Day 11 -- April 11, 2003 -- Friday

Today was Melissa Keeney Day! Melissa was introduced to us yesterday by my brother, Tony. Melissa is a client of Tony's company, News Directions, and she is the top reporter at NBC Channel 7 in Panama City. Melissa expressed interest in doing a news story about our trip Round America as we stopped in Panama City to see the sights. We began a cell phone discussion as we rolled down the highway between Fort Myers and Tallahassee, and then we continued the conversation as we traveled from Tallahassee to Panama City today. We explained what we are trying to accomplish with the trip, and Melissa really got into it. She did some research and came back to us with recommendations for some sights we could see (that we probably would have missed) and a great place for lunch and pie. Then when we got together, she mentioned two other places during our conversation, and we ended up visiting both later in the day. As a result, Melissa made our day! It would have been a completely different experience with different sights and different results if it hadn't been for the "Fork in the Road" that led us to Melissa.  Boz and I both believe it would have been an okay day, but likely nothing special. Instead, it was a day that we rank as one of the best so far.

We arrived in Tallahassee after dark last night, so we didn't see much. But as we drove off in the morning, we both commented that Tallahassee is a very pretty city. The hills are something we'd never seen anywhere else in Florida. We saw the old Capitol Building and we passed right by the American Folk Art Museum & Gallery as we raced out of the city. A quick U-turn.

Unfortunately, the outdoor "museum" was closed, and there were three loud dogs standing guard. This extremely funky place was put together by a missionary, and sign after sign with spiritual messages were the main thing we could see. The "centerpieces" we could see from the road were a solid gold limousine and a statue constructed totally from bicycle wheels and tires. We would have loved to see inside, but tours are by appointment only or by chance. 3919 Woodville Highway, Missionary Mary L. Proctor. Call 850-656-2879 if you want to make an appointment.

We passed an older woman riding a bicycle along the highway in Crawfordville. The bike had a hand-lettered posterboard sign on the front. It appeared to be some type of protest; the only word I could read was "revoked." We regret not stopping to see what the sign said and to ask her about it. Now we will forever wonder what her story is; same goes for Lance on Day 8. We've pledged that we will not let these stories pass us by in the future. Same goes for the sunsets. We began the trip saying "no regrets," but that was quickly changed to "few regrets."

We're going to have to get a little more brave so that we ask people like the bicycle lady what's going on because now we regret not asking. I guess it's probably because we have come to be afraid of hitchhikers and strangers. Barbara thinks Lance is probably a serial killer. I think the lady on the bike is a billionaire and her sign says she'll give you a million dollars if you stop and talk to her about her revoked driver's license. But of course, nobody will get close enough to read the sign, and they don't do it. The nice thing about not asking is that you get to make up your own stuff.

In Crawfordville we stopped for gas at a BP station that's also a garden center and tanning salon. It's also an upholstery shop. I'm sure they probably do some other things here that we don't have any idea about. Home cooked meals to go, upholstery, tractors and equipment trailers, and carports and portable buildings. But they did not have a sink in their restroom.

We took a photo of a sign proudly proclaiming the town we were entering to be "Home of the 1999 Florida Dixie Youth Ponytail Fast Pitch Softball State Champions." You just gotta love small towns! The nice thing about small towns is that you have so much innocence. People doing the best that they can with what they've got, and people rightly proud of their accomplishments, whatever they may be.

Barbara and I discussed the fact that we think it's really special that the two of us will enjoy things even more after they're over. For example, yesterday wasn't exactly the greatest day because it was so long and we couldn't exactly get out that much, and the weather was bad, but as we talked about it and as I wrote about what we did, it was a lot more fun. As the days go on, we'll probably tell many stories about Sponge-O-Rama. A lot of people probably can't look back on things and see them better than they were; maybe that's a difference between optimists and pessimists.

