Highway 41 in Georgia: north of Valdosta to Hahira

Let's keep going on Highway 41.  We're outside of Valdosta now.


Intersection of Highway 41 and Business 41



First time Highway 41 crosses I-75, and becomes I-75 for a few miles. If you were doing this trek on a bicycle, you could take Old Highway 41 from Valdosta to Hahira.



Hahira, GA - I-75 and Highway 41 split again.  No one is sure how Hahira got its name, according to his history page on the Hahira Web site.



Downtown Hahira

Lighthouse of the Week, September 23-29, 2018: Poolbeg, Dublin, Ireland

OK, seriously, you've got to love a lighthouse with the name of Poolbeg, which sounds more like the name of an Irish troll.   Poolbeg Lighthouse is way out on the end of a jetty in Dublin Bay.  The jetty is actually called the Great South Wall and it's 4 km long!   The red Poolbeg Lighthouse is a good visible target for the end of a long walk -- but then you'll have to walk all the way back, too.

I learned all that from this Web page:  Take a Sunday stroll along the Great South Wall Walk

So let's get more technical.

"1820 (station established 1768). Active; focal plane 20 m (66 ft); red light, 8 s on, 4 s off, 4 s on, 4 s off. 20 m (66 ft) round stone tower with lantern and gallery."

The first picture below is from the linked Web page above.

Below are four more.

It's a pretty long walk

One of many sonnets: no one knows where I am

no one knows where I am

A nomad, moving on the Earth, travers-
ing where I want and naked if I seek
to be; a sailor on an oft-revers-
ing sea, with no one else to say or speak
an acclamation for heroic acts, or
disapprobation for those not so brave;
for I could be where e'er I surf the bore
and never let a tide make me its slave --
you cannot see what lies inside, the core
of my ambitious spirit, what I think
contrasting with the way I seem, so more
of me is hidden than is known; my synch-
rony allows me to survive my lone-
ly journey where the changing winds have blown.

A very good and very understandable reason

Imagine this; you have lived you entire professional life striving for one of the most prestigious positions that someone in your field could aspire to. Not only that, you are eminently qualified by all the evaluating criteria that could be applied. You have been practicing in this field for decades; you have an established record of excellence; and you are also the exact type of person that the people who have the power to put you into that position want.

In short, you know that you should get the position. Nothing should stand in your way.

Yet, there is a problem, or maybe several. Before you embarked on your professional career, your behavior was not exactly exemplary. There is a large amount of data (note that I did not call it evidence) indicating this. Friends and acquaintances state that you engaged in this behavior, and also say that your friends did too. There are indications in recorded forms that you participated in activities that were perhaps typical of youth and indiscretion. In particular, you had a fondness for a particular vice -- alcohol -- and apparently indulged in this vice in various social settings. You yourself have admitted to enjoying this vice and being with others who enjoyed it, and who also over-indulged in it. And the problem with this vice is that when people are under its influence, they behave differently. They can act in ways that would be distasteful, even abhorrent, to those not under the influence. They can act in ways that would bother and concern yourself when you are not under that influence.

And there are other indications, troubling, concerning, about other vices, preferences, that may have been facilitated by or compensated for by others, just to maintain your lifestyle and important career path. All of this adds up to a picture different than how you present yourself, and how others present you and speak of you.

So are we to believe that you had this vice, this attraction, and yet never engaged in the behaviors it encourages -- none of them -- and you KNOW with certainty you never did, even though alcohol can affect the higher functions of the intellect, including memory? Are we to believe everyone that attests to your tastes and behavior is not telling the truth? That the words written about your activities, by your friends and defined and explained by your friends, mean nothing? That your word, above all, is paramount?

Especially now, when obscuring the truth as much as possible -- not letting it interfere with your ascension to this esteemed position, this position for which you are qualified and to which you have aspired in your long professional career -- would make it possible for you to achieve the goal?

