Skip to main content

Trip To Northlandia - Part 1

Yippee!  I've kept it a secret and I'm heading to Northlandia for 10 days.  The Wombie is having a retirement party and I'm going to surprise him.    



Allegiant Air had a birthday present for me going up AND coming back down:  an empty seat beside me.  What a great surprise.  Its just easier that way.  Not so scrunched, less shallow chit-chat, and a chance to stretch and think.  Thanks Allegiant.  





I always get a window seat.  I never tire of the sky and view.



 

Speaking of flying, people sure are in a hurry when we land.  They may want to stretch their legs but some are just in a hurry and clog the aisles.  They can't go anywhere anyway, so why do it?



I thought this was the product of a skunk and black horse having mated.  Turns out it is a "paint".   My theory was more interesting.  Saw this guy around Knoxville.



As usual part of the fun of returning home is the food not available in Florida.  Tenderloins, great pizza, and this LaGondola heavenly creature.  This is a Torpedo that is the best sub you can buy.  Even managed to bring 3 home with me for the family.  Stuffed them in a USPS flat-rate box and crammed it in my suitcase.  Handled the flight well, and was the featured entire for that night's family get-together to watch Walking Dead.  Personally, I think it's the longest hour on TV, but it's fun having the party.

My friend JC picked me up at the airport and brought me to my truck in G-Burg but I was a craving a tenderloin for my birthday so we went to Gray's.  JC gave me a birthday card and made a big enough deal about it that other customers overheard.  As one guy was leaving he stopped over and gave me a birthday candle fashioned out of paper he had.  Only in the Midwest.  


Got my camera, put on my big boy pants for socializing,  got my rented lens,  a place to sleep, and ready to have some fun up North. Hope you will join me in the adventure.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Philippe Park and The Tocobaga Indian Mound

About ten miles or so north of Bedlam is a place called Safety Harbor.  Its the place that has the 300-500 year old oak that the city tried to kill I featured a couple weeks ago on BFE .  They have a pretty nice park that has some interesting history, too.  Count  Philippe landed here and introduced the pineapple and cigar making to the Tampa Bay area. Today, however, I want to mention something else about this area, besides the really nice scenery.  Phillipe Park was also the home of the Tocobaga Indians.  The Tocobaga occupied the Tampa Bay area from around 600 A.D. to the 1600's.   This is a fairly common view of old stately moss-laden oaks down here.   This shot was taken atop the only Tocobaga Indian mound in the area.  This exact spot is home not only to the Tocobaga until they died out, but then to Count Phillipi who settled the area after the Tocobaga died out.   The place is full of oak and ...

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...

Warsaw Brewery

Roadtrip!  That word is like a dog whistle to me.  The Wombie's played coy with me a couple days but finally we loaded into the Chevy (sadly, no Jeep) and headed south to Warsaw, Illinois.  They tried to keep it a secret as to what was down there but loose lips  sink ships but it was good anyway. Warsaw is a small town around Hamilton and to get there you get to travel the Great River Road along the Mississippi. You get to go through Nauvoo, too and get to see the magnificent Mormon Temple overlooking the river. Its a great couple hours of scenery and juicy things to see and then, before you know it, you are trying to find an old closed brewery that has been transformed into a restaurant and bar. There are many overlooks and scenic cut outs along the Great River Road.   There is even a little history if you are into it.  This marker notes the place where a vanished town, Montebello, used to exist.  It was also the...