Friday, June 17, 2005
The First Covenant
posted by Jonathan at 10:48 AM
Current location: Fort Lauderdale, FL, N 26 05.957', W 080 08.173', elev -8 ft.
Yesterday, I again traversed the state of Florida, driving from Tampa on I-4 through Orlando. I always notice billboards for classic rock radio stations. Classic Rock stations have some of the stupidest names, all beginning with the word the: The Bone, The River, The Eagle, The Fox, The Twist, The Jet. After passing through Orlando, I was on to Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. I took a lot of photos, here are some of the good ones.
Kennedy costs $30, and going in, I wasn't sure the price would be worth it. I had been to KSC once before, but I didn't pay, someone else did. Also, since the last time I was there, we have had a major terrorist attack as well as a shuttle orbiter disaster, so security was very high. After buying my ticket I had to pass through three security checkpoints. The first was visual, and the guard asked me to take my hat off so she could check that I wasn't wearing a bomb on my head. The second was a metal detector, and the third was a bag check. At the bag check, the guard asked me to push buttons on my phone and turn my camera on, to verify they were legitimate devices and not bombs.
My fears about the cost of Kennedy were not confirmed. The $30 was well worth the admission, KSC just has so much to offer. Once inside, I immediately got on the bus tour, and the tour has very informative videos on the way out to the launch gantry. From there, you can view the shuttle Discovery on the launch pad, set for a July 13th flight, the first shuttle flight in more than two years. I'm very excited by the prospect of getting the shuttles back in the air. The costs (even the occasional human life) are justified for the march of forward progress in science and exploration. The astronauts and rocket engineers who put their lives on the line (and even their families) will be the first to tell you that. And in the end, you realize the European explorers of 500 years ago had even more risk for the prospect of discovery and greater riches than we do now.
After the shuttle launch gantry, the tour buses take you to the Apollo Center, where you can view 3 short films about the history of the space race and the Apollo launches, and view one of three remaining Saturn V rockets, as well as the original, actual Apollo launch command center, with the original equipment used to send men to the moon. This is very humbling, because nothing like the Apollo program has been achieved since, and probably won't be for twenty or thirty more years.
Finally, the tour buses take you back to the main visitor center, where you can view IMAX movies, get status updates on the current shuttle mission, see a full scale model of a shuttle orbiter, and view the astronaut memorial for the 17 astronauts who have passed away during missions, and 5 other support personnel who have also passed away carrying out their duties. On the way out, I spent some time in the gift shop, where they took another $25 from me. Kennedy Space Center is well worth the price of admission.
As I was leaving, a large thunderstorm was starting to form. This was about 6 PM. Florida is such a weird state. Weird weather, thunderstorms almost everyday, and they roll in very quickly. Since they have no snow, the roads only need replacing every twenty years or so, instead of 5 like in the North. But when they do replace the roads, they work on about 40 miles at a time, which really messes up traffic. I just can't believe so many people are moving here. The Fastest Growing State TM.
I am driving down I-95 to Ft. Lauderdale with the windows open, and my arms out the window. When the storm hits, the water droplets hitting my arms at 70 horizontal MPH and at least 50 vertical MPH feels like hundreds of tiny needles piercing the skin. I take a look at my arm, and it is dotted with tiny red flecks, and a mist of water.
The thunderstorm hits full blast, the sky is dark as night, except for a hole in the clouds to the west, where you can see a patch of clear blue sky in the tempest. The sun shines through the hole and gives light to the land underneath the clouds. The colors in the clouds are not well defined, but they are strong, and humbling. I have the radio so loud, the bass makes my car shake in the rain, and the wipers are going back and forth, back and forth, adding their rhythm to the storm, their movement helping the bass shake the car. I am listening to Lucy 54 on XM radio, and I hear a block of early to mid nineties alternative hits, Foo Fighters, Bush, Collective Soul, Smashing Pumpkins, NIN each adding their all to the storm.
Then comes the lightning. It is bright, and purple under the clouds. I have never seen so much lighting in my life (because I am on a flat plain and can view the whole sky in front of me). Lightning fills the sky, rolling east to west, laughing, its crackling like a laser Floyd show. The lightning appears above and below a rainbow, the rainbow lies North to South, along my path.
I got in touch with a a friend of mine whom I regrettably hadn't talked to in over a year and she talked to me about her own road trip, and how seeing a rainbow over the plains was one of the great highlights. If you read the bible, you know that rainbows are symbol of trust, a promise, a bridge between the old ways and the new ways. I think that is an excellent metaphor, an excellent purpose for rainbows.
This is the craziest lightning I have ever seen, and it lasts for 50 or 60 miles, from north of Palm Beach, to Fort Lauderdale, an amazing show of brief light contrasted with darkness, a highlight of the trip. This is the kind of weather that inspires you to write, maybe a fire and brimstone story of God in the bible 5000 years ago, or maybe just a lowly road trip entry.
When you ride in the car for this long, you can feel it, you can feel its every nuance, you can know how its going to handle, you become a part of the vehicle, traversing the roads endlessly. I am well suited to driving 8, 10, 12 hours a day, this is where I belong, being the car, on the road.
Yesterday, I again traversed the state of Florida, driving from Tampa on I-4 through Orlando. I always notice billboards for classic rock radio stations. Classic Rock stations have some of the stupidest names, all beginning with the word the: The Bone, The River, The Eagle, The Fox, The Twist, The Jet. After passing through Orlando, I was on to Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. I took a lot of photos, here are some of the good ones.
Kennedy costs $30, and going in, I wasn't sure the price would be worth it. I had been to KSC once before, but I didn't pay, someone else did. Also, since the last time I was there, we have had a major terrorist attack as well as a shuttle orbiter disaster, so security was very high. After buying my ticket I had to pass through three security checkpoints. The first was visual, and the guard asked me to take my hat off so she could check that I wasn't wearing a bomb on my head. The second was a metal detector, and the third was a bag check. At the bag check, the guard asked me to push buttons on my phone and turn my camera on, to verify they were legitimate devices and not bombs.