It defies logic. It defies a basic appreciation of the cumulative testimony of witnesses, records, and statements. For you to deny about yourself what so many others state is true, state that behaviors and events occurred, repeatedly, stretches our bounds of belief beyond what they can tolerate. And so we doubt, strongly, the breadth of your complete denials. These denials don't make sense in light of everything else we know -- except that we KNOW you have a very good, in fact an extraordinarily good, reason to make a sufficient number of the people who matter believe you just enough to insure that you are placed in the position that you believe you deserve, a position for which many of these people have their own good strong reasons to make sure you are placed there.

In short, you have a very good and very understandable reason to lie. And we know it.

So we conclude -- you are lying. And because you are lying, you should not get this position, no matter how much you deserve it, no matter how good you would be at it.

Into Georgia on Highway 41

Yes, we have finally left Florida.  Our first view is of Long Pond, in Lake Park. There are still a lot of lakes around here.  This happens to be the Valdosta Yacht Club.  That is not a joke.





Next we'll take a look at Dasher Park, in Dasher, Georgia.




Valdosta - Business 41 through it, or Highway 41 around it?

Well, put it this way. If I was doing a road trip, cycling or driving (or roller skating or hiking, but hiking would be REAL slow), I'd rather go into Valdosta, the first medium-size city we've seen since Tampa, rather than go around it where there's much less to see and visit. So, Business 41 it is. It rejoins Highway 41 north of Valdosta.

Hip Hop Fish and Chicken



Downtown Valdosta - has some charm



Business 41 is Ashley Street through Valdosta, by the way.

Valdosta - Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce




Michael's Deli



Now leaving Valdosta.

Hayabusa-2 dropping probes onto Ryugu

Friday, September 21, the Hayabusa-2 satellite orbiting mini-asteroid Ryugu will drop two min-rovers onto the asteroidal surface.  The rovers are going to hop around the asteroid, using a motor-powered internal weight to drive them.

Should be fun. And they've got cameras, too.  And there are more landers, and more interesting maneuvers, coming up, if everything keeps working right.


Hayabusa-2: Japan's rovers ready for touchdown on asteroid

Here's a picture of Ryugu I had not seen before.  It's quite bouldery, which might make asteroid hopping a bit more interesting.

A new hot rock

According to this article, the Whitney Flame Topaz is the finest red topaz on planet Earth.

Next time I'm in Washington (maybe when the dinosaur hall reopens), I'll have to check it out.

There appears to be only one or two pictures of it so far, so rather than repost them, just read the article.

The Whitney Flame Topaz Smolders in Vibrant Red

It's on display now in the same room as the Hope Diamond and the Dom Pedro Aquamarine, which is pretty fine company.

A new Washington political thriller

It's like a novel (because no one would believe this is non-fiction):

Here's what it says on the back cover:

The Washington power struggle continues -- and the Supreme Court is at the center of a battle between the forces of good and Republicans.  Every player has a stake in the Supreme Court nomination...

The President -- Vicious, vindictive, venal, and vain, his remaining faithful followers expect him to deliver a Supreme Court majority with his picks. And he just wants to be liked, loved, and adored, and to keep his base happy and gullible, his choice must be the key to a monocultural Christian society, even if they'll overlook his own record of sins and scandals to get them there.

The Senate Majority Leader -- Malevolent, Machiavellian, manipulative, magisterial, he has twisted the Constitution and the rules of the Senate into a Möbius band that has only one side -- his. His brash political gambling and gamesmanship has taken him to this point, an achievement he treasures above all others, his legacy.  And he'll do whatever it takes to make sure it happens.

The Speaker of the House -- Once thought a nimble politician, now he's a spineless wimp. Ignore him because he doesn't matter at all. He's getting out of Dodge with his tail stuck into his butt crack.

The Senator on the Committee -- Once he spoke for justice as he prosecuted a President. Now he speaks for unfairness, partisanship, misogyny, and malfeasance. And every single day, he looks more gay, but he can't admit his hidden passions.

The Nominee -- A child of privilege and a student at a prestigious private school, the nominee achieved the top of his law school class and an esteemed judgeship despite a fondness for beer and baseball tickets. No one disputes his legal mind and his conservative Republican bona fides, but now his past may return to haunt him, and deny him the position he covets and thinks he deserves.

