Road Trip Pics and Blog
 

Hi everyone.
The wife (halfangel/Dev) and I will be taking an extended road trip this Summer/Fall. We hope to hit as many of the 48 states as we can during this time and I wanted to have a place to post pics and info on our adventure. Please do not roll your eyes too much you do not have to look ;).

Dev is taking a sabbatical from working and I am already medically retired so it is a perfect time for us to do something we will probably never have the chance to do again. We are also hoping to get to Ireland at some point for an overdue honeymoon. We were supposed to do that last year but were not able to.

As we travel we hope to meet up with a few MOFOs if we can so if we are in your area and would like to meet for lunch or just say hi hit me up and let me know. I will post our tentative itinerary as we make our rounds and will update as dates/times become more set.

We will be departing Pensacola on May 28th to head to Key West via Orlando and then around the 2nd of June we will be heading back north through Bradenton and then Universal. After that we will be going to Tennessee, North Carolina, D.C. Virginia, then New York, Maine, Vermont, Pennsylvania and then Indiana. These areas are our stopping points but as we travel we will be making quick stops all over the place.

As we make our way around the country we will be stopping at all 4 extreme points on the compass in the lower 48.

North: Angel Inlet , MN
South: Key West, Fl
East: West Quoddy Head Maine
West: Cape Alava, Washington

We definitely welcome ideas on things to do and places to eat so if you have any please send them our way.

A few other well known places we will be visiting at some point:
Mt Rushmore
Yellowstone National Park
Hollywood Sign
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Lake Tahoe
Niagara Falls
The Stanley Hotel in Colorado
Tombstone
4 Corners ( I wonder if Ed Helms and Christina Applegate will be there?)
Redwood National Forest
Golden Gate Bridge
Space Needle






I am also going to try and take some photo ops with my MOFO shirt on in key areas so it should be a lot of fun.

This is a map of our route outline, but keep in mind we are playing things by ear as we travel.




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We are very excited to see places we have never been and to visit places we saw growing up once again.

Thanks.

Re: Road Trip Pics and Blog
 

So cool. I've always wanted to do something like this. I find it inspiring. Can't wait to see the pictures! :)

This sounds like an amazing trip. I always wanted to do something like this, but I just don't have the time or the money.

Have a wonderful time, and post lots of pictures.

Alright we are ready (I think) and are departing on the first leg of our trip in the morning - May 28th.

We are heading out at 7:00 am for Key West. We will be taking our time getting there so we are stopping our first night in Orlando near the Florida Mall. I am a big Food Network lover and there is a place I saw on Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives that I want to try out. Fat One;s Hot Dogs. Not only does it have an awesome name it looks to have some great dogs.







The next day it is off to Coral Springs and there we will visit Butterfly World.




After a night there we will head all the way to Key West. We will be staying right in Key West for 3 days then heading back north through the everglades where we will be doing an air-boat tour. After that we head to Bradenton to visit my oldest sister and then to Universal Studios for two days in a resort at the park.

We will also be stopping at random places along the way if something catches our eye.

Guess I better get some sleep. Will post pictures soon as I can. My MOFO shirt is fresh out of the wash.

We are off , only about an hour late leaving. Not bad for us.

Re: Road Trip Pics and Blog
 

Leaving an hour late is ahead of schedule, as far as I'm concerned.

I totally agree.

Well we just got to Orlando, not a bad ride. I tried going into wrong room because i read the key wrong, but hey we made it.

;)Well Fat Ones was a bust. They are only a food truck now and not near us. But alas we get to go to Mrs Potato instead.
Empanada heaven baby!!!


Update: Ooohhh the regret, so good but so filling.

We had a similar problem a few years ago with a restaurant in Connecticut. We heard about it from a food TV show, and it sounded great, but when we got there it was just a food truck on the side of the road. :(

Re: Road Trip Pics and Blog
 

I would have been okay with a food truck, but they werent rven near area they mentioned.

I know things chane but i double checked same day we left.
Oh well we enjoyed the other place.

Made it to Butterfly World in Coral Springs. Cool place, going to post some pics later.

Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. :)

I really really enjoyed this place more than i expected. Very tranquil and lots to see.

Dev realy doesn't like spiders deas or alive.

Blue butterly liked either my beard or my glasses not sure which.

Very fun place.


Sry for sideways pics doing this from phone.

We had the same problem a few years ago with a Golden Corral in PA. We called the night before to find out how late they would be open the next night, but when we got there the next night, they were out of business. Apparently corporate didn't even tell the workers that they were closing that location until it was actually closed. :(

Had dinner at Fat Boyz BBQ.
Best damn BBQ ive had in awhile.

I got a "whoze yo daddy" sandwhich.

So it was a very busy day, but we made it to Key West.







Got to see the southernmost point in the lower 48. I guess there is a debate about that and is a sore point with some locals. There is a house here that says southernmost house in U.S. and then one right next to it that says southernmost southernmost house. Then there is a private island that is 1/4 mile further south so they say. Doesn't matter to me it is all symbolic and we have reached the furthest we can go so I am cool with that :).






Dev and I both ate conch for the first time ever today. She had fritters and I had fried, the flavor was really good but the texture was too weird for me, kinda like clam but too chewy. I was told it was prepared properly and that it was supposed to be this way. I believe them because there were so many people eating it and the place was rated the best for conch in the area. Well I can cross that off my list, but I a cool with passing on it next time.

We walked two miles to the southern buoy today and on the way our 10 year old son said we were going to "die at the end of the world because it was so hot. Haha, we wound up taking a taxi back instead of walking, I talked the guy into doing it for $15 instead of $40. Hey I am not cheap but if I can save a buck... I gave him a good tip though.

The sunsets here are about the most amazing I have seen. The only thing that comes close are the ones I saw in Kuwait. They also last forever. We took pictures and then went inside and came out 45 minutes later and still the sun was hanging on the horizon, very cool.





We are taking a sunset dinner cruise tomorrow and the next day we are going snorkeling.

The waters her are crystal blue/turquoise in places. The beaches are not white like Pensacola, but the water is very clear and beautiful.


US 1 was a fun ride and so far we are really loving this area.




Some cool 57s parked out in front of the resort we are at. One of my fav cars, I di dnot even know they had them here.

Re: Road Trip Pics and Blog
 

I love Key West and, as you say, the drive there is great. Did you not go to Ernest Hemingway’s house (plus cats)? Cool place to visit.

Funny you ask, just got on to post some pics . We certainly did, it was really cool place. 50 cats total so I was told, all descendants of their original cat. I wont go into a history lesson, but Hemingway had some really amazing times in his life. Definitely played a part indirectly and directly in cinema. I am going to have to give a re watch to many of the films he was a part of in any way.

One more day in the keys, did a sunset dinner cruise last night and today its dolphins and snorkling.

Will post some pics after all the fun .

A couple days behind on updating but we have been in the Everglades and signal is pretty bad here. Did an awesome airboat tour yesterday and hung out with some locals at a cafe.

Should be in our hotel in Orlando/universal tonight and hope to catch up posting pics and activities.