My fears about the cost of Kennedy were not confirmed. The $30 was well worth the admission, KSC just has so much to offer. Once inside, I immediately got on the bus tour, and the tour has very informative videos on the way out to the launch gantry. From there, you can view the shuttle Discovery on the launch pad, set for a July 13th flight, the first shuttle flight in more than two years. I'm very excited by the prospect of getting the shuttles back in the air. The costs (even the occasional human life) are justified for the march of forward progress in science and exploration. The astronauts and rocket engineers who put their lives on the line (and even their families) will be the first to tell you that. And in the end, you realize the European explorers of 500 years ago had even more risk for the prospect of discovery and greater riches than we do now.
After the shuttle launch gantry, the tour buses take you to the Apollo Center, where you can view 3 short films about the history of the space race and the Apollo launches, and view one of three remaining Saturn V rockets, as well as the original, actual Apollo launch command center, with the original equipment used to send men to the moon. This is very humbling, because nothing like the Apollo program has been achieved since, and probably won't be for twenty or thirty more years.
Finally, the tour buses take you back to the main visitor center, where you can view IMAX movies, get status updates on the current shuttle mission, see a full scale model of a shuttle orbiter, and view the astronaut memorial for the 17 astronauts who have passed away during missions, and 5 other support personnel who have also passed away carrying out their duties. On the way out, I spent some time in the gift shop, where they took another $25 from me. Kennedy Space Center is well worth the price of admission.
As I was leaving, a large thunderstorm was starting to form. This was about 6 PM. Florida is such a weird state. Weird weather, thunderstorms almost everyday, and they roll in very quickly. Since they have no snow, the roads only need replacing every twenty years or so, instead of 5 like in the North. But when they do replace the roads, they work on about 40 miles at a time, which really messes up traffic. I just can't believe so many people are moving here. The Fastest Growing State TM.
I am driving down I-95 to Ft. Lauderdale with the windows open, and my arms out the window. When the storm hits, the water droplets hitting my arms at 70 horizontal MPH and at least 50 vertical MPH feels like hundreds of tiny needles piercing the skin. I take a look at my arm, and it is dotted with tiny red flecks, and a mist of water.
The thunderstorm hits full blast, the sky is dark as night, except for a hole in the clouds to the west, where you can see a patch of clear blue sky in the tempest. The sun shines through the hole and gives light to the land underneath the clouds. The colors in the clouds are not well defined, but they are strong, and humbling. I have the radio so loud, the bass makes my car shake in the rain, and the wipers are going back and forth, back and forth, adding their rhythm to the storm, their movement helping the bass shake the car. I am listening to Lucy 54 on XM radio, and I hear a block of early to mid nineties alternative hits, Foo Fighters, Bush, Collective Soul, Smashing Pumpkins, NIN each adding their all to the storm.
Then comes the lightning. It is bright, and purple under the clouds. I have never seen so much lighting in my life (because I am on a flat plain and can view the whole sky in front of me). Lightning fills the sky, rolling east to west, laughing, its crackling like a laser Floyd show. The lightning appears above and below a rainbow, the rainbow lies North to South, along my path.
I got in touch with a a friend of mine whom I regrettably hadn't talked to in over a year and she talked to me about her own road trip, and how seeing a rainbow over the plains was one of the great highlights. If you read the bible, you know that rainbows are symbol of trust, a promise, a bridge between the old ways and the new ways. I think that is an excellent metaphor, an excellent purpose for rainbows.
This is the craziest lightning I have ever seen, and it lasts for 50 or 60 miles, from north of Palm Beach, to Fort Lauderdale, an amazing show of brief light contrasted with darkness, a highlight of the trip. This is the kind of weather that inspires you to write, maybe a fire and brimstone story of God in the bible 5000 years ago, or maybe just a lowly road trip entry.
When you ride in the car for this long, you can feel it, you can feel its every nuance, you can know how its going to handle, you become a part of the vehicle, traversing the roads endlessly. I am well suited to driving 8, 10, 12 hours a day, this is where I belong, being the car, on the road.
I'm Just Sayin'
posted by Jonathan at 10:09 AM
Soapbox time. Someone wrote me an email and took issue with my use of the term Indians in reference to descendents of the people who were here when Europeans first arrived. This person suggested I use the politically correct Native Americans. Well, I used to say Native Americans, that's what I was taught in school, I think as far back as second grade, and I used it for about seventeen years; until I actually got out into the world, and stopped listening to TV and what I read in the newspaper. The mainstream media is wrong.
In my experience, American Indians simply refer to themselves as Indians. Everywhere I have been in this country (Alaska, and the east coast), when I have met native people, they call themselves Indians. I assume it will be the same in the rest of the country. The next logical question for me is: how do Indians from India feel about this? I truthfully do not know, but I won't find out on the nightly news. My friends all laughed two years ago when I gave up television, but one of the reasons was I just couldn't take the emotional rollercoaster of lies and fear anymore. (Also, Reality TV is more devoid of intelligence and entertainment value than anything. Ever. Period. I got out while I could.)
The underlying point I want to make here is the media lies to us on a daily basis. Watching the news, or reading the newspaper, how much truth are we gleaning in the bullshit? You can never know, but between the lies and half truths, and not hearing the whole story, and not verifying sources, I would bet it is a very low percentage, less than 10% truth in a typical broadcast. One hundred percent of the media is owned by corporate interests, entertainment companies. News Corp-Fox, Clear Channel, the New York Times Co., Time-Warner-CNN, ABC-Disney, GE-NBC, Viacom-CBS, Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, these companies are not in the news, fair reporting business. They are in the making as much fucking money as possible business. We should not trust them as much as we do. We should not trust them at all. We should not believe their lies and give into their fear mongering on our nightly newscasts.