The Accuser -- As a young woman, she and the Nominee had violent sexual encounter she tried for decades to forget. Rebuilding her life in California and academia, she was haunted by the memory, and told her story in the privacy of a physician's office.  But circumstances forced her story, and herself, into the news, and now she must determine what she can remember, and decide if she can face the man she never wanted to see again -- in front of Congress and the American public.

The Witness -- A famous alcoholic and a high school drinking buddy of the Nominee, the Accuser said he witnessed the encounter and managed to stop the Nominee before it went too far.  Now the Witness says he can't remember and doesn't want to, yet he can verify the Nominee's pretty boy, party boy life in high school, and everyone knows he can. The Witness is the wild card that can keep the Nominee from ascending to ... THE FIFTH SEAT.

Realizing the danger that the Witness poses, the Senate Majority Leader makes an untraceable phone call to a contact known only as "Davy Crockett".   "Davy," the SML says in his slow, infuriating rural Southern accent, "can you still hit a dime-sized knot in a pine board from 100 yards with Ol' Betsy?  If you can, I might have a job for you..." 


Read THE FIFTH SEAT -- because the last chapters have yet to be written, and reality is even stranger than fiction.

(Unfortunately.)

Full blast

Jennifer Rubin, the Washington Post's esteemed columnist, has no love for President Trump, his administration, Trumpists in general, and the chumps in Congress.  So in this column, she tells it like it is regarding what Congress and Trump are doing to make the Supreme Court another agent of their collective will.


Kavanaugh’s confirmation went seriously off track weeks ago

Here's her blast:

"Surely there is blame on both sides regarding the politicization of the federal courts, but the damage to the Supreme Court itself is largely the work of the Republican Party, specifically of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Republicans brag about their power play in denying Judge Merrick Garland a vote, and then doing away with the 60-vote cloture requirement. They are downright delighted with McConnell for having pulled this off (almost)."

Exactly right.  So if Kavanaugh's nomination goes right off the rails, it serves them right.

Lighthouse of the Week, September 16-22, 2018: Vulcano, Italy

This week's lighthouse is on the island of Vulcano, near Sicily, from which all other volcanoes get their general name.  Vulcano is still considered active, though it last erupted in the late 1800s, 1888 to be more precise.  Not many people live there, so while it may have geological tourism interest, it doesn't have a lot of basic tourism interest.  And if they interest is in active volcanoes, Stromboli (the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean") or Etna are where the volcanophiles should go.

However, Vulcano does have a lighthouse.  And I used Google Maps to the utmost to find it.  So here is both a panorama from Google Maps, and a map (3D image).  It took a moment for me to see the lighthouse until the 3D "popped" for me.

Panorama first:



And then the map:

Where is the Vulcano lighthouse?

So let's get some details from the Lighthouse Directory:

"1887 (station established 1853). Active; focal plane 35 m (115 ft); four white flashes every 20 s. 31 m (102 ft) octagonal stone tower with lantern and gallery, rising from a 2-story masonry keeper's house. Lighthouse painted white; lantern dome is gray metallic."

It seems strange that the lighthouse was built a year before Vulcano's last recorded eruption.  By the way, the lighthouse is also known as the Faro di Gelso, as there is a small community named Gelso just up the slope from it.

And now to the pictures.

Both the Washington Capitals and Hershey Bears have new coaches

One of the surprises of the Washington Capitals surprise season, winning the Stanley Cup, was that a couple of weeks after they won, Coach Barry Trotz resigned, and ended up getting hired to coach the New York Islanders.  Assistant coach Todd Reirden was promoted to head coach.

Well, I knew that.  But I also knew that the Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate team that has been a big, big reason for the Capitals success, didn't have a great season last year, and they fired their coach.  So obviously they had to hire a new one.  I hadn't remembered to find out who he was until a few days ago.

His name is Spencer Carbery.

Spencer Carbery Named Head Coach of the Hershey Bears

"The native of Victoria, British Columbia has ties to the Chocolate and White [Hershey's colors, of course], serving as the head coach and director of hockey operations for Hershey's ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays, from 2011-2016. In his five seasons at the helm, Carbery compiled a 207-115-38 record with the Stingrays, making him the all-time winningest coach in South Carolina history. "

Sounds good.