As we drove through Sopchoppy, Florida, we saw signs for the "Worm Gruntin' Festival" - tomorrow! Now this is something we would stick around to see, but we can't stop as we have to meet the NBC TV reporter in Panama City. Maybe next year.

We took a scenic drive along the coast. I wholeheartedly recommend scenic drives to folks who want to take road trips. With a little research, you can identify scenic routes and get reports of things to look for along the way.

The Gulf and beach were very pretty once we reached the shore south of Tallahassee all the way over to Pensacola. White sand and pretty water. We stopped a couple of times, and I walked into the backyard of a home for sale to take a picture of the boat dock and water. I also took a photo of a classic 50's-era roadside park.

There are a number of things such as the older roadside parks, Smokey the Bear signs, bumpy two-lane bridges, old motels, and essentially unchanged homes and shops and natural areas that have brought back wonderful memories of family vacations when we were children. I'd have to say that this is one of the very best parts of the trip. Bozzie Jane and I feel that we grew up in one of the best times ever - the 50's. It was a special time, with great cars, great music, wonderful architecture, family car vacations, and much more. We are fortunate to have wonderful parents and great families. As we drive, we talk a lot about days gone by. Like sunsets, memories are free, and we both treasure our memories.

Carabelle was on our agenda for today, as I had learned that the world's smallest police station was there. As we entered the town, we came to a fork in the road, and we went left off the highway to what appeared to be the downtown area in this very small town. We drove right by a small police station - maybe 12-feet wide, so I took a picture. From what I had read, however, I knew the "world's smallest police station" was supposed to be phone booth sized. So when we got back to the highway and saw the phone booth "police station" with an old police car parked next to it, it was a little disappointing. But at least Carabelle has done something to put its little town on the map, so we can celebrate that.

We grabbed a couple of bagels at Carabelle Junction. Buying bagels in a tiny town isn't such a good idea as you must assume they don't have bagel-making equipment. The toaster looked like it hadn't been cleaned in 20 years.

It was definitely a nice drive along the Gulf Coast because you actually get to drive right next to the water and see the water through the trees past the little houses, or you get to be right next to the water and just see grass, trees, sand, water, and sky. I wonder how much trouble you have in this area selling your home when it isn't on stilts and all the homes around are on stilts.

We drove through East Port where Cindy lives; Cindy is a lady we met at the post office in Carabelle. Carabelle and East Port are 14 miles apart. You'd guess Carabelle probably has a population of a few hundred people; you never stop to think that someone would commute 14 miles to work in a town with a population of 200 people. Cindy does it every day through rain and sleet and snow and water that necessitates that homes be built on stilts.

As we crossed a bridge over an especially pretty bay, we found ourselves in the picturesque community of Apilachicola. We stopped in downtown for a few photos - some great-looking storefronts and an Elvis statue. As I stepped out of the car to take another photo, I met Danny, the owner of Tamara's Floridita Café, and Ed, a local newspaperman. They introduced me to Susan, another local just back from vacation. Nice, nice people.

The town of Mexico Beach was pretty; there is a nice stretch of white sand without a bunch of folks with houses across the highway, and we did not see motels or restaurants. There was just water and waves coming in with pretty sand.

We spotted a place that sells single-wide, double-wide, and triple-wide (the first ever triple-wide that we've seen) mobile homes. Mobile homes are a hot commodity on many two-lane roads.

Melissa called again as we left Apilachicola, and we made arrangements to meet. She mentioned the town of Lynn Haven and told us that the only statue of a Union soldier south of the Mason Dixon line is in a little park in the town. It was about 15 miles off our route, but the car headed there like it was on autopilot. Very few tourists even know this statue exists, and most could care less...making this an ideal stop for us.