Fifteen or twenty years ago, the media, and the politically correct government started referring to American Indians as Native Americans, most likely without consulting anyone. There is some guilt there, when you start creating euphemisms for terms that were formerly used, simply because you think they are offensive. George Carlin had a great bit on this once: shell shock for WW1 vets becomes battle fatigue for WW2 vets, becomes post traumatic stress disorder for Vietnam vets. The more syllables, the less shock in the term used, the less worry for the average American watching the nightly news. Recently, prisoners of war have become enemy combatants, because it is more politically correct. Heaven forbid we actually use the term war on TV.
Don't trust the media, they have an agenda, and the agenda isn't to keep Americans informed. I'm going to continue to use the term Indians until further notice.
In my experience, American Indians simply refer to themselves as Indians. Everywhere I have been in this country (Alaska, and the east coast), when I have met native people, they call themselves Indians. I assume it will be the same in the rest of the country. The next logical question for me is: how do Indians from India feel about this? I truthfully do not know, but I won't find out on the nightly news. My friends all laughed two years ago when I gave up television, but one of the reasons was I just couldn't take the emotional rollercoaster of lies and fear anymore. (Also, Reality TV is more devoid of intelligence and entertainment value than anything. Ever. Period. I got out while I could.)
The underlying point I want to make here is the media lies to us on a daily basis. Watching the news, or reading the newspaper, how much truth are we gleaning in the bullshit? You can never know, but between the lies and half truths, and not hearing the whole story, and not verifying sources, I would bet it is a very low percentage, less than 10% truth in a typical broadcast. One hundred percent of the media is owned by corporate interests, entertainment companies. News Corp-Fox, Clear Channel, the New York Times Co., Time-Warner-CNN, ABC-Disney, GE-NBC, Viacom-CBS, Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, these companies are not in the news, fair reporting business. They are in the making as much fucking money as possible business. We should not trust them as much as we do. We should not trust them at all. We should not believe their lies and give into their fear mongering on our nightly newscasts.
Fifteen or twenty years ago, the media, and the politically correct government started referring to American Indians as Native Americans, most likely without consulting anyone. There is some guilt there, when you start creating euphemisms for terms that were formerly used, simply because you think they are offensive. George Carlin had a great bit on this once: shell shock for WW1 vets becomes battle fatigue for WW2 vets, becomes post traumatic stress disorder for Vietnam vets. The more syllables, the less shock in the term used, the less worry for the average American watching the nightly news. Recently, prisoners of war have become enemy combatants, because it is more politically correct. Heaven forbid we actually use the term war on TV.
Don't trust the media, they have an agenda, and the agenda isn't to keep Americans informed. I'm going to continue to use the term Indians until further notice.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
The Fountain of Youth is Sulfuric
posted by Jonathan at 11:02 AM
Current location: Tampa, FL: N 27 59.190', W 082 30.362', elev. 45 ft. For you Yankees fans, I am 3 blocks from Legends Field, and I can see the two strip clubs all the players go to.
Yesterday, I left Jacksonville, and the gas prices in Jax were 50 cents higher than Georgia, it was an immediate jump as soon as I got into the city. Leaving Jacksonville took about 20 minutes, as I hit four traffic lights, each was five minutes long.
I rolled into St. Augustine, FL shortly after mid day. (Again, forgot to grab GPS coordinates). The first attraction I went to was the Fountain of Youth attraction. At $6, it was quite a bargain. It is a historical site, has an Indian burial ground and artifacts of Juan Ponce de Leon, the first European to establish a settlement in mainland United States. Features of the park include a Discovery Globe, a two story globe that shows the progress of Spanish explorers in the 1500s. Then, my tour group moved onto a planetarium show that explained in great detail how the Europeans were able to navigate using only an astrolabe and the stars. The show also explained that Spanish exploration ships were very small, the longest was only 85ft.
The highlight of the tour is the Fountain of Youth, the actual spring that Ponce de Leon thought granted curative powers. A part of the entrance fee, you get to drink the water (filtered). The water has sulfur dissolved in it, giving it a slightly bitter taste.
Next, I headed down the road to the Castillo de San Marco a Spanish fort dating to the 1500s. The entrance fee was again $6, but I got in for free with my National Parks Pass. I collected a third National Park Service map and guide. I love collecting these things, they are the perfect collector's item (free!) from the parks and monuments. I wonder if I can write for one from Denali.
Saint Augustine is absolutely beautiful, a great city that I'd like to take a long weekend in at some point in the future. Here are some photos from St. Augustine, the Fountain of Youth and Castillo de San Marco.
Next I drove down I-4 across the state, headed towards Tampa so I could go to the baseball game. On the way, I saw my first horrific accident of the trip, it was a 4 car pileup, and the cars were just charred. This really stuck out for me because I saw a charred wheel chair on the road as well. Sorry for the imagery, but this is my outlet for it.
Additionally, I saw a dead armadillo on the road, which kinda sucks since I've never seen a live armadillo.
On the way to Tampa, I passed through Orlando, which I would like to declare a sprawling wasteland. Orlando is the center of American consumerism and excess, but in an evil way that is the opposite of Las Vegas, a city I love. Orlando is a Mecca of all the fat and ugly Americans (which yes is ironic, if you've ever met me). I've never driven through Orlando before, only been in the car when other people have driven, but it just goes on and on, and every little thing is about squeezing the last dollar out of you. I propose sainthood, or at least beautification for any parents that bring their kids here miraculously without going on a six state killing spree afterwards.