Well, I wish him luck.  B-E-A-R-S Bears!  Bears!  Bears!

World class

What else can you say when someone beats the world record in the marathon by more than a minute?

And runs by himself almost the whole way?

World class.  World standard.  World-beating.

And things like that.

Eliud Kipchoge smashes marathon world record by 78 seconds in Berlin

I'd like to say that this is Beamonesque, but Kipchoge might still be capable of something faster.

Which is somewhat astonishing to even contemplate.

It's about time!

NASA has been building a system that can defend the Earth against dangerous asteroids, and it is nearly ready to go into space!

I will sleep easier when that happens.  Hey, I don't lose sleep worrying about a catastrophic asteroid impact, but it could actually happen.  And if it did happen, boy would we feel stupid if we had the technological capability to defend against it, and yet didn't make the capability operational.

Well, it appears that we might have that capability.  Still must be tested, but at least they're trying.

The experiment that could save the Earth: Nasa's spacecraft made to deflect incoming asteroids has entered the final stages and will launch 'by 2020'

Here's the more technical description of how it will work.

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission

And a schematic:

So, don't you feel more relaxed about this now, too?

Evaluating the line-up for this season of 'Dancing With the Stars'

This doesn't seem fair - Alexis Ren??? Have you seen what she's capable of? (I don't mean modeling in skimpy, barely there bikinis - I mean her physical capabilities.)  She took dance training and her flexibility is top notch, right up there with the pros. And every heterosexual male who likes girls limber and yet curvaceous is going to vote for her with all ten fingers, every night.

Now, there are other potential contenders - gymnasts and football players always seem to do pretty well, and there's one of each, though the gymnast has been out of competition for a long time (Mary Lou Retton). Singer Tinashe probably can do some moves. I've been pulling for Sharna Burgess to win the mirror ball, but I have no idea if her radio personality partner Bobby Bones has any coordination or rhythm. Other than that, it's the usual collection of older stars (John Schneider, Nancy McKeon), younger stars (Milo Manheim, Evanna Lynch), and sundry other personalities.

Ren has all the advantages at the starting gate.

Here's an article with a picture of each pair.

'DWTS' Season 27: Gymnast Mary Lou Retton, blind skier in new cast


Here are the three articles I've written about Alexis Ren prior to this:

• Admiring Alexis
• Another great cover
• So do we - if she's wearing them

And here's what she's capable of, dance-wise.  That's pretty amazing;  so is she.

Great River Bluffs State Park, Minnesota

Another StreetView roadside scenic location.


Panorama on the bluffs


Panorama from the road

Not a horror story; a science story

"Ghost Fishes from the Deepest Ocean" sounds like a B-movie title, but it's actually a real scientific discovery.

New species of ghostly fish found in ocean's deepest depths

Includes a video.  They're definitely real.  They're also probably three inches long or so.

Here's a picture of one of the new fishies.

Before and after

In this era of Instagram, occasionally lovely young women post selfies taken when they are in a casual state.

As in nude.  In a hotel room.

Alexina Graham is a high fashion model from England who just got picked for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show for the second time.

I harvested this picture from her Instagram account, which is here.   She's nude, in a hotel room.

I thought it could use a little brightening, so here's my version.

I think it's an improvement.  Nice tan lines, Alexina.

She also did a Sports Illustrated Casting Call last year.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of her.

Lighthouse of the Week, September 9-15, 2018: Coquille River, Oregon

I was looking for lighthouses on rivers.  I didn't find one (yet), but I'll keep looking.  What I mean by that is a lighthouse on an actual river, not at a river mouth or in an estuary that was a river further inland, much like the rivers on the Chesapeake Bay.

While I was casting around, I found the Coquille River lighthouse in Oregon.  It's where the Coquille River enters the Pacific Ocean at Bandon.  It's been there a long time -- 1896, to be exact.

According to Lighthouse Friends:

"James F. Barker, the first head keeper, and John M. Cowan, his assistant, were transferred to Coquille River from Heceta Head and took up residence at the new station during the first part of 1896. The fourth-order Fresnel lens was first shown from the tower on February 29, 1896, and a snowstorm settled in the next day, necessitating the first use of the fog signal."

