The Driving Thread

I was in Naples and saw signs for '120 miles to miami.' Has anybody driven Alligator Alley?

 

Many times. Just an interstate with alligators lounging in the canals.

 

I’d love to take a trip on the old Tamiami Trail, Alligator Alley’s 2-lane predecessor that goes into the park.

 

Just did that last month. It's ok.

 

Yeah, I was asking about the state highway.

 

Well, we took Alligator Alley west and then came home across the Tamiami trail. So, there's that. There are a few areas on the trail where you can park and check out gators, and you're really driving through the Everglades, so it's lovely. There are a few cyprus swamps. But once you get close to the Miccosukee land, it goes to four lanes and there's a bunch of commercial outlets run by the Miccosukee, with the casino on the corner where the trail rejoins civilization.

If you're not driving, ie if you're in the passenger seat, you see way more gators on 75 because it's a little elevated and the canals run alongside the whole way. There were gators on the banks about every 10 feet or so.

 

Might be of interest to some. I've been to several of these places.

https://authenticflorida.com/old-florida-attractions-that-continue-to-spark-new-memories/

 

The wind is gusting hard here today. That stirs memories of my dad’s 76 Volkswagen bus. He kept it until about 2005 and for many years my siblings would borrow it when we needed to move anything large or even an apartment’s worth of stuff.

Besides being a bit underpowered, about 65 horsepower if I remember correctly, it was an adventure to drive in a fierce crosswind. We would need to go to southwest Kansas to pick it up, so there was almost always wind. The stronger the crosswind, the more you had to turn the steering wheel to compensate for the stretching suspension parts, distorting to try to keep the thing on the road. Sometimes, that meant almost a quarter turn of the steering wheel. Things were worse when the bus was almost empty.

I’d get everything adjusted, almost like trimming the sails on a boat, when a cattle truck in the oncoming lane would shut off the gale and the suspension would try to pop back into its normal position. A quick jerk on the wheel, one way and then back, was what it took to maintain a fairly straight line. After an hour or two, it could be a bit exhausting.

 

Weeks Wachi is as wonderfully cheesy as it sounds. Legoland/Cypress Gardens is great if you have small kids. St. Augustine is well worth a visit whether you do the gator thing or not. Any of FL springs are really nice.