I got to Tampa to go to the baseball game, and looked around for a cheap motel before realizing that the baseball stadium is actually 20 miles away, across the bay in St. Petersburg. Tropicana Field is an awful stadium, though not as bad as I thought it would be (I rank it higher than Olympic Stadium in Montreal, and RFK in DC). First off, it is a dome with artificial turf, which is an absolute travesty. Baseball should be played outside, during the day, on grass. Secondly, the turnout was the most sparse I've ever seen at a baseball game. There were so few people there, they didn't announce the attendance, but there couldn't have been more than 5000 people in attendance. The fans who were there were either Milwaukee Brewers fans, or die hard Devil Rays fans (or diehard Rays haters). The haters were fun, they were there just to drink beer and heckle the players on both sides. I paid $10 to park, but only $5 for a ticket to the game. My $5 ticket was for the upper deck, but I never made it up there. The place was so sparsely attended, the ushers were infrequently checking tickets to make sure I pad for the $47 seat I was sitting in. I was able to move down to the front row at one point. The highlight of the game for me was witnessing Prince Fielder (son of Cecil)'s first major league hit, a double. For a short, pudgy, fat man, he runs pretty fast. I took photos of the game, but none were really good enough to post on the web.
Yesterday, I left Jacksonville, and the gas prices in Jax were 50 cents higher than Georgia, it was an immediate jump as soon as I got into the city. Leaving Jacksonville took about 20 minutes, as I hit four traffic lights, each was five minutes long.
I rolled into St. Augustine, FL shortly after mid day. (Again, forgot to grab GPS coordinates). The first attraction I went to was the Fountain of Youth attraction. At $6, it was quite a bargain. It is a historical site, has an Indian burial ground and artifacts of Juan Ponce de Leon, the first European to establish a settlement in mainland United States. Features of the park include a Discovery Globe, a two story globe that shows the progress of Spanish explorers in the 1500s. Then, my tour group moved onto a planetarium show that explained in great detail how the Europeans were able to navigate using only an astrolabe and the stars. The show also explained that Spanish exploration ships were very small, the longest was only 85ft.
The highlight of the tour is the Fountain of Youth, the actual spring that Ponce de Leon thought granted curative powers. A part of the entrance fee, you get to drink the water (filtered). The water has sulfur dissolved in it, giving it a slightly bitter taste.
Next, I headed down the road to the Castillo de San Marco a Spanish fort dating to the 1500s. The entrance fee was again $6, but I got in for free with my National Parks Pass. I collected a third National Park Service map and guide. I love collecting these things, they are the perfect collector's item (free!) from the parks and monuments. I wonder if I can write for one from Denali.
Saint Augustine is absolutely beautiful, a great city that I'd like to take a long weekend in at some point in the future. Here are some photos from St. Augustine, the Fountain of Youth and Castillo de San Marco.
Next I drove down I-4 across the state, headed towards Tampa so I could go to the baseball game. On the way, I saw my first horrific accident of the trip, it was a 4 car pileup, and the cars were just charred. This really stuck out for me because I saw a charred wheel chair on the road as well. Sorry for the imagery, but this is my outlet for it.
Additionally, I saw a dead armadillo on the road, which kinda sucks since I've never seen a live armadillo.
On the way to Tampa, I passed through Orlando, which I would like to declare a sprawling wasteland. Orlando is the center of American consumerism and excess, but in an evil way that is the opposite of Las Vegas, a city I love. Orlando is a Mecca of all the fat and ugly Americans (which yes is ironic, if you've ever met me). I've never driven through Orlando before, only been in the car when other people have driven, but it just goes on and on, and every little thing is about squeezing the last dollar out of you. I propose sainthood, or at least beautification for any parents that bring their kids here miraculously without going on a six state killing spree afterwards.
I got to Tampa to go to the baseball game, and looked around for a cheap motel before realizing that the baseball stadium is actually 20 miles away, across the bay in St. Petersburg. Tropicana Field is an awful stadium, though not as bad as I thought it would be (I rank it higher than Olympic Stadium in Montreal, and RFK in DC). First off, it is a dome with artificial turf, which is an absolute travesty. Baseball should be played outside, during the day, on grass. Secondly, the turnout was the most sparse I've ever seen at a baseball game. There were so few people there, they didn't announce the attendance, but there couldn't have been more than 5000 people in attendance. The fans who were there were either Milwaukee Brewers fans, or die hard Devil Rays fans (or diehard Rays haters). The haters were fun, they were there just to drink beer and heckle the players on both sides. I paid $10 to park, but only $5 for a ticket to the game. My $5 ticket was for the upper deck, but I never made it up there. The place was so sparsely attended, the ushers were infrequently checking tickets to make sure I pad for the $47 seat I was sitting in. I was able to move down to the front row at one point. The highlight of the game for me was witnessing Prince Fielder (son of Cecil)'s first major league hit, a double. For a short, pudgy, fat man, he runs pretty fast. I took photos of the game, but none were really good enough to post on the web.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
What Makes War So Civil Anyway?
posted by Jonathan at 10:17 AM
Current location: Jacksonville, FL N 30 29.085', W 081 39.172', elev. 41 ft.
Yesterday morning, I left Myrtle Beach, or rather I tried leaving, but my car wouldn't start. So I had the extra fun task of pulling all of my crap out of my trunk, and digging out my jumper cables so my sister could give me a jump. I guess leaving the XM plugged into power for 4 days without starting the car was a bad idea. I was able to start out at about 9:30 after the jump and shoving everything back into my trunk.
I started out on US 17 S, which you can catch right on the edge of the Atlantic, past all the beach traffic and shops. The road opened up as soon as I got south of Myrtle and I was able to cruise comfortably to Georgetown, SC, where I had to put the windows up and turn on the AC. Georgetown has a huge paper mill associated with International Paper, so the air just reeks. After passing through Georgetown, I did turn the AC off and go back to windows open, but as soon as I did, my hands, the steering wheel, and other parts of my car instantly were sticky, due to the molasses of humidity and haze of southern South Carolina that I was driving through. Yesterday I registered my best gas mileage of the trip yet, over 28 mpg (put my average for the trip over 27 mpg), which is weird, since I had the AC on more yesterday than any other day, and I thought the AC is a huge detriment to miles per gallon.