Here's some excerpts from the esteemed Lighthouse Directory on this lighthouse:

"1896. Inactive since 1939 (a decorative solar-powered light has been displayed since 1991; charted as a landmark). 40 ft (12 m) stucco-clad brick tower attached to an unusual "Victorian Italianate" fog signal building. Lighthouse painted white, lantern and gallery black.

The lighthouse was restored beginning in 1976 by Oregon State Parks. However, violent weather in the early 2000s damaged the site, and a new restoration effort was launched. Progress was slow, however, and in 2005 there was fresh concern about the poor condition of the building. Restoration was finally completed by Oregon State Parks in 2007."

So there are lots of pictures available;  here are five.

A September sonnet: "journey of commitments"

journey of commitments


She looked at me with diff'rent eyes when I
presented my own case to her. I think
she knew my life would change right then, and pry
myself away from what might quickly sink
a speeding ship -- the obstacles of strife
and danger which must be avoided, steered
around and navigated 'til my life
was in the centered channel which appeared
unreachable before I sailed from
my safety harbor to her wind-tossed sea.
And on the waves and crests, as we both come
to shared awareness and bright ecstasy,
I find a simple reason to sustain
her gaze upon my life, and there remain.

The Faroes are like another world

These pictures in the Daily Mail of the Faroe Islands are truly stunning.  There are superlatives like "jaw-dropping", "mind-bending", "heart-stopping", or just the more common "magnificent", and if you choose to apply them, it's OK with me.

I'm likely never to get to this place.  There are other, more easily accessible places with fantastic sights that I hope to get to see, so in the case of the Faroe Islands, the pictures will have to do.

Are these the most dramatic islands in the world? Incredible pictures reveal the jaw-dropping ruggedness of the Faroes

Rather than use one of the pictures from the article, I'll repeat a picture from a past Lighthouse of the Week feature, Kallur Lighthouse.

It's not Velveeta Shells and Cheese

Some miners in Australia found some rocks -- rocks covered with gold.

I kid you not.   And not just some little rocks with a little bit of gold, but BIG rocks covered with a LOT of gold.

Given all the gold that we humans have extracted from the Earth, something like this is likely to be an increasingly rare occurrence.  And it's already pretty rare.

Huge gold-encrusted rocks unearthed in Australia

"The largest specimen, weighing 95kg (210lb), was found to contain more than 2,400 ounces of gold, Canadian miner RNC Minerals said.

The company said it had extracted gold worth about C$15m (£9m; $11m) from a mine near Kalgoorlie last week."

Here's some pictures of this short but impressive gold rush.

You don't see something like this every day

Insane picture of sun dogs, halos, and arcs taken by Martin Male, over Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories of Canada, just a few days ago.

Well, there is a 'yes' in there

From the article "The Republican Charade on Roe v. Wade Just Got Unmasked", there was this verbatim dialogue between Senator Kamala Harris and illegitimate Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh.  (Illegitimate because he has been nominated by the illegitimately elected President Donald Trump.  That's the first time I've ever written that.  But sufficient evidence is there -- between the Russians helping and hacking, the breaking of campaign laws, and the deliberate disenfranchisement of voters in key states, Trump was elected illegitimately.)

HARRIS: But do you agree that it can do that? [ It = Supreme Court. That = overturn any precedent ]

KAVANAUGH: There are times, but there’s a series of conditions, important conditions that if faithfully applied make it rare …

Let me translate that:

So the answer, hard as it is to ferret out, is that yes, "there are times" that it can. Of course there are.

And given the chance, they will.

Blue Tsunami.  Coming this November.

The Highway 41 trek FINALLY reaches Georgia

Only a few stops left in Florida on Highway 41 -- it's a long state.  I expect to move through southern Georgia pretty fast, because it's fairly rural, without a lot of landmarks.  We'll see.

But first, we'll finish with a few more locations in Florida.


Jasper, Florida - important intersection, because 41 heads due west briefly right here. Don't miss the turn.



The Alapaha River Bridge



Jennings, Florida - by the Post Office, just to prove that's where it is



The Florida-Georgia State Line!!! Really! That's what the sign says!