We met Melissa Keeney at The Treasure Ship in Panama City - a huge wooden sailing ship structure. We had never heard of it, but it's a landmark in Panama City. Clearly we would have missed it if it were not for our new friend, Melissa. The folks at The Treasure Ship were great. We had a nice conversation with Chloe, the hostess. Our waitress, Jessica (who looked a lot like gymnast Marylou Retton), was clearly the best waitress thus far! When she brought the dessert -- a massive pie called Coca Mocha -- she brought four forks, one more than Melissa, Bozzie Jane, and I needed. She "joked" that the fourth fork was for her, so we had her sit down and join us. We talked with Melissa at length about the trip, and we learned a lot about her. She is a doll, and Boz and I really liked her. We felt like we had a great new friend, and we are excited to follow her career, as we expect to see her as a network reporter or anchor in the not too distant future (hopefully on Fox News).

After Melissa filmed us eating the great pie, she took us to see the massive statue of King Neptune. It's 50 to 60-feet tall - got to be the world's largest King Neptune statue. And, it's for sale! If I just had a place to put it....

We would have never even known about King Neptune, but after spending time on our web site, Melissa realized that we were into big things, so we really appreciated this find. She filmed us there.

Panama City has an extensive variety of miniature golf courses, and Melissa knew we wanted to see Goofy Golf, one of the first (1959) and one of the best in the country. Goofy Golf has a fabulous selection of statues, so I had a field day taking photos. We stood in the parking lot, and Melissa interviewed us on camera. She asked great questions, so we looked forward to seeing the story. It aired tonight, but we had to get down the road, so Melissa said she would send a videotape to us. Melissa wanted to film her closing for the story, so she let me run the camera. That was fun. I last operated a TV camera during the summer of 1966 when I worked at KLBK TV in Lubbock, Texas after I graduated from high school.

We loved being on TV - not your everyday or every vacation experience! After three hours, we hugged Melissa goodbye and drove along Panama City's beach headed west. It was Spring Break, so there were kids and cars and miniature golf courses everywhere.

Melissa asked us great questions, and we wanted to try to remember what they were because we knew it was information we should be sure to include in our book. She asked us what our favorite experience was; how the pie fit into the trip; what were the rules of the road and had we broken any; what was the favorite thing we'd seen; how important was the laughter; how Barbara felt when I first suggested the trip; how we'll feel when the trip is over; why did we do it and what was the idea behind it, etc.

Melissa mentioned that their TV station had recently done a story about the little town of Bagdad, Florida. I didn't realize it was so close to our route, so as soon as Bozzie the navigator spotted Bagdad on the map, we knew where we were headed. Off the main highway we went...headed for Bagdad. It's a little bitty place, and as we drove past a few homes toward the town, we could see that it had enjoyed better days. We drove right up to the Bagdad Elementary School where we saw their War Memorial; it listed the brave men from Bagdad who lost their lives in World War I and World War II. We took a photo of the only real business we saw - a dumpling "factory." But the prize photo was of the First Baptist Church sign that says "Bagdad is praying for Baghdad."

Back to the highway, the sun was setting. Really spectacular sunset views as we drove along. I was able to get one, but it's hard to pull over on most roads as there just isn't a safe place to stop.

We do regret that Francis Burgess was not at home when we drove through Panama City. She was like the Windsor kids' second mother when we were children. And we just missed meeting close Orlando friend, Ned Woolfolk, who had been working in Fort Walton Beach earlier the day we passed through.

We had a long ways to go to the Holiday Inn in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was almost dark when we finally bid a very fond farewell to Florida; we drove over 2,000 miles around the border of Florida. As we pulled off the highway in Alabama to get gas, Boz THOUGHT she saw a billboard that said something about throwing rolls. Melissa had mentioned a restaurant where the waiters threw rolls to the customers. Boz asked the folks at the gas station, and they gave us directions to Lambert's Cafe. Well off the route, but we just had to go to a place where they throw the rolls at you.

