3,000 mile Trek to the Florida Keys

Blog Entry #1 September 23rd to 24th 2015 – Cary, NC to Darien, GA

9-23-2015 Dan and Jean Fuccella with 1950 Willys Overland Jeep Station Wagon Jean and I have begun what has become our annual trek and test of marital fortitude.  Like our past treks to Mississippi, Central Florida, Western US, and Maine, this trip looks to provide a combination of hours of sole-soothing cruising and seconds of […]

Blog Entry #2 September 25th 2015 – St. Simons Island and Starke, FL

We spent the first part of Friday, September 25th on St. Simons Island halfway between Savannah, GA and Jacksonville, FL.  St. Simons is one of the stereotypical up-scale island communities that works at striking a balance between posh accommodations, comfortable residential life, nature preservation, and historical relevance.  Anyway – they do a pretty good job of […]

Blog Post #3 September 26th 2015 – Eating Kids and Taking Stock

Saturday morning, September 26th, Jean and I walked down the main thoroughfare in Starke, FL to the local breakfast dive.  I would say that they have cooking breakfast down pretty well.  Took a photo of Jean under the sign in front of the restaurant – resemblance?  We also passed a couple of interesting signs on […]

Blog Post #4 September 27th 2015 – Fort Lauderdale & Off to Key West

Sunday, September 27th, Jean and I went to Mass at a Catholic Church (a practice she follows religiously) in Weston, FL, a few miles from where we spent the night in a massive high-rise resort complex west of Fort Lauderdale.  As you may know from previous trek logs, I spend much of the time during […]

Blog Post #5 September 28th & 29th 2015 – Key West & the Dry Tortugas

We spent Monday, the 28th touring the old town section of Key West.  We took a tour trolley excursion of the island, did the obligatory visit to Hemmingway’s home (and 58 cats), lunched in a modest Japanese restaurant, poked our noses into several shops, churches, and some of the 138 “eclectic” bars on the island.  This was […]

Blog Post #6 September 30th 2015 – Car Maintenance & Key West to Homestead

I spent the early morning of September 30th sitting outside an Affordable Auto & Truck Repair in Key West, hoping to catch the proprietor on his arrival to put the Jeep up on the lift.  Wanted to check for the source of a strange noise that momentarily appeared the evening before.  Experience over the past […]

Blog Post #7 October 1st, 2015 – Homestead to Sanibel Island via the Everglades

It apparently has been real soggy in NC.  Weather had been mixed here in Florida, but mostly free of rain and quite warm.  Saying this reminds me of when my parents moved from Yonkers, New York to Merritt Island, Florida.  Mom was continuously trying to convince Jean & me (“me” is correct, you know) with […]

Blog Post #8 October 2nd & 3rd, 2015 – Sanibel Island

We spent the morning October 2nd over a leisurely breakfast on Sanibel Island waiting for the tide to go out.  The hotel kindly extended our check-out time to noon so that we would have time to do some low-tide shelling.  Naturally, after about 10 minutes of shelling in the mind baking sun, I was ready to […]

Blog Post #9 October 3th & 4th 2015 – Meet Lita

Lita:  We had to put Casper (our Bichon Frise) down a few weeks prior to this trek due to kidney failure.  Not wanting to acknowledge that he was no longer with us, for two weeks we left his food and water bowls out and his blanket draped over the living room couch where he used […]

Blog Post #10 October 5, 2015 – Mangled Tire and Other Good News

  10-5-15 Picnic lunch with Lita at Douglas Airport, GA On Monday, October 5th we left Lake City, FL around 10am (a little early by our standards) and continued north up the center of Florida.  Our goal, Milledgeville, GA, was selected based on its achievable distance 250 miles (5 hours for us with stops).  We […]

Blog Post #11 October 6th to 7th 2015 – Clayton, GA to Fletcher, NC

The morning of Tuesday, October 6th went very well.  While waiting for the replacement tire to show up at Kenny’s, I gave the Jeep a good washing to remove the salt accumulated on the Florida peninsula the previous week.  Perfect timing; while helping Jean pack the Jeep at the motel, we got a phone call from […]

Blog Post #12 October 8th 2015 – Ashville, NC to Mt. Mitchell

The morning of October 8th, Jean, Lita, and I left Ashville, NC around 10:30am and headed off up the Blue Ridge Parkway toward Blowing Rock, NC.  As it turned out, we were a little early for the fall color display along the Parkway.  This was a mixed blessing.  Sure it would have been nice to […]

Blog Post #13 October 9th to 10th 2015 – Home Again!

Jean, Lita, and I left Blowing Rock, NC on Friday, October, 9th.  It was a crisp & clear morning.  The Jeep was running well and all were in good spirits.  While heading south we contacted my sister Bunny and her husband Jim to suggest that we make a detour from the direct route to Cary […]