The first stop in Georgia will be Lake Park.

This could very well become a major problem

The topic of this article is quite concerning.

At water-starved Lake Mead and Lake Powell, 'the crisis is already real,' scientists say

"The Colorado River basin, which stretches from Wyoming to Mexico, has been drying out during what scientists say is one of the driest 19-year periods in the past 1,200 years. The river has long been over-allocated, with the demands of farms and cities exceeding the available water supply, and the strains are being compounded by growing population, drought and climate change.

The scientists, who say their group presents an "independent, scientific voice for the future of the Colorado River," detailed how much Lake Powell has gone down in less than two decades. By the end of this year, Powell's levels are projected to have dropped 94 feet below where the reservoir stood in 2000, when it was nearly full."

So, to sum up, more water is coming out of the Mead-Powell reservoir system than is going in. I apologize for re-stating the obvious. The result of the process is dropping water levels.  When the lakes reach a designated level, then a water shortage is declared and the per-state allocations are reduced.

No state wants that.  But all the states may have to accept that.  So why is it happening?

"Scientists have found that higher temperatures have contributed significantly to reductions in the river's flow since 2000. They call it a "temperature-dominated drought." In one recent study, scientists projected that warming will likely cause the river’s flow to decrease by 35 percent or more this century."

Ah yes.  Climate change.

We're going to keep feeling it, more and more. This could get quite real.

The Capitals, OK. But the Mystics?

The Washington D.C. area was in a collective state of sports shock when the Washington Capitals defied 44 years of incomprehensibly bad luck, heartbreaking losses, playoff collapses, etc. and managed to win the Stanley Cup, led by the finally recognized for what he is (fantastic) Alex Ovechkin.  Probably no one in the region imagined that another professional sports team with a jaded history would suddenly reverse course and make it to the championship round of their sport.

But that's exactly what the Washington Mystics (the Women's National Basketball Association team) have done. And they did it somewhat in the same manner as the Capitals did in the Cup semifinal round.  If you'll remember (if you were paying attention), the Capitals fell behind the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in the series, but rallied to win Games 6 and 7 and go to the Finals. 

The Mystics, partly due to a not-as-bad-as-feared knee injury to nothing-but-a-superstar Elena Delle Donne, fell behind 2-1 in their best of five series with Atlanta.  But Delle Donne came back after missing game 3, some less heralded players stepped up (like Andre Burakovsky did in Game 7 against Tampa) to help, and the Mystics won games 4 and 5 to make the Finals.

Oh, by the way, it doesn't hurt to have former Maryland standout Kristi Toliver on the team backing up Delle Donne.  She can downright play.  (I guess the proper term in basketball is ball. Well, she can.)

So this is somewhat uncanny.  It would be nearly the same level of incomprehensible for the Mystics to win the WNBA championship as it was for the Capitals to win the Cup.  But you can't win it unless you're in it -- the Finals, that is.

And they are.

All aboard the Washington Mystics bandwagon

So they might.

Let's just celebrate Kate Beckinsale, again

My admiration for Kate Beckinsale knows few bounds -- just search in my blog with her name to see that.  She's a remarkably skilled (and perhaps underappreciated) actress, as well as an extraordinary beauty.  Still can't figure out how former husband Len Wiseman could make enough mistakes to split them up, because there was lots of photographic evidence that they liked each other's company when they were together.

So bringing us back to the present, the Daily Mail had three articles about Kate recently, and it seems that I must bring it to the attention of my meager readership.  Not sure if you, dear readers, are as interested in her as I am, but hey, I have to give you the opportunity.


Kate Beckinsale flashes her abs in a tight PVC crop top and pencil skirt as she leads the glamour at fitness event


Kate Beckinsale looks sensational in a sparkling crimson gown as she accepts 'The Talent Award' at the 44th Deauville US Film Festival

Kate Beckinsale, 45, stuns in crop top and high-waisted dress pants as she accepts award at American film festival in France

Highway 41, Lake City and beyond (but not to Georgia quite yet)

Next stop - LAKE CITY!

