Christmas Escape 2014 at DennyGibson.com

Postlude - January 11, 2014
The trip that I didn't take last year was going to include a couple of Dixie Highway connectors and probably a little West Mainline in addition to getting to Key West. This year I decided I better do all four remaining connectors since getting to Florida doesn't seem to be all that easy after all. Driving all of the remaining West Mainline south of Cincinnati on this trip also seemed like a good idea. By the time I left, I'd added finding the seven Dixie Highway-Robert E Lee markers I had yet to see, definitely visiting an uncle in Lake Alfred and possibly visiting friends in Savannah and Saint Augustine and an aunt in Boynton Beach. I did it all except for visiting the aunt and I spoke with her on the phone when I was nearby. Timing just didn't work out.

I not only stopped by the seven new-to-me markers but revisited the others as well. I reached the nine in the south while following the Dixie Highway and their photographs appear on the appropriate journal pages. Eight are on day 2 and the ninth is on day 17. For the sake of completeness, I detoured to the one in Ohio just before reaching home. That's it, complete with snow, at right and at N39° 32.701' W84° 18.933'. This trip puts me within striking distance of clinching the Dixie Highway. All that remains is what might be considered the start of the highway, the 200 or so miles between Chicago and Indianapolis. It will happen. The updated scoring map is here.

January 9, 2015 (day 19)
I started and ended the day with meals in cool restaurants and in between saw several cool signs. The weather was cool, too, but not that kind of cool.

January 8, 2015 (day 18)
I finished the new-to-me bi of Dixie Highway I'd targeted then stopped off at a cemetery and the world's largest drive in.

January 7, 2015 (day 17)
I started off with the tenth DH-Lee marker then got surprised by a tree, an obelisk, a bronze piano, and an infamous prison camp.

January 6, 2015 (day 16)
I revisited a spring and a canopy road then checked out a pair of capitols.

January 5, 2015 (day 15)
I slipped over to the DH East Florida Connector for breakfast then started north on the longest stretch of undriven-by-me Dixie Highway in existence.

January 4, 2015 (day 14)
I conquered the Dixie Highway Scenic Highlands Connector and revisited some of the West Mainline.

January 3, 2015 (day 13)
The laziness continued with a full day of wonderful nothing.

January 2, 2015 (day 12)
I covered a little more Dixie Highway then got really lazy beside a lake.

January 1, 2015 (day 11)
On the first day of the year I traveled all the way from Bradenton to Punta Gorda and most of those sixty miles were on the Tamiami Trail.

December 31, 2014 (day 10)
I found a pink and red saloon at the end of the Dixie Highway South Florida Connector and revisited another saloon that's not quite as colorful as it once was. I made it to 2015 for the win.

December 30, 2014 (day 9)
I had to leave the Keys today. The temperature stayed about the same but the buildings got taller and it was lobster for dinner instead of shrimp.

December 29, 2014 (day 8)
I had originally asked for a room for two nights but, when I learned it was available for a third, I took it. This is my "extra" day in the Keys.

December 28, 2014 (day 7)
Music, food, rum, and a glorious sunset. It could be Key West.

December 27, 2014 (day 6)
Much like Kokomo, "You get there fast then take it slow." I drove I-95 to Miami then started taking it slow in the Overseas Highway traffic long before I got to my destination in Marathon.

December 26, 2014 (day 5)
I drove two more threads of the Dixie Highway web and ended the day with a cheap but classy dinner near the coast.

December 25, 2014 (day 4)
Starting in Savannah and ending in Saint Augustine makes one fine Christmas.

December 24, 2014 (day 3)
A rainy Christmas Eve that ended dry and warm with friends.

December 23, 2014 (day 2)
I visited and photographed the seven Dixie Highway-Robert E Lee markers in North Carolina and the South Carolina one, too. It was a little cool and damp and a lot grey but I didn't get rained out.

December 22, 2014 (day 1)
The first day out was pretty much expressway with side trips to a familiar former gas station and restaurant.

December 21, 2014 (day 0)
Despite a sincere and publicly proclaimed desire to get to Key West last year, it didn't happen. I can't guarantee it will this year either but at least I'm headed that direction. I attended the Lighting of the Serpent on the evening before leaving and have posted some pictures on their own page.

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