Traveling down 17, I noticed an abundance of road side stands selling not p-nuts, not Wattamellons, not pecans, but straw hats. At one stretch of about 15 miles, I saw about 6 of these stands, just selling these same ugly skimpy straw hats.
Just wanted to mention that South Carolina has seemingly the most relaxed fireworks laws in the states I've been to, they sell fireworks all over the place in huge warehouse stores; but then they have some of the most strict liquor laws. They can only serve liquor at restaurants and bars out of those little nip bottles you get on airplanes. If you want a drink mixed with two different types of alcohol, they have to serve you two full nip bottles.
After a while of traveling on US 17, I got to Charleston, SC, (forgot to take a GPS reading). Charleston looks to be a beautiful city, and I drove out to a place called Patriots Point, which is a naval museum with the aircraft carrier Yorktown, a sub and two other navy vessels.
Yorktown
From here, you can catch a boat tour to Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
Fort Sumter
I pad for the boat tour, and they handed me a pamphlet map with a history of the Fort. The map was in the same style as other National Park literature, and I realized I might have been able to do the tour free if I had pulled out my National Parks Pass. I rode out to Fort Sumter, and got to learn about the early actions in the Civil War, as well as some things about South Carolina's independent history. Not only was South Carolina the first state to secede from the US, but they were also the first colony to secede from Great Britain, a full 6 months before the Declaration of Independence was signed. A really interesting photo I got was from a cannon shot, still stuck in the wall from the early 1860s.
Bombardment remains
The boat tour ended about 4 PM, so I had very little time to explore Charleston, so I just drove around and took a few photos. Charleston looks to be nearly complete building one of those pretty span suspension bridges like the Zakim bridge in Boston.
Further south on US 17, near the Georgia border, I ran into a town called Sheldon.
In Sheldon, they had signs for a place called Old Sheldon Church, so I figured I had to check it out. I pulled up to the church yard, and found it was a ruin of a church originally built in the 1600's. It was really a cool place, the trees were all very old and overgrown, and the ruins were very picturesque in the middle of the forest. The graves and tombstones were scattered haphazardly over the yard and even within the church itself. I got some real neat photos here, and it was one of the highlights of yesterday's drive. And I probably wouldn't have even stopped here were my name not Sheldon.
US 17 met up with I-95 near the border and I drove into Georgia, and into Savannah. It was getting late at this point, about 7 PM, so I didn't have any time at all to check out Savannah, so I just rode around and took a few photos before heading back onto I-95. I'll be back. I was surprised to find that despite being such a large state, Georgia has the smallest swath of I-95 since Delaware, only about 109 miles to the Florida border. In Georgia, the air was pea soup thick and hazy, even at 8 PM. Something you notice driving through Georgia is you could build a junk yard if you collected all the car parts from the side of the road. Georgia has more eaten up truck tires on the side of the road than the other states I've been to, combined. I don't know whether they just don't clean up, or their roads simply inspire the tire treads to eat away. Additionally, Georgia had more abandoned cars on the side of the road than the other states combined. (I remember this from driving through Georgia with my college roommates on the way to Spring Break once.) In the 109 miles of Georgia, I must have passed at least 15 abandoned cars.
After Georgia, I drove on to Jacksonville FL. I wanted to camp out last night, but it was raining. The cheapest motel I could find was really awful.
All of the day's photos can be found here.
Yesterday morning, I left Myrtle Beach, or rather I tried leaving, but my car wouldn't start. So I had the extra fun task of pulling all of my crap out of my trunk, and digging out my jumper cables so my sister could give me a jump. I guess leaving the XM plugged into power for 4 days without starting the car was a bad idea. I was able to start out at about 9:30 after the jump and shoving everything back into my trunk.
I started out on US 17 S, which you can catch right on the edge of the Atlantic, past all the beach traffic and shops. The road opened up as soon as I got south of Myrtle and I was able to cruise comfortably to Georgetown, SC, where I had to put the windows up and turn on the AC. Georgetown has a huge paper mill associated with International Paper, so the air just reeks. After passing through Georgetown, I did turn the AC off and go back to windows open, but as soon as I did, my hands, the steering wheel, and other parts of my car instantly were sticky, due to the molasses of humidity and haze of southern South Carolina that I was driving through. Yesterday I registered my best gas mileage of the trip yet, over 28 mpg (put my average for the trip over 27 mpg), which is weird, since I had the AC on more yesterday than any other day, and I thought the AC is a huge detriment to miles per gallon.
Traveling down 17, I noticed an abundance of road side stands selling not p-nuts, not Wattamellons, not pecans, but straw hats. At one stretch of about 15 miles, I saw about 6 of these stands, just selling these same ugly skimpy straw hats.
Just wanted to mention that South Carolina has seemingly the most relaxed fireworks laws in the states I've been to, they sell fireworks all over the place in huge warehouse stores; but then they have some of the most strict liquor laws. They can only serve liquor at restaurants and bars out of those little nip bottles you get on airplanes. If you want a drink mixed with two different types of alcohol, they have to serve you two full nip bottles.
After a while of traveling on US 17, I got to Charleston, SC, (forgot to take a GPS reading). Charleston looks to be a beautiful city, and I drove out to a place called Patriots Point, which is a naval museum with the aircraft carrier Yorktown, a sub and two other navy vessels.
Yorktown
From here, you can catch a boat tour to Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
Fort Sumter
I pad for the boat tour, and they handed me a pamphlet map with a history of the Fort. The map was in the same style as other National Park literature, and I realized I might have been able to do the tour free if I had pulled out my National Parks Pass. I rode out to Fort Sumter, and got to learn about the early actions in the Civil War, as well as some things about South Carolina's independent history. Not only was South Carolina the first state to secede from the US, but they were also the first colony to secede from Great Britain, a full 6 months before the Declaration of Independence was signed. A really interesting photo I got was from a cannon shot, still stuck in the wall from the early 1860s.
