove and created clothing items. Although now owned by the National Park Service, the Brinegar children visit every year.

While the Brinegars were exemplars of the middle class Appalachian life, a few miles to the south, the Moses H. Cone Estate showed how the other half (of one percent) lived. Cone was a wealthy textile magnate during the same time that Martin and Caroline were working their farm. The 23-room Flat Top Manor was the centerpiece of his 3,500-acre estate overlooking Bass Lake. As far as Carolina estates go, Flat Top was second only to the Biltmore’s. 

We watched a couple of short movies about the Cones and Flat Top Manor, but didn’t wait around for a ranger-led house tour. It was already around 2:00 PM, and we were both pretty hungry. Yesterday, we’d planned for this by getting a Subway sandwich, only to be driven from the mountain by the forces of nature. Today, all we had was some string cheese, diet cola, and Sun Chips. 

Soon after, we went through one of the tunnels, and immediately found the road closed, still being repaired from damage caused by Hurricane Helene, two years ago in 2024. Driving down the mountain on a road twistier than the Blue Ridge Parkway, we were stopped several times for crews repairing mudslides and landslides. 

We finally made it to Asheville, North Carolina at 4:00 PM. The downtown traffic was pretty terrible. We checked into our hotel, got some pizza, and turned in. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we’ll leave the scenic mountains and head for the coast at Charleston, South Carolina.