A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
Day 2 (5/17/2022)
This morning, after breakfast, I headed northwest on US-98 thru another 60 miles or so with not much to see. I passed thru Andrews, Fanning Springs, Cross City, and Salem, on my way to check out the Iron Horse Mud Ranch located just south of Perry, FL. The main gate was open, but down the road a way another gate was closed, so I took this photo and was on my way. No mud-bogging today.
Photo Credit:Bill Lites
On the outskirts of Perry, FL I saw a roadside sign for the Forest Capital Museum State Park and stopped to see what it was all about. It turns out to be a museum dedicated to the Florida longleaf pine tree and the 5,000 products manufactured from those trees. There are relocated and restored ‘Florida Cracker’ houses and buildings on this 35-acre park, depicting the early 1800s Florida forestry industry and how the early settlers lived and worked in that fledgling industry.
Photo Credit:Bill Lites
The drive thru Perry was quick, and it was another 30 miles northwest on US-19, seeing nothing much of anything. I turned north on US-19 at Capps, FL (wide place in the road) and then it was another 20 miles to Montecillo, Fl where I was informed the city was filled with everything historic. Well, I didn’t see anything even worth taking a photo of other than the County Courthouse, and I’ve visited many` more historic courthouses on past road trips. So, I continued north on US-19, across the border, looking for Hubs & Hops in Thomasville, Ga. I was looking for a bicycle museum, but it turned out to be a restaurant and taproom that collected bicycles of all types. I didn’t spend much time there.
Photo Credit: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hubs&Hops-ThomasvilleGA
Heading west on US-84 about 15 miles I visited the Cairo Antique Auto Museum located in Cairo, GA. This museum consists of three buildings filled with a huge collection of antique cars dating from 1920s, trucks & fire engines dating from 1900s, as well as antique motorcycles and bicycles dating from the early 1800s. You never know where a gem of a museum will turn up. Who would have ever guessed, in Cairo, GA?
Photo Credit:Bill Lites
It was another 25 miles west on US-84 to Bainbridge, GA where I had planned to visit the Decatur County Historical Museum, but it was closed. So, I kept going northwest another 60 miles on US-84, across the Chattahoochee River (border) into Alabama, where I stopped to check out the Landmark Park & Farm located on the outskirts of Dothan, AL. This park is a 150-acre living farm that provides visitors with a historical representation of an 1890s farm, in this south part of the Alabama region, with restored homes, buildings, a store, and a church, all decorated with period furnishings.
Photo Credit:Bill Lites
It was only a short drive to where I visited The Waddell House there in Dothan. Built 1898 by Bud Bush, the house was purchased by Leska H. Waddell in 1906 and remained in the Waddell family until 1978 when it was donated to the Dothan Landmarks Foundation. The Waddell home was the first structure to be relocated to the Landmark Park & Farm property and restored as part of that 19th century attraction.
Photo Credit:Bill Lites
That pretty well wrapped up my travel experiences for the day, so I gave Greta (My Garmin) the address of the motel there in Dothan. She had no trouble finding the motel. After getting checked in and moving my things into my room, I warmed up my leftover Liver & Onions from the 19/98 Grill last night and enjoyed that delicious meal again. What a treat that was! I did enjoy one of the pictures in the motel tonight. It was a collage of license plates in the form of the United States. I think I will adopt that photo as my visual slogan for my travels. Since there wasn’t much of anything I wanted to watch on TV, I recorded my day’s activities and went to bed early.
Photo Credit:Bill Lites
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 64 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10
Old Things R New 
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