Bombardment remains
The boat tour ended about 4 PM, so I had very little time to explore Charleston, so I just drove around and took a few photos. Charleston looks to be nearly complete building one of those pretty span suspension bridges like the Zakim bridge in Boston.
Further south on US 17, near the Georgia border, I ran into a town called Sheldon.
In Sheldon, they had signs for a place called Old Sheldon Church, so I figured I had to check it out. I pulled up to the church yard, and found it was a ruin of a church originally built in the 1600's. It was really a cool place, the trees were all very old and overgrown, and the ruins were very picturesque in the middle of the forest. The graves and tombstones were scattered haphazardly over the yard and even within the church itself. I got some real neat photos here, and it was one of the highlights of yesterday's drive. And I probably wouldn't have even stopped here were my name not Sheldon.
US 17 met up with I-95 near the border and I drove into Georgia, and into Savannah. It was getting late at this point, about 7 PM, so I didn't have any time at all to check out Savannah, so I just rode around and took a few photos before heading back onto I-95. I'll be back. I was surprised to find that despite being such a large state, Georgia has the smallest swath of I-95 since Delaware, only about 109 miles to the Florida border. In Georgia, the air was pea soup thick and hazy, even at 8 PM. Something you notice driving through Georgia is you could build a junk yard if you collected all the car parts from the side of the road. Georgia has more eaten up truck tires on the side of the road than the other states I've been to, combined. I don't know whether they just don't clean up, or their roads simply inspire the tire treads to eat away. Additionally, Georgia had more abandoned cars on the side of the road than the other states combined. (I remember this from driving through Georgia with my college roommates on the way to Spring Break once.) In the 109 miles of Georgia, I must have passed at least 15 abandoned cars.
After Georgia, I drove on to Jacksonville FL. I wanted to camp out last night, but it was raining. The cheapest motel I could find was really awful.
All of the day's photos can be found here.
Monday, June 13, 2005
4 Days Worth of Trippin'
posted by Jonathan at 11:41 PM
Current location: Myrtle Beach, SC N 33 45.482', W 078 57.121', elev. 65 ft.
On Friday, I set out from Dover DE along US Route 13 South. My intention was to quickly be over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and at my sister's apartment in Myrtle Beach by 1 or 2 PM. This was a big mistake. First off, I thought Dover was a lot further south in Delaware than it actually was. I didn't look at my map close enough. Secondly, I didn't realize quite how far the the bridge tunnel was from Dover, it was about a three hour journey with all the stop lights and traffic.
Rt. 13 South was actually not that bad of a drive, except that it took forever. I probably would have enjoyed myself more had I not been in such a rush to get to Myrtle Beach. Having spent the night there, I was able to cross Delaware of my list of states I haven't been to.
About 2 PM, I reached the Bridge Tunnel. The toll going over the bridge was $12, which was reasonable compared to what I was expecting. I thought it might be more like $30, since my mom mentioned she went over it 30 years ago, and it was $18 at the time.
Here are some photos of the Bridge Tunnel. It was an astounding thing to cross. The weather was beautiful, soft fluffy white clouds in the sky, and a whipping wind flowing through my car. There was not a lot of traffic, and the Bridge Tunnel was very long, it seemed like it took me 20 minutes to cross it going 50 MPH.
Most of the early part of the day's drive, I spent listening to Opie and Anthony on XM radio. I never thought I'd become a fan of theirs, since I never listened to them when they were on in Boston, nor in New York, but since getting the XM, I do enjoy listening to them in the mornings. After O & A, I turned on the Red Sox game vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field. XM broadcasts are the home radio team, so I had to sit through the Cubs broadcasters, one of whom is Ron Santo. These guys were awful; I really think I am spoiled by the great broadcasters in Boston, because it seems every other announcer sucks. During the broadcast, the Cubs announcers started taking emails from fans. One fan wished Ron Santo well in his quest to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. At this point, the non-Santo announcer started talking about how awesome his colleague is, and his qualifications for the Hall of Fame, which I thought was completely ridiculous and unprofessional for a broadcast. Santo then talked about how great his broadcasting partner is, and this love fest went on through out the game. A little later, they took another email from a fan, who was asking about fishing advice. I never thought I'd tune into a baseball broadcast and hear all the great fishing spots in the Chicago area. These guys definitely loved to hear themselves talk.
While I'm on the subject of baseball, let me mention how much I hate interleague play: I hate interleague play a lot. I probably wouldn't hate it so much if the Red Sox fared better at it. While listening to the game friday, Greg Maddux hit a home run. Greg Maddux, a 38ish year old pitcher. Chicks dig the long ball.
After crossing the Bridge Tunnel, I was in Norfolk, VA, and found US 58, heading west to get back to I-95, which would be the fastest way to get to Myrtle Beach at this point. Along the way, I was pulled over once again, and this time I was not lucky enough to get a warning. I have driven through Virginia maybe 4 times, and I have been warned by about 15 people that Virginia cops love to camp out, pull you over for minor infractions and especially love it if you are from out of state. The officer walked up to the car and asked for my license and registration. I handed it to him and asked what the offense was. He said speeding, so I asked him how much. I was shocked when he told me 61 in a 55, he pulled me over for 6 MPH over the speed limit. I asked him if I could get off with a warning, since I was on a long trip and would be ard pressed to appear in court, but he said unfortunately, he was required to give me a summons. I asked him how much the fine would be; he was unsure, but said $40 to $60. On the trip I have been tending to drive as if there is a 10 MPH cushion, but I don't think I'll be doing that anymore. The worst part about being pulled over is I was only about 6 miles from crossing the border into North Carolina.
