A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
Preface: Because I love to travel, and because the Covid-19 scare has restricted much of the travel within our nation for the last eighteen months, I was determined to get at least one two-week road trip under my belt in 2021. The main motivation for this road trip was that, even though I had visited the entire eastern seaboard in the past, I had not visited much of the northeastern portions of the U.S. Since the planned route would take me as far north as Lake Ontario, I needed to plan the road trip before it began getting cold in that area. With all this in mind, I loaded up my van and set out to see as much of the stated region as I could in the time available.
Day 1 – 7/12/2021
This morning I headed north on I-95 toward my first objective, the Daytona 500 Museum and Motorsports Hall of Fame, located in Daytona Beach, FL. I had tried to visit this museum once before, but the museum was closed for remodeling. I was hoping for better luck this time. The museum’s exhibits focus mainly on the NASCAR and motorcycle racing histories at Daytona Beach, from its beginning in 1936, to the present.
As I headed north on I-95 I was looking forward to visiting the Classic Car Museum located in St. Augustine, FL. This museum displays some 80 beautifully restored vintage cars dating from 1895 to the 1980s.
I by-passed Jacksonville, FL as I continued north on I-95, since I would visit the Jacksonville museums at the end of this road trip. I had also visited the St. Mary’s Submarine Museum on a previous road trip, so headed for the Mary Ross Park, located in Brunswick, GA. This Park is a tribute to the 99 ‘Liberty Ships’ that were built, as a part of the war effort, by the Brunswick Shipyards during WWII.
I diverted a few miles northwest on US-17 to stop at the Geechee Kunda Culture Museum in Riceboro, GA but they were closed. We have always been interested in the history of the Geechee islanders and their influence on the early Georgian culture.
It was only another 5 miles north on US-17 to where I visited the Midway Museum located in Midway, GA. This museum is housed in a replica of an 18th century ‘Coastal Cottage’ and displays exhibits and materials dating from that era. The Midway Historic District also includes the Midway Church which was built in 1792 to replace the original Midway Church built in 1736.
Photo Credit: mapquest.com/us/georgia/midway-museum-303794678
Heading northeast another 30 miles I visited the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum located in Savannah, GA. This museum is housed in the William Scarbrough house (President of the Savannah Steamship Company) and exhibits model ships, paintings, and maritime antiques from the 18th and 19th centuries.
It was just a few blocks to the Georgia State Railroad Museum there in Savannah, located in the Tricentennial Park area and is a part of the historic Central of Georgia Railway complex which was constructed in 1853. This museum includes parts of the Central of Georgia Railway, Savannah Shops, Roundhouse, and Terminal Facilities. The museum displays restored steam locomotives and passenger cars from the 19th and 20thcenturies, as well as steam locomotive train rides.
My next stop was to visit the Old Fort Jackson located on the banks of the Savannah River, just one mile east of historic downtown Savannah. The fort was built between 1808-1812 to protect Savannah from attack by sea. The fully restored fort offers daily cannon firings (which I missed) performed by Confederate reenactors, and also houses the Fort Jackson Maritime Museum.
After this productive day of travel, I treated myself to a Steamed Shrimp Dinner at Fiddler’s Crab House & Oyster Bar, located on River Street in historic downtown Savannah, overlooking the Savannah River. Yummm!
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 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 