Our sojourn to the deep South began on October 3; we loaded up the Rivian R1T and headed for points South to attend a wedding in St. Petersburg, FL. We decided to take three days and enjoy the drive down, and 3 days to enjoy the ride home; it was quite nice!
Stop One - Rehoboth Beach, DE
Our first stop was at Pepper’s Greenhouse in Milton DE; about 15 minutes from downtown Rehoboth Beach. Oh my! The greenhouses just went on for ever and ever! We actually loaded up on several trays of unusual flora that we have not seen elsewhere!
That and I found the most charming rain chain for our yard.
Massive shout-out with much gratitude to Mistress Maddie for the superb outline on the wheres and what’s of Rehoboth Beach! I got an overnight reservation at the Beach View Hotel; and indeed, it was! The room was comfy and once settled, we strolled the boardwalk. It was...blustery, but to us hearty New Englanders, it was a July day at the beach. Watched a wedding party making the best of the wind and drizzle to get outdoor sunset shots on the beach. Gay couples, straight couples, families, young, old.
And so many dining options to choose from; we found ourselves in the mood for some Mediterranean fare and dined at Semra’s MediterraneanGrill. The most astonishing lentil soup!
For my entree, I had a phenomenal lamb ka-bob, husband had the gyro, along with SEVERAL very generous, very large, very potent peach vodka… things (we were tired, saw “peach” and “vodka” and I was sold). Strolled and shopped a little more before calling it a night; sweat shirts, assorted other things.
Onto Savannah, GA – Stop two.
First off – Delaware is most certainly a Joe Biden state! Nary a MAGA sign, tee-shirt, red hat or stupidity on display ANYWHERE. Secondly… the roads! We took US13 from Rehoboth Beach through the Chesapeake Tunnel / Bridge, and while we were in Delaware, not one pot hole, no litter, no bumpy roads. Even on the podunk side roads that Google Maps took us through to get over the US13. Every home, right down to the double-wides, looked like the owners had incredible pride in what they had. Just amazed us! Then we crossed the state border to Virginia…
Hurricane Isaias was churning in the tropics, and from about dawn on the second day of the trip through the October 9, we were in the thick of it. Rain; mostly consistent, sometimes heavy, came down with little break. Our Rivian is a 8,500 pound truck, so there was no issue with driving through it. Once on I-95, we just set the Universal Hands Free and the truck drove for most of the journey. It was along here that we got indoctrinated into Buc-ees; a growing chain of “destination” rest stops with acres of gas pumps, hundreds of EV charging stations, along with a circus of fast foods like freshly chopped BBQ sandwiches, kettle cooked potato chips, etc. Sidebar – we stopped at three Buc-ees along the way. Their FUN, CLEAN and LOUD; we even had our photo taken with Buc-ee!
...and, though it LOOKS incredible… the food just is not… passable. They push very… VERY generous portions, but… a little would have gone a longer way (we were completely Buc’ed out by our 3rd stop). Our overnight in Savannah was along the interstate at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott just outside Savannah. Clean and quiet.
Destination - St. Petersburg, FL – The ugly, the bad and the good.
I took very few photos of St. Pete; mainly because it was dreadfully torrential for most of our stay. But it was a very warm rain! We stayed a The Fairfield Inn which was quite nice and offered free EV charging for guests. We were able to travel all over the region once there without having to stop and “fill up”.
I lived in New England in the 1980’s, and witnessed the birth of a major infrastructure project, “The Big Dig”. The Big Dig was designed to take the Central Artery (I-93) that sliced through downtown Boston and sink it below ground. When the project was completed, the swath of land that was reclaimed became the Rose Kennedy Green-way – a beautiful park that united both sides of the city together again.
When I moved to Tampa Bay in the mid-1990’s, there were three causeways that crossed the bay from Pinellas County (St. Pete, and Clearwater). The Gandy; a two-lane bridge / viaduct that took you to the Southern part of Tampa (with some nice bars and nightclubs!). The Howard Frankland / I-275 6-lane causeway / bridge that took you from St. Pete to and dropped you in central Tampa, and the Rt. 60 causeway bridge for traffic from Clearwater / Tarpon Springs to central Tampa and the Tampa International Airport. I-275, at that time, wended it way through the Pinellas County cities from the northern part of the peninsula to the Sunshine Skyway bridge over the lower Tampa Bay, connecting to Bradenton and Sarasota. When you traversed the Howard Frankland, you really felt like you left the heat and annoyance of the big city of Tampa for something peaceful. You could feel the “Gulf beach” energy wash over you.
My… how things have changed. The Howard Frankland is now a 14-lane cement causeway and I-275 has been drastically widened from 4-lanes to (up to) 12 lanes of cement, huge barrier walls and “feeder” sections (I-175, and I-375) that jutted into lower communities. The Gandy had a second causeway built along side it making it an effective 4-lane road, and on the Tampa side, the road traversed the south Tampa communities via an elevated cement viaduct, effectively cutting those neighborhoods in half. It was heartbreaking. What was worse; the traffic was still as bad as it ever was.
The bad - Nightlife?