We were blown away when we pulled up to a huge restaurant. It was 8:30 pm, and there was still a half hour wait. We could tell we were going to love it long before we got to enter the building. Lambert's Cafe (see www.throwedrolls.com) was started in Missouri in 1942 by Earl and Agnes Lambert. They have two locations in Missouri and this one in Foley, Alabama. It is a wonderful family business that celebrates the family that started it and the family members who are no longer with us. Earl and Agnes had 14 cents between them when they started Lambert's, and the story of the growth and success of the business is a great American success story. We've never seen anything else like it in terms of the family focus or the food. It was one of the most enjoyable meals we have ever had anywhere.

Lambert's specializes in country cooking, and the chicken fried steak and vegetables were simply spectacular. For $9.99, you get a huge steak, baked potato, and two other vegetables of your choice. The portions are gigantic. And THEN, they come around with big buckets of other vegetables throughout the meal, and give you all you want. The fried potatoes and onions were especially tasty.

Our waiter, Andrew, was great - handsome young guy with a delightful smile and a great personality! And then there were the rolls - big, hot rolls. A guy wheels a cart through the aisles, and you raise your hand if you want one, and he fires one at you. Loads of fun! They also have folks coming around playing jokes on you, so it is one laugh after another.

The philosophy of Lambert's is: "We prefer that you come hungry, leave full, and have a laugh or two." Andrew gave us a book that tells the history and a lot of interesting information about Lambert's Cafe. What a great experience - even more enjoyable because three unexpected "forks in the road" led us there - the casual mention of a restaurant where the waiters throw rolls, a brief glimpse of a billboard, and some bad directions given to us by a restaurant that we had planned to visit but couldn't find a half hour earlier in Pensacola, Florida.

I wish we had a photo of the look on Andrew's face when we asked him for the dessert menu. He thought we were serious. We were uncomfortably full as we "rolled" out of Lambert's dessertless.

I managed to get a photo of the Welcome to Mississippi sign, but it was late. I am trying to photograph the welcome sign in every state, and I am trying to photograph a license plate in every state.

It was midnight by the time we reached the Holiday Inn in Biloxi. The Ramada Inn somewhere in the general vicinity of Daytona Beach (Day 3) is still the leader in the clubhouse for the worst hotel that we didn't stay at, but the Holiday Inn just became the nominee for the worst we did stay in. It was probably nice 40 years ago. Our "lovely" room was located just outside the ice machine, and gamblers returning from the nearby casinos hit the ice machine all night long. But after such a fun day, it didn't bother us. We were having such a great time!

Virtually our entire day was changed because of the chance meeting of Melissa Keeney, and in a couple of cases, physically taking one fork in the road rather than another that led us to truly special experiences. It could have gone the other way just as easily...as we still remember Day 3 when we were always a day late and a dollar short and almost all of the forks were "dead ends." When you think about your life, it is really interesting to think about the various Forks you have reached and how your life was changed by the path you took. My Dad has written an autobiography titled "Forks in the Road," and it is really interesting to think about how his (and my) life would have been completely different if another choice had been made at specific points. I think it would make a great movie to show several ways one life might have gone had different forks in the road been chosen. Perhaps I will try writing a screenplay after we write the book about this trip.

Thanks to Tony and Melissa for giving us a special day!!!

Random Comments:

Many people have emailed or called to comment about how they are living vicariously on the trip and "taking the trip with us" via the Internet. We understood one school class is using it as a daily geography, history, and sociology lesson! This delighted us to no end! We hoped some folks would follow the trip online now and in the future. We never dreamed as many people would follow along every day! We received a significant number of emails each day from friends and relatives and from complete total strangers! A number of emailers made suggestions about places to go, sights to see, restaurants to visit, pie to eat, etc., and we REALLY appreciated all of this information. Some of our most enjoyable experiences thus far have come as a result of these tips. www.roundamerica.com/online-travelers.htm lists those who have emailed or called.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we've been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we've seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this web site. Other pages of interest include the running report of "vital statistics" on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you'd like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest and the full itinerary is shown.