In Transit: Tallahassee, FL, 5/2 - 5/4
So this travel report is a little late; it's only now that I've gotten around to processing some pictures.
On Wednesday, I rented a car and drove down to Tallahassee on a mission of mercy to help out some customers that were having equipment trouble at one of their client sites (yes, a prison). I met with them that evening to discuss our plan of attack, went back to the hotel, watched some hockey*, and called it a night.
The next morning, I visited the prison and fixed the problem in remarkably short order. I got out of there about noon, had lunch with the customers, and was then left to my own devices. I had reserved my hotel room for two nights, in anticipation of further problems, so I decided to do some sightseeing. The manager at the hotel recommended St. Marks, to the south of the city, down on the Gulf Coast. My mother recommended Cape San Blas, also on the Gulf Coast, but farther west. So I figured, heck with it, how long a drive could it be? I'll do both.
My rental car this time was a 2007 Nissan Sentra. It had a little more vigor to it than my previous rental car, which was a point in its favor, but that's about all it had going for it. It also did not have cruise control, and whoever designed the front seats had only a passing acquaintance with human anatomy. The bucket seats were deep, causing one's shoulder to turn inward toward the torso, and the headrest was canted forward at a sufficient angle to require one's head to tilt forward; basically, you had to curl yourself up to sit in the seat, and tilt the seat back to be able to look straight ahead in anything resembling a normal posture.
I mention all this because I was driving for about 10 straight hours on Thursday afternoon.** My back still has not forgiven me.
I started out at St. Marks or, more specifically, the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. There was a small visitor's center there, with some information about the area and a small boardwalk trail around a nearby pond. I got to see some alligators closer up than I might have preferred, mindless dinosaurs that they are, and I got my exercise fanning away the insects come to feast on my skin. But the weather was cooperative, not too hot, not too humid (yet), and it was a pleasant hike through the woods.
From there, I drove down to the St. Marks Lighthouse. Somehow, these are always a bit of a letdown from all the cool pictures you see. Of course, those pictures weren't taken with the sun dead overhead and enough haze to leach out the colors that might otherwise have been there. It was still quite interesting, though, given its age (the original construction was in 1831), and the fact that it's still in use.
The Gulf Coast Highway is two lanes for most of its length. I can't recommend driving it if you're in a hurry. But it's also picturesque for that length, and a leisurely drive seemed in order. It just turned out to take far longer than expected. I eventually arrived at Cape San Blas and St. Josephs Peninsula. As far as I can tell, if you want to hang out on the beach and stay away from the crowds, this is a fantastic place to do it. The northern tip of the peninsula is all national park, and the beaches are pristine.
At this point, it was getting late, so I figured I'd continue up Hwy. 98 and pick up I-10 back east to Tallahassee. Three hours later, after much swearing, bad traffic near Panama City (thanks to the brain-damaged college-age troglodytes that descend upon it), and the eventual decision to just drive north (in the logic that at some point, I would have to find I-10), I finally made it back to the interstate. A journey west that took about eight hours only took an hour and a half driving back east. Figures.
On Friday, I drove home, making good enough time to swing by the office and determine that they had not yet cut me an expense check. Thanks.
On Monday (tomorrow!), I leave for New York City. Surprisingly little on the agenda at this point, but that won't last. I've even bought new shoes for this trip!
*(I tried to stay up for the whole Wings/Sharks game, but I just couldn't do it. West coast games are killers on my sleep schedule.)
**(In addition to the 6.5 hours on the road Wednesday and Friday.)
On Wednesday, I rented a car and drove down to Tallahassee on a mission of mercy to help out some customers that were having equipment trouble at one of their client sites (yes, a prison). I met with them that evening to discuss our plan of attack, went back to the hotel, watched some hockey*, and called it a night.
The next morning, I visited the prison and fixed the problem in remarkably short order. I got out of there about noon, had lunch with the customers, and was then left to my own devices. I had reserved my hotel room for two nights, in anticipation of further problems, so I decided to do some sightseeing. The manager at the hotel recommended St. Marks, to the south of the city, down on the Gulf Coast. My mother recommended Cape San Blas, also on the Gulf Coast, but farther west. So I figured, heck with it, how long a drive could it be? I'll do both.
My rental car this time was a 2007 Nissan Sentra. It had a little more vigor to it than my previous rental car, which was a point in its favor, but that's about all it had going for it. It also did not have cruise control, and whoever designed the front seats had only a passing acquaintance with human anatomy. The bucket seats were deep, causing one's shoulder to turn inward toward the torso, and the headrest was canted forward at a sufficient angle to require one's head to tilt forward; basically, you had to curl yourself up to sit in the seat, and tilt the seat back to be able to look straight ahead in anything resembling a normal posture.
I mention all this because I was driving for about 10 straight hours on Thursday afternoon.** My back still has not forgiven me.
I started out at St. Marks or, more specifically, the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. There was a small visitor's center there, with some information about the area and a small boardwalk trail around a nearby pond. I got to see some alligators closer up than I might have preferred, mindless dinosaurs that they are, and I got my exercise fanning away the insects come to feast on my skin. But the weather was cooperative, not too hot, not too humid (yet), and it was a pleasant hike through the woods.
From there, I drove down to the St. Marks Lighthouse. Somehow, these are always a bit of a letdown from all the cool pictures you see. Of course, those pictures weren't taken with the sun dead overhead and enough haze to leach out the colors that might otherwise have been there. It was still quite interesting, though, given its age (the original construction was in 1831), and the fact that it's still in use.
The Gulf Coast Highway is two lanes for most of its length. I can't recommend driving it if you're in a hurry. But it's also picturesque for that length, and a leisurely drive seemed in order. It just turned out to take far longer than expected. I eventually arrived at Cape San Blas and St. Josephs Peninsula. As far as I can tell, if you want to hang out on the beach and stay away from the crowds, this is a fantastic place to do it. The northern tip of the peninsula is all national park, and the beaches are pristine.
At this point, it was getting late, so I figured I'd continue up Hwy. 98 and pick up I-10 back east to Tallahassee. Three hours later, after much swearing, bad traffic near Panama City (thanks to the brain-damaged college-age troglodytes that descend upon it), and the eventual decision to just drive north (in the logic that at some point, I would have to find I-10), I finally made it back to the interstate. A journey west that took about eight hours only took an hour and a half driving back east. Figures.
On Friday, I drove home, making good enough time to swing by the office and determine that they had not yet cut me an expense check. Thanks.
On Monday (tomorrow!), I leave for New York City. Surprisingly little on the agenda at this point, but that won't last. I've even bought new shoes for this trip!
*(I tried to stay up for the whole Wings/Sharks game, but I just couldn't do it. West coast games are killers on my sleep schedule.)
**(In addition to the 6.5 hours on the road Wednesday and Friday.)
posted by Matt at
10:38 PM
2 Comments:
One time I wound up stuck in fog in a small boat off the coast of St. Marks. Let me tell you, that lighthouse is useless. It looked like a 60 watt bulb by the time we could finally see it.
That's interesting; I've certainly never been in a position to see it in use. I wonder why it's so under-powered?
And thanks for the input! :)
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