Georgia & Florida trip

This weekend I traveled leisurely southward on Hwy 441 toward Valdosta, Georgia on my way to Florida to meet with some potential business partners. Eventually, necessity required that I take a different route so I regretfully left this nice four lane sparsely traveled road on the general latitude of Tifton, Georgia and navigated my way west toward Interstate 75.

I’ve traveled extensively through Georgia on back roads and can genuinely recommend it if you care to take the time. Casting my thoughts back as I travel I’m often able to mentally recreate life in the past of the sleepy little hamlets that we now rip through on our self-important missions of business or leisure. I’m sure that I wax romantic in my imaginings as life in rural Georgia couldn’t have been as idyllic as I might suspect but it’s a pleasurable driving pastime just the same.
As you travel south you may note that the soil composition changes from the hard orange clay in northern and middle Georgia to a softer color south of Macon and as you enter the coastal plain proper, it pretty much gives way to sand in the eastern part of the state. In the southwestern portions of Georgia and Alabama however, the clay seems to grip stubbornly southward until it's replaced by limestone.

Crossing Interstate 75 I traveled to Thomasville & then north to Moultrie wherein I had reserved a small suite at a lovely antebellum style home that was converted to a bed & breakfast. Moultrie is a pleasant southern town replete with the obligatory town square and fast food corridor. This town was established and named after a revolutionary war general in 1879 and has grown as an agricultural center but retains a warm southern air of hospitality. Should you traverse this part of Georgia for any length of time it’s agricultural infrastructure should prove pretty obvious.

After a pleasant nights sleep interrupted only by the light of the moon peering through the skylight window bathing me in a silvery secret lovers embrace, I smile and drift into my dreams of southern life. In the morning I bathe in the spiffy claw foot tub that is too short for my stubby five foot seven inch frame but irresistible for those who enjoy a bath and embark on my journey westward.

I travel south and west reaching Tallahassee and Interstate 10 early in the morning. Despite my desire to traverse the scenic byways I have a need to make good time as to arrive in Pensacola for a mid-day appointment with a property owner so I reluctantly join the westbound traffic and race madly toward my destination of choice.
Pensacola is nice enough as is Panama City but I’m afraid my taste lies between these two cities along the coastal areas delineated as Destin and Fort Walton Beach, now built up with myriad’s of condominiums and town homes beckoning visitors to stay a while and bury their feet in the soft white sands. The beaches here are not as wide as those in Daytona Beach and are far softer than the gritty shell fragmented beaches of Jacksonville as they are white and soft with no rip currents to speak of. Rather ideal for family vacationers really.

I have stayed here a number of times. Usually in a waterfront condominium on the second or third floor as not many structures here are taller than that with the exception of the condo towers of course. In the mornings I enjoy waking early to the sound of the surf lapping the shore, brewing a hot cup of coffee and watching the sun rise over what I am pretty sure is Tampa although all I see is water. If you watch the shore for a while you will see large shapes swim along the shoreline in between the beach and sandbar (assuming there is one) trolling for a tasty meal in shallow water where it’s more difficult for the victim to escape. Some are obvious stingrays but others I couldn’t definitively say. I do not however, swim out to the sandbar in murky water, nor do I bathe in the sea without my filet knife on my hip. My logic is that if something wants to nibble on me I’ll have a bite of it as well. Suffice to say I’m not a huge fan of swimming in the sea, but I like to be near it and to fish there.

Negotiations with the property owners is ongoing but I would call my trip a success and I begin my trek northward to Atlanta. I was fortunate to have the time to travel north of Interstate 10 to see the fresh water springs in Ponce De Leon, and further northward and east just south of the Alabama State line. This area is characterized by rolling country, apparently mostly devoted to livestock and agriculture but rampant development seems imminent as demonstrated by the land prices.

In Chattahoochee, FL I turn northwards and am immediately in Georgia once again. Traveling on the back roads I joyride (so to speak) across the seemingly remote countryside to emerge in Macon and then swiftly back to Atlanta. If you’ve ever traveled the section of the I-75 corridor between Macon and Atlanta you may be aware that it’s a mammoth speedtrap but that doesn’t seem to deter adventurous drivers from attempting to fracture the sound barrier in their quest to reach their destination expediently.

Until next time friends, Happy Traveling!