A wedding will certainly change your life.
Orlando Bound
We departed Kentucky on Monday, December 15th with great driving weather. Buddy was my co-pilot and my kiddos, Toshi and Calli, were relaxing in back.
Road Trip Planning
The most direct route was driving interstate highway 65 (I-65) south through Nashville, then I-24 to I-75 through Atlanta. Staying on I-75 all the way to Orlando. 820 miles and 12½ hours driving distance.
However, driving through Atlanta any time, especially morning and afternoon rush hour, is your worst nightmare. You will experience a 2-4 hour delay. It is that bad.
I also have a personal maximum for road trips.
- As a pilot, we have personal minimums for weather conditions we will not fly in. It’s for our safety.
- I apply that to my driving as a personal maximum.
- My personal maximum for a road trip is 10 hours. The max I will drive (actual driving) in one day is 10 hours.
- I also stop every 2-3 hours for a break to let my kiddos out to walk. Plus a lunch/fuel stop.
- I’ve driven from Fairbanks, Alaska to Fort Sill, Oklahoma (4,100 miles/6,600 km). I’ve also driven from Raeford, North Carolina to Oakland, California (3,200 miles/5,150 km).
- I know what works best for me.
- Since the drive time for this trip was 12½ hours, plus at least 2 hours through Atlanta, it exceeded my personal maximum.
- This meant planning a 2-day trip with an overnight stop.
- I also decided to avoid Atlanta. I do not like punishing myself.
The first day we drove to Marianna, Florida. I was mainly on I-65 south through Montgomery, AL, then state highway 31 to Marianna. 8½ hours of driving. A brief overnight stay at a pet-friendly hotel and we were off to Orlando on Tuesday morning. After 5 hours of driving, we arrived at our Airbnb. We decided on an Airbnb since we would be there for two weeks.
U.S. Interstate Highway System
- Did you know there is a numerical method to U.S. Interstate Highways?
- All interstate highways running East and West are even numbered, going up in number from the South.
- I-10 is the southernmost interstate highway from Jacksonville, FL to Santa Monica, CA. I-90 is the northernmost interstate highway from Boston, MA to Seattle, WA.
- All interstate highways running North and South are odd numbered, going up in number from the West.
- I-5 is the westernmost interstate highway from San Diego, CA to Blaine, WA. I-95 is the easternmost interstate highway from Miami, Florida to Houlton, ME.
Prior Planning (Why We Departed on