You might wonder why Lake City is so exciting. Well, if you're driving up Interstate 75 - and this becomes very important now, because Highway 41 and I-75 start to parallel each other pretty closely north of Lake City - this town is one of the last places to get off the interstate before Georgia.

However, there is not actually a lot in Lake City, tourism-wise. We're staying on Highway 41, not 441 through Lake City.

Which is why this next location caught my eye.

Chinese Restaurant - not kidding.  I'm not sure if it's great or not.  (Zoom in to see the name.  Yes, it is moderately famous.)



However, there are a couple more notable places (depending on your definition of notable) up Highway 41 before we get to Georgia.

Intersection with Interstate 10, Gateway to the Panhandle of Florida, Texas, and Los Angeles.  And Jacksonville.



Crossing the Suwannee River, just south of White Springs



The Stephen Foster Culture Center State Park includes the Stephen Foster Antebellum Museum, shown here ready for Christmas.


(For some reason, Highway 41 is also called Highway 100 in this stretch.)


By a gypsum mound.  Gypsum is a phosphate mining by-product.  The most mounds from phosphate mining are in Polk County, but obviously there are some others.



Almost to Georgia. Hang in there!

Forgot she was pregnant

Rachel Weisz, 48 years old, just gave birth to her child with Daniel Craig.

That's impressive (though she didn't surpass Brigitte Nielsen).

Rachel Weisz, 48, and Daniel Craig, 50, welcome their first child together as they reveal they are 'very happy' at birth of baby girl

Congratulations to the happy couple, because it isn't always easy to have a child under these circumstances.

Lighthouse of the Week, September 2-8, 2018: Port Sanilac, Michigan

If you think of Lower Michigan as a mitten for your left hand, Port Sanilac (map) is on the thumb on the shore of Lake Huron.  On the other side of the southern extension of Lake Huron is Canada, and at the far southern end of the lake, the St. Clair River drains the lake toward Detroit.

If Sanilac sounds familiar, it has a lot to do with milk.  Sanilac is a baby formula, and Sanalac is a powdered milk.  And that part of Michigan has a lot of dairy farms.

So let's find out more about the lighthouse.

Web site:  Port Sanilac Lighthouse (great history)

It was built in 5 months in 1886 for $20,000. A bargain.  It went automatic in 1928.

Port Sanilac, MI at Lighthouse Friends

"Situated 130 feet from the lakeshore, octagonal Port Sanilac Lighthouse stands fifty-nine feet tall and is connected to the nearby two-story keeper’s by a covered passageway. The eight-room dwelling had two, 2,200-gallon brick cisterns built beneath its kitchen that were used to collect rainwater for domestic use. Ile aux Galets Lighthouse is the only tower that resembles the one at Port Sanilac."

At the end of the Lighthouse Friends page, this status is stated:

"Carl Rosenfeld, of Carl’s Chop House fame, purchased the dwelling portion of Port Sanilac Lighthouse for $4,000 in 1928, four years before opening his popular Detroit restaurant. The tower, which still contains its Fresnel lens, was sold to the Rosenfeld family in 2000, though the Coast Guard is still responsible for the light. The light station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

In 2012, the Rosenfeld family placed Port Sanilac Lighthouse, along with a three-bedroom guest cottage, on the market for $1.599 million. The keeper’s dwelling, which was thoroughly renovated in the mid-1990s, now features three nautical-themed bedrooms, one full bathroom, a half bath, a kitchen, living room, dining room, and a Florida room added in the 1940s with a wall of windows facing the lake. The historic brick oil house, wooden outhouse, and well also remain on the property. The lighthouse, without the guest house, was still on the market in 2013 with a sale price of $999,800."

So I wondered if there was anything more recent.

And there is!

Port Sanilac Lighthouse now open to public

"Jeff Shook, lighthouse owner and Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy president, purchased the lighthouse in late 2015 and privately funded the restoration. The home attached to the lighthouse at 81 S. Lake St., is used by Shook’s family as a summer home, but the lighthouse tower will be open to the public on Fridays for tours."

So, it's possible to get inside the tower.  And based on one of my pictures below, it still has a Fresnel lens as its light source.