28 years go, I met my (now) husband in a nightclub in St. Petersburg. It would be a lie to say it was just a sweet encounter of violins and candles, but the truth was, I was two sheets to the wind and we met while shoving dollars down the G-string of a hunky stripper. The night ended with husband and I having a wonderful, long romp on a pool float in my back yard and he stayed until morning. Ah! The good old days! We were functioning, adult gays of the 1990’s. We were not new to the Tampa Bay bar scene; we both new it well, knew what each establishment offered. Our preferences aligned and what clubs offered nods to those preferences; a little leather, a little Levi, a little flesh, a nice thump-thump beat in the background, perhaps some soft-core porn or music videos on the monitors, real pin-ball machines, a pool table or dart board were a plus. On this trip, we tried to revisit much of that nightlife. It just was not there. Every nightclub we went into was just… either a complete dive (well, worn 1980’s salvaged Winnebago furniture) or these cookie-cutter, trendy “you be you” rainbow explosion places that had no real vibe other than people with badly dyed hair dressed in the same schlubby clothes standing around in small groups. Long gone was “The Resort” in South St. Pete and the hand full of nightclubs scattered around town, replaced with a downtown community that professes inclusion and pride. Kudos, and we did feel safe walking around, but… it was just a little too “Gen Z” for our taste. And expensive!
The good - Food, fauna and family.
We dined well! “Skyway Jacks” on US-19 in South St. Pete – the most INCREDIBLE breakfasts in the city! The restaurant has been around for almost 50 years and is currently run by an Ex-pat Pittsburgher who has everything Steelers hanging from the rafters. They pride themselves on getting a “One Star” review on “Yelp!” by a Karen who didn’t like that they did not cut the toast on a diagonal – with the review lovingly printed on tee-shirts! The current owner bought the place 8 years ago… and kept it the same (except for the PGH memorabilia). His cooks have been with the restaurant since it opened.
There is a regional chain of restaurants called “Po’Folks” that makes the most INCREDIBLE fried catfish! The lightest, most incredible breading!
Afterwards, my husband wanted his “Smurf” ice cream from Larry’s out on St. Pete beach. It was a very happy night!
Pork is king; (WONDERFUL) Cuba and Caribbean food still reigns. Sevearal hole-in-the wall places we would frequent were delightfully still there. A most excellent afternoon at the Florida Orange Groves Winery; we left there with TWO cases of assorted wines!
We visited the sponge docks of Tarpon Springs and had a fantastic Greek lunch (gyros, served by an incredibly muscle-butt but very straight waiter who just… kept a watchful eye on us so that we did not oogle him too much) and picked up some delicious baklava from Hella’s Bakery to bring home.
Our absolute favorite nursery, Jene’s Tropicals, out in the Pasadena neighborhood of Gulfport, was still there!
Husband and I picked up several cultivars of assorted tropicals that made their way back to RI. The nursery is located near a power sub-station that the wild parakeets routinely nest in.
Jene has a large assortment of ceramics - I added more ceramic geckos to my hallway collection.
We also visited the University of Southern Florida Botanical Garden in Tampa and loaded up whole bunch of wonderful plants that we just cannot find anywhere else.
The main reason for the trip was to visit with our extended family and to attended a big (I’m talking BIG!), Hungarian wedding (groom's side, it was a 3+day event!). As the line from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" goes; "What do you mean he don't eat no meat? Oh, that's okay, I make lamb!" ...they had a whole, roasted pig for the reception dinner...
From October 8 through the 11th, it was pre-parties, rehearsal party, post rehearsal party, wedding reception, post reception party, day-after beach cook-out party.
It was bittersweet to sit with people we have not seen; some in over 20 years. These people are our chosen family; we traveled to attend the wedding of our ministers adopted daughter, now nearing 40 and this her first wedding. It felt wonderful to hug and hold them, to laugh (a LOT of laughter!) and to cry; remembering all those who passed on. The skies cleared for the wedding day, and it was just a marvelous event held at our old UU church in downtown!
We were also able to drive around the St. Pete waterfront and out to the pier that morning. So much has changed. So much has remained the same.
Northward
The morning of the 12th, we started our way to home. By this point, neither of us wanted to see another piece of fried chicken, catfish, barbecued anything or pork.
Where we took the coastal route down, we brought an inland route home through the Appalachia and Blue Ridge mountains. In the Carolina’s and into Virginia, cotton is king! Mile after mile of cotton fields ready for reaping.
The scenery was stunning.
Bloated from pork, pork, pork and more pork, we opted for soup and salad for dining fare along the route; northbound up I-81 through Wilkes-Barre and Scranton (and the President Biden Expressway!) to I-84 to bypass the weekday traffic of the I-95 corridor from DC up to Connecticut.
Conclusion
Overall, it was a wonderful excursion. We know an extended stay in Rehoboth Beach will be in our future, and we will certainly continue to revisit Florida, though neither of us could ever consider moving back there. There IS still a lot to revisit and do, and the re-connections with the family there made for some cherished memories. This was our first road trip in an EV. It was remarkable; the ride was smooth and uneventful. We also did not have "road wear" from the drive that we always experienced in other vehicles. Personally, I felt like I was riding in the Amtrak Acela for a lot of the trip; just that smooth! For those of you wondering, in the end, it cost us $510 to recharge down and back during this 3,600 mile journey. With the route in the navigation, the truck told us how much charge we would need to get to the next stop, so that cut down the recharge times to the 15-20 minute time frame. Just enough for a bio break and stretch.
So that was our adventure!
We’re already planning our next road trips.
Onward,
Rade
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