Florida's Capitol Buildings

As we've been traveling across the country, we've tried to see as many of the state Capitol buildings as our route and time allows.  We were passing through Tallahassee, so we made a short stop there.  RV park choices in the area are very limited, but we did find one that would accommodate for the 3 nights we wanted to stay.  The name of the park is "Big Oak", and we can see why.

A little background on Florida's Capitol:  A very small and modest Capitol building was constructed in Tallahassee in 1845.  In 1902, wings were added to the north and south to add room for the house and senate chambers, and a dome was added to the main building.  In 1913, the Supreme Court moved to a separate building due to space constraints.  In 1936 and 1947, wings were added to the east and west to make more room.  By the 1950's, every inch of space was being used, including offices in the attic.  It was decided that a new and larger Capitol should be built.  The new Capitol was completed in 1978.  The original Capitol was renovated to its 1902 structure (east and west wings were removed) and is now a museum.

The building that the Supreme Court moved into in 1913 has a stately appearance.

The 1902 Capitol also has an expected stately appearance, albeit modest.  There is none of the pomp that we've seen in so many states' Capitols.

The new Capitol is a high rise building.  It appears to be functional, but has little redeeming architectural features in our opinion.

To be fair, we visited on a weekend, and were not able to get inside the new building.  Perhaps there are some interior features that would change our impression.

Next stop is in the Orlando-Kissimmee area and the weather forecast gives us some hope.  Other than a couple of rainy and chilly days, it promises to be what we've been looking for.

Pensacola Revisited

We passed this way before--2 years ago.  But it's on the route to warmer climes in Florida, so we stopped for another visit.

We had spent a day at the National Naval Aviation Museum the last time we were here, and decided it was worth another visit.  There's so much to see that a single day doesn't really cover it.  Besides, B&B had never been there and were interested in going, too.  There were some new displays.

The aircraft above is an Unmanned Combat Air System.  These are being launched from aircraft carriers now.  On our previous visit to the museum, HeM unsuccessfully searched for a Vigilante.  This time, we found one (partially blocked by the tractor).  HeM remembers standing on the Forrestal's flight deck, near the blast deflector, as the Vigilante pilot lit the afterburner just moments before being tossed into the air by the catapult. It was visceral, a treat for all the senses.

We had made a comment on our blog 2 years ago about the inequality of the honor paid to the Enterprise compared to that of the Forrestal and others.  That inequality is even more evident now.  There is an entire section of the museum dedicated to the history of the Enterprise.  It's our understanding that the owner of a certain rental car company with the same name made a sizable donation to the museum specifically for that exhibit.  We don't think (actually, we know) that we won't be making donations of any size that will wield any kind of power to focus more attention on the Forrestal's history.  Besides, we're big Star Trek fans, so we do appreciate the Enterprise legacy.

We visited Fort Pickens this time, and found it very interesting.  It's on an island in Pensacola Bay.  Its construction was completed in 1834 using slave labor and over 21.5 million locally made bricks--that's A LOT of bricks!  The only real military action the fort has ever encountered was during the Civil War.  It remained under Union control, while the forts on the mainland side of the bay were held by the Confederates.  Fire was exchanged between the forts in 1861.  In 1862, the Confederates abandoned the Pensacola forts to fight elsewhere, and the Union held control of Pensacola for the remainder of the war.  In 1898, Battery Pensacola was built within the fort in order to keep up with changes in weapon technology.  Cannons were replaced or converted to rifled cannons.  Mines were stored in the battery for usage in Pensacola Bay should the need arise.  The fort was 'retired' in 1947, and is now part of the National Park Service.

We visited downtown Pensacola, just to see what's there.  It's a typical Gulf Coast city, with its historical district, a few tall buildings, and a mixture of nice and shabby.  We stumbled on a small enclave of Airstream food trailers near the historical district.

We spoke to a gentleman there who is one of the founders of this venture.  It turns out that they had gotten the idea to try this after they had visited Austin and saw how these food trailers are thriving there.  They've only been in business for about a year, and the weather hasn't been kind so far, but even with the chilly weather on the day we were there, several folks were enjoying the varied cuisines offered.  We wish them success.

We're still looking for warm 'shorts' weather, but still not there.  We'll make a short stop in Tallahassee next, and then make a beeline south.

Launch of the Adventure's Final Year

So we are off again, beginning our 3rd and final year of this adventure.  Our travel plan follows the eastern coastline beginning in Louisiana along the Gulf of Mexico, around the perimeter of Florida, and continuing up the Atlantic seaboard to Maine.  At that point, we plan to head west through New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio before turning south toward Texas again.  Our friends B&B are accompanying us in their motorhome until we reach Charleston.  From there, they will return back to Texas and we'll continue solo.

Target departure date:  January 15.
Last minute errands on January 14:  Stop by grocery store; pick up new glasses for second time (Pearle can't seem to get the prescription right); pick up FedEx shipping supplies as an alternative to Priority Mail and mail-order prescriptions (reference 2013 sign-off posting); cursory recheck of tire pressure on Roamin after having filled them all yesterday (one of the tires had lost 35 pounds of pressure since filling them a month ago); farewell dinner with special family in Austin.  This would be a busy day, but we had it under control.  We started with the quickest and easiest--rechecking Roamin's tire pressure.  Aaack!  The suspect tire had lost another 12 pounds overnight.  Obviously a leak.  Now what?  Luckily, we found a mobile service that could get to us that day, so HeM stayed home while SheM ran around town.  As is usually the case, the tire repair repair didn't go as smoothly as hoped, but the nail hole was ultimately fixed and we didn't have to delay our departure. (The upper spot on the tire is a screw.)

We left Austin on January 15, stopping in Beaumont for the night.  We've been wanting to spend at least one night in a WalMart parking lot, mainly just to say that we've done it, and this was the night.  The area was secure and comfortable--and handy to simply walk over to the store to pick up a few things.

The next day we drove to Mandeville, Louisiana on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, and stayed at the Fontainebleau State Park, a former plantation.  Arriving right after the area had experienced some substantial rains, the site that had been reserved for us was too soft for us to feel confident about parking 20-ton Roamin for 3 days and being able to successfully pull out again, especially if it rained anymore.  Working with the park office, we found another site where we were very comfortable.  We had no sewer connection at the re-assigned site, but with some frugal water usage we made it.  In fact, we were so comfortable we may consider more short stays in parks that don't have full hook-ups.

We found the park to be very pleasant.  There were lots of paved roads for morning walks, and even though there were many campers there, it was very quiet at night.  The park is right on Lake Ponchartrain, and is very scenic.

B&B have friends that live in Mandeville, and they treated us to some good home-cooked etouffee and rice one evening.  Another evening they took us to an excellent local restaurant where we all ate much much more than we needed.  Folks in this area know good food, and do enjoy eating.  We'll watch our diets AFTER we leave here.  After all, when in Rome.....

Our next stop is near Pensacola, Florida.  We're heading to Florida in search of warmer weather.  Looking at weather forecasts for the area with highs in the 40's and lows in the 20's for a day or two, we're not there yet.  But we're sure that things will be better when we get further south.