I did eventually make it to Myrtle Beach, but not until 9 PM, 7 or 8 hours after I had intended to arrive. I went out to a quick dinner with my sister Liz and her fiancee Adam, at the restaurant she works at, and went back to her apartment and called it a night.
The next morning, we got up late, and had a late breakfast with Adam's family from Tennessee, who had been in town all week for vacation. After breakfast, they set out for Tennessee, and we went to the beach, and had a great time. The weather once again was astoundingly perfect for the beach, the water was high 70's and very comfortable, and the beach was nearly devoid of other people, so we had plenty of room to spread out and just chill with the roar of the surf and the gulls cooing overhead. The ocean had big big waves, and at one point a lifeguard came over and told us there was a rip tide warning and that we could only go in up to our knees. We didn't stay much longer, but we did get a photo of Adam and me in the water.
Two Atlantic whales
After the beach, we went to Broadway at the Beach, which is this big mall /restaurant - bar plaza, with lots of great bars; it is semi-private, so you can walk around outside with alcohol. We went to a bar called Crocodile Rocks, where the main entertainment is dueling pianos. The place is tons of fun, as the piano players only play requests, and make crude comments to the audience throughout the night. It is just a great place to get drunk and have a great time. The place is so fun, tourists and locals alike intermingle and carouse. We had a table up front, but the place gets so crowded, people come and sit at your table. At one point this sickly looking drunk woman was sitting next to me, and the pianos were playing I Will Survive and the woman started touching me and telling me how that song was popular 30 years ago when she graduated from high school. So I'm thinking, great, its come to this, a drunk woman nearly twice my age is hitting on me at a bar. The worst part is, there was this woman sitting next to her who had to be at least 70, and was likely her mother. She persisted hitting on me throughout the rest of the night too. To show how hip she was, she was singing along with all the "modern songs" for instance, the piano players played Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day, and Holla Back Girl by Gwen Stefani, and she was singing right along. At one point, Liz and Adam got up to dance, and the woman says to me, is that your sister? I can see the resemblance. Which I'm pretty sure drives Liz absolutely crazy. :) We finally got out of there and met up with some of Liz and Adam's friends at another bar. By this point we were quite drunk, so we caught a cab home and went to bed.
Sunday was a pretty lazy day; we got up late, played with their puppy, hung around a bit, went to go see Mr. And Mrs. Smith, hung around a bit, had dinner and watched a DVD, played with their puppy, hung around a bit and went to sleep.
Today, Monday, Adam had to go to work early, so Liz and I slept in a bit, then went back to the beach. I didn't use any sunblock on saturday, but didn't get too burned, because we were at the beach in the late afternoon. I did get some color on my upper body, but none on my legs, so today, I applied sunblock to my upper body, and not my legs (with the exception of my tattoo), thinking I could use a little more color on my legs. I think this was a mistake, because my upper body didn't really burn, but my legs are very burned, except a small area around my tattoo. On the bright side, it was another fabulous day at the beach, the weather was astounding, which is magnified by the fact that the rest of the city got drenched by a thunderstorm. While sitting listening to the crashing of the waves, and enjoying digging my feet into the sand, I mentioned to my sister that I could just sit there the rest of my life. I took some photos at the beach, and also decided that I am going to start a beach sand collection, so I collected a small sample of Myrtle.
After the beach, Liz did some grocery shopping while I did some work and watched the puppy. I fell asleep shortly after the ludicrous Michael Jackson verdict was declared. Liz made us all a neat dinner of fried chicken topped with peach salsa, and we just drank some wine and had a great final night.
On Tuesday I set out once again. My itinerary for this week: Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, Florida: St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Cape Canaveral, Tampa Bay, hopefully I'll be able to see a Devil Rays' game Wednesday night, and I have to be in Ft. Lauderdale on Friday morning to pick up my dad; we're going to head to Key West for Father's Day weekend. I'm hoping I can convince him to check out Everglades and Key Biscayne National Parks with me. Not sure when I'm going to get to see Miami, but I know for sure I won't get to see a Marlins game, since they are not back in the state until the 27th of June.
On Friday, I set out from Dover DE along US Route 13 South. My intention was to quickly be over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and at my sister's apartment in Myrtle Beach by 1 or 2 PM. This was a big mistake. First off, I thought Dover was a lot further south in Delaware than it actually was. I didn't look at my map close enough. Secondly, I didn't realize quite how far the the bridge tunnel was from Dover, it was about a three hour journey with all the stop lights and traffic.
Rt. 13 South was actually not that bad of a drive, except that it took forever. I probably would have enjoyed myself more had I not been in such a rush to get to Myrtle Beach. Having spent the night there, I was able to cross Delaware of my list of states I haven't been to.
About 2 PM, I reached the Bridge Tunnel. The toll going over the bridge was $12, which was reasonable compared to what I was expecting. I thought it might be more like $30, since my mom mentioned she went over it 30 years ago, and it was $18 at the time.
Here are some photos of the Bridge Tunnel. It was an astounding thing to cross. The weather was beautiful, soft fluffy white clouds in the sky, and a whipping wind flowing through my car. There was not a lot of traffic, and the Bridge Tunnel was very long, it seemed like it took me 20 minutes to cross it going 50 MPH.
Most of the early part of the day's drive, I spent listening to Opie and Anthony on XM radio. I never thought I'd become a fan of theirs, since I never listened to them when they were on in Boston, nor in New York, but since getting the XM, I do enjoy listening to them in the mornings. After O & A, I turned on the Red Sox game vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field. XM broadcasts are the home radio team, so I had to sit through the Cubs broadcasters, one of whom is Ron Santo. These guys were awful; I really think I am spoiled by the great broadcasters in Boston, because it seems every other announcer sucks. During the broadcast, the Cubs announcers started taking emails from fans. One fan wished Ron Santo well in his quest to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. At this point, the non-Santo announcer started talking about how awesome his colleague is, and his qualifications for the Hall of Fame, which I thought was completely ridiculous and unprofessional for a broadcast. Santo then talked about how great his broadcasting partner is, and this love fest went on through out the game. A little later, they took another email from a fan, who was asking about fishing advice. I never thought I'd tune into a baseball broadcast and hear all the great fishing spots in the Chicago area. These guys definitely loved to hear themselves talk.
