Parkinson Coach & Tours, located in Brampton, Ontario for whom I have been a highway coach driver for four years, regularly provides trips for their customers to Canada and the United States throughout the year. In particular, I was always envious of our senior drivers who scored a charter to the sunshine state of Florida.
In August of 2015, my turn had come as I would host a local youth organization from Brampton to a basketball tournament in Pensacola.
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Driving to Florida from the greater Toronto area can take up to twenty four hours to cover the two thousand kilometer distance. Like many extended charters, our clients can opt to break up the trip into two or more days by stopping at the end of each day and carry on the next morning. Or they can save the extra expense of accommodations by choosing to travel non-stop. My group would choose the latter.
Because federal regulations strictly limit the number of hours for a commercial driver in a day, a trip of this duration would exceed the ten hours I am allowed to operate in the U.S. behind the wheel. Therefore, an additional tour-start driver will be needed to collect the group and begin the trip
I set off early in the morning in the Mazda and make my way to the Blue Water Bridge crossing from Sarnia to Port Huron, Michigan and continue to Ohio . .
. . and the Armstrong Air and Space Museum.
This fascinating museum chronicles the accomplishments of Neil Armstrong, America's first man on the moon. It opened in June 1972 three years after the historic moon landing and is located in Armstrong's hometown of Wapakoneta.
Armstrong's career as a Korean War fighter pilot, Gemini and Apollo astronaut, is showcased as is other Ohions' contributions to space exploration including John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth. A great place to visit with many interactive and hands-on displays.
Then it is on through the rolling hills of Kentucky and Tennessee . .
. . arriving late evening at my hotel in Franklin.
The following morning I have a rare entire day before the bus arrives to do some exploring.
The city of Franklin was founded in 1799 and named after America's founding father Benjamin Franklin. It saw battle in 1864 during the U.S. Civil War where 10,000 casualties were suffered.
Today it has a population of 65,000.
It is a delightful stroll along Main St. in the heart of Franklin's historic district with an eclectic mix of shops and places to eat, as well as a memorial to the people of Williamson County who answered the nation's call to duty and monument to Franklin's sons of the Civil War.
An interesting stop for me that I happened upon is the Darrell Waltrip Honda dealership
It is one of four dealerships owned by NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip.
Inside can be found memorabilia from his thirty year career as a driver, in which he won three championships, and team owner. He was elected to NASCAR's Hall of Fame in the class of 2012.
Then it was time to head twenty miles north to Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry House.
Located nine miles from downtown, it opened in 1974 to replace the Ryman Auditorium as the home of the Grand Ole Opry, country music's venerable stage show and concert that has continuously performed since 1925 and is America's longest running radio broadcast. It has a capacity of four thousand seats and regularly showcases a mix of legendary and contemporary country, bluegrass, gospel and folk performers.
Lack of time would not allow me to visit downtown to take in everything that is the country music capital of the world. Best leave it to a future motorcycle trip.
For now it's back to the hotel and prepare for tomorrow.
Lack of time would not allow me to visit downtown to take in everything that is the country music capital of the world. Best leave it to a future motorcycle trip.
For now it's back to the hotel and prepare for tomorrow.
Next morning my bus arrives in the predawn after traveling through the night as I take over.
By sunrise, we are southbound on Interstate 65 shortly into Alabama when a large rocket dramatically appears in the distance.
Located at the welcome center off the highway, it is a full-size model of the Saturn 1B rocket that boosted early Apollo program manned spacecrafts into earth orbit as a prelude to space shots to the moon. It serves to highlight the U.S. Space and Rocket Museum in nearby Huntsville.
I wish we could have stopped there.
Soon we pull into a highway service area near the town of Falkville at exit 322 where I am able to meet everyone as we grab some breakfast. By this time they have been on the road for over twelve hours.
We continue on past the cities of Birmingham and Montgomery into Florida, down U.S. 29 to our destination hotel on the outskirts of Pensacola.
Once the group has settled in their rooms, my first order of business is to get gas while I have some free time.
Part of my pre-trip planning for any long distance charter is locating some nearby stations with diesel to replenish the three-quarter tank of fuel we used up.
I love the colour of this Dodge Challenger. The guy said it belongs to his wife!
For the next two days I will be shuttling the teams to the basketball tournament at the Malcolm Yonge Community Center.
Our final day is for some fun time.
The first stop is the National Museum of Naval Aviation.
A fascinating place to visit.
The anchor of the aircraft carrier USS Antietam, first commissioned in 1945 until 1973 that saw action in the Korean War.
Then some surf and sand in nearby Pensacola Beach!
Twinkling my tootsies in the white sand of Pensacola Beach.
Where's Pamela?
With some free time, I head across the street to Flounders Chowder House for lunch.
Some interesting artifacts to go with the great food, including a Florida record 980 lb. Blue Marlin caught in 1985,
and an actual raft that carried twenty seven Cuban refugees in 1985.
Alas, it is time to return home.
We make the eight hour drive back to Franklin where I am met with the tour end driver who had arrived with the company car. Once again, we switch vehicles as I say my final goodbyes to a great bunch of kids, parents and coaches in the hope that I can join them again someday soon.
The bus carries on home while I book into my hotel room until tomorrow.
That evening I returned to Franklin's historic district and McCreary's Irish Pub and Eatery for a delicious reuben sandwich.
There should be a law
against serving Guinness in
anything but a Guinness glass.
I love these small town theaters and movie houses, this one directly across the street from the restaurant.
Setting out for home the next morning, I make a point of visiting the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site near Hodgenville, Kentucky.
Begun in 1916 as the Abraham Lincoln National Park, the birthplace designation was established in 1959.
It was here on February 12, 1809 on 300 acres of land which his father had recently purchased that the future 16th president of the United States was born. Two years later, the family was forced to move to a nearby farm after losing the land in a title dispute before moving again to Indiana.
The Memorial Building was dedicated in 1911 and houses what was thought to be for many years the original log cabin that Lincoln was born in until research proved otherwise. Yet it remains an enduring symbol of Lincoln's humble beginnings.
A short drive to the town's public square is the
Abraham Lincoln Statue, dedicated in 1909 in which Lincoln's son Robert Todd was present, and the Lincoln Museum, designated Kentucky's official museum (separate from the national historic registries) featuring lifelike dioramas depicting Lincoln's life along with articles, paintings and memorabilia.
Continuing on I-71 to Covington where on the other side of the Ohio River is Cincinnati, Ohio.
To watch the skyline emerge reminds me of the opening segment of a favourite TV show, 'WKRP in Cincinnati', a sitcom about a dysfunctional radio station that ran from 1979-83, in which the city's landscape is highlighted.
A Youtube link to the show's opening sequence -
If the bridge, completed in 1867, looks familiar, it was designed by John Roebling who also completed New York's Brooklyn Bridge seventeen years later.
This view is the entrance from Covington to Cincinnati.
This view is the entrance from Covington to Cincinnati.
Continuing on to Detroit, across the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor and my first stop not a mile away . .
. . Tim Hortons!
From here it's a quick three hours across the 401 and home.
A total of nine days on the road, my first trip to Florida was an enjoyable experience.
I hope for the opportunity to do it again someday.
From here it's a quick three hours across the 401 and home.
A total of nine days on the road, my first trip to Florida was an enjoyable experience.
I hope for the opportunity to do it again someday.
