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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

Hypotenuse Trail Video Wonders Vol 02 - Florida


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One of the excuses for posting thru the windshield (TTW) shots is that they show what the countryside really looks like. For example, before this trip I had no real understanding of what the Florida that doesn’t get in the tourist photos looks like. I knew it had beaches and Everglades, but what does the rest of the state look like?

 

Looking at a topo map, it was obviously flat. What I discovered and the TTW videos show, is that it is heavily wooded in many areas, something I didn’t expect.

 

Video 07 West Central Florida http://www.vimeo.com/967922

 

The wooded Florida landscape surprised me. I think I sort of expected sand hills with scrub vegetation. Instead the landscape was rich with oak, pine, and palms, and lots of water. Frankly, I didn’t notice that there were no mountains, perhaps because whenever I looked up, I saw trees. Pretty countryside! A very nice drive on roads that I found excellent and safe throughout Florida.

 

I was also surprised at the rural character of much of where I traveled east and north of Tampa. In Miami there were so many buildings under construction, with so many giant cranes on the skyline, it was like a brand new city was being built. And the roads, two lane or interstate, between West Palm Beach and for 20 miles south of Miami, were lined with urban developments. So to travel for hundreds of miles through largely rural areas was a pleasant surprise.

 

And the Gulf Coast east of Mexico Beach was equally “unspoiled.” West of Mexico Beach, you started to get the typical strip development with condos, lots of tourist businesses, and the like. It reached its peak at Destin, which was one continuous beachside tourist carnival. It made California beach towns like Santa Cruz look like miniatures.

 

Video 08 Apalachicola, Florida http://www.vimeo.com/967937

 

I really liked Apalachicola. In fact it was probably my favorite “discovery” as far as tourist towns go. It still had its small fishing fleet, kids rode their bikes downtown, the streets were lined with terrific historic buildings, there were no crowds, and there were several interesting restaurants and shops. I spotted only one condo development, and that was far enough out of town to be minimally intrusive. I would go there again in a minute.

 

Video 09 Beach near St Joe. http://www.vimeo.com/967949

 

Despite the fact that the highway follows along the Gulf Coast, access to the beaches, at least east of St Joe, is difficult. Unlike Oregon and Washington where beach access is permitted virtually anywhere and you can’t deny public enjoyment of the oceanfront, it at least appeared that in Florida you can deny access to the beach in front of your property. I don’t know the Florida laws, but I do know that beach access for the public was very limited, in comparison to my western experience.

 

This was the first time I saw an opportunity to photograph the waterfront, and it was a public park. This is also where I picked up a scoop of sand. Maybe that is why access is limited or denied. Too many people would otherwise carry off a cup of sand, and before you know it, the oceanfront would be all rocks. (Sorry, the devil made me say that!). :rolleyes:

 

 

Video 10 The old (1929) and new Dupont Bridge on US98, Panama City http://www.vimeo.com/967969

 

The 1929 Dupont Bridge has been replaced, but its end spans still grace the waterfront at Panama City, Florida. I also took a video of an interesting new bridge in Mobile, but since I don’t have a name for it, it will remain unposted until I do some research.

 

 

All in all my entire trip long the Hypotenuse Trail through Florida was terrific…better than I expected, interesting, well worth a return visit. I fully understand now why so many people move there. The beaches, when you can reach them, the weather, the landscape, and the people I met, all added up to a top notch travel experience.

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

 

PS Don't forget, if you want your earned share of the Hypotenuse Trail goodies, you have to declare your intent. Look at the post titled "Artifacts to go the Hypotenuse Trail winners"

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Ahhhh, the weekend and a chance to catch up on videos. It appears that some of the videos haven't worked their way through the Vimeo system yet but no matter. I'll be back. The videos I did watch, from both Vol 1 & 2, give a nice sense of the trip. From the orange workers practicing their synchronized kick dance atop the truck (Rockettes beware) to the guy at the drawbridge explaining to his daughter just where the road disappeared to, it's good stuff.

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Enjoyed the movies! Now I'm wondering whether I need to upgrade my 8mm tape camera to something digital...

 

By the way, your links for videos 7 & 8 both point to video 7.

 

Chris

 

Thanks Chris! I'll fix the links.

 

 

I'm just using my digital still camera for the videos. I like the ease of just turning the knob from still to video, and I can do 640 X 480 video up to the full capacity of the memory card.

 

Keep the Show on the Road

 

Dave

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