While I'm on the subject of baseball, let me mention how much I hate interleague play: I hate interleague play a lot. I probably wouldn't hate it so much if the Red Sox fared better at it. While listening to the game friday, Greg Maddux hit a home run. Greg Maddux, a 38ish year old pitcher. Chicks dig the long ball.
After crossing the Bridge Tunnel, I was in Norfolk, VA, and found US 58, heading west to get back to I-95, which would be the fastest way to get to Myrtle Beach at this point. Along the way, I was pulled over once again, and this time I was not lucky enough to get a warning. I have driven through Virginia maybe 4 times, and I have been warned by about 15 people that Virginia cops love to camp out, pull you over for minor infractions and especially love it if you are from out of state. The officer walked up to the car and asked for my license and registration. I handed it to him and asked what the offense was. He said speeding, so I asked him how much. I was shocked when he told me 61 in a 55, he pulled me over for 6 MPH over the speed limit. I asked him if I could get off with a warning, since I was on a long trip and would be ard pressed to appear in court, but he said unfortunately, he was required to give me a summons. I asked him how much the fine would be; he was unsure, but said $40 to $60. On the trip I have been tending to drive as if there is a 10 MPH cushion, but I don't think I'll be doing that anymore. The worst part about being pulled over is I was only about 6 miles from crossing the border into North Carolina.
I did eventually make it to Myrtle Beach, but not until 9 PM, 7 or 8 hours after I had intended to arrive. I went out to a quick dinner with my sister Liz and her fiancee Adam, at the restaurant she works at, and went back to her apartment and called it a night.
The next morning, we got up late, and had a late breakfast with Adam's family from Tennessee, who had been in town all week for vacation. After breakfast, they set out for Tennessee, and we went to the beach, and had a great time. The weather once again was astoundingly perfect for the beach, the water was high 70's and very comfortable, and the beach was nearly devoid of other people, so we had plenty of room to spread out and just chill with the roar of the surf and the gulls cooing overhead. The ocean had big big waves, and at one point a lifeguard came over and told us there was a rip tide warning and that we could only go in up to our knees. We didn't stay much longer, but we did get a photo of Adam and me in the water.
Two Atlantic whales
After the beach, we went to Broadway at the Beach, which is this big mall /restaurant - bar plaza, with lots of great bars; it is semi-private, so you can walk around outside with alcohol. We went to a bar called Crocodile Rocks, where the main entertainment is dueling pianos. The place is tons of fun, as the piano players only play requests, and make crude comments to the audience throughout the night. It is just a great place to get drunk and have a great time. The place is so fun, tourists and locals alike intermingle and carouse. We had a table up front, but the place gets so crowded, people come and sit at your table. At one point this sickly looking drunk woman was sitting next to me, and the pianos were playing I Will Survive and the woman started touching me and telling me how that song was popular 30 years ago when she graduated from high school. So I'm thinking, great, its come to this, a drunk woman nearly twice my age is hitting on me at a bar. The worst part is, there was this woman sitting next to her who had to be at least 70, and was likely her mother. She persisted hitting on me throughout the rest of the night too. To show how hip she was, she was singing along with all the "modern songs" for instance, the piano players played Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day, and Holla Back Girl by Gwen Stefani, and she was singing right along. At one point, Liz and Adam got up to dance, and the woman says to me, is that your sister? I can see the resemblance. Which I'm pretty sure drives Liz absolutely crazy. :) We finally got out of there and met up with some of Liz and Adam's friends at another bar. By this point we were quite drunk, so we caught a cab home and went to bed.
Sunday was a pretty lazy day; we got up late, played with their puppy, hung around a bit, went to go see Mr. And Mrs. Smith, hung around a bit, had dinner and watched a DVD, played with their puppy, hung around a bit and went to sleep.
Today, Monday, Adam had to go to work early, so Liz and I slept in a bit, then went back to the beach. I didn't use any sunblock on saturday, but didn't get too burned, because we were at the beach in the late afternoon. I did get some color on my upper body, but none on my legs, so today, I applied sunblock to my upper body, and not my legs (with the exception of my tattoo), thinking I could use a little more color on my legs. I think this was a mistake, because my upper body didn't really burn, but my legs are very burned, except a small area around my tattoo. On the bright side, it was another fabulous day at the beach, the weather was astounding, which is magnified by the fact that the rest of the city got drenched by a thunderstorm. While sitting listening to the crashing of the waves, and enjoying digging my feet into the sand, I mentioned to my sister that I could just sit there the rest of my life. I took some photos at the beach, and also decided that I am going to start a beach sand collection, so I collected a small sample of Myrtle.
After the beach, Liz did some grocery shopping while I did some work and watched the puppy. I fell asleep shortly after the ludicrous Michael Jackson verdict was declared. Liz made us all a neat dinner of fried chicken topped with peach salsa, and we just drank some wine and had a great final night.
On Tuesday I set out once again. My itinerary for this week: Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, Florida: St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Cape Canaveral, Tampa Bay, hopefully I'll be able to see a Devil Rays' game Wednesday night, and I have to be in Ft. Lauderdale on Friday morning to pick up my dad; we're going to head to Key West for Father's Day weekend. I'm hoping I can convince him to check out Everglades and Key Biscayne National Parks with me. Not sure when I'm going to get to see Miami, but I know for sure I won't get to see a Marlins game, since they are not back in the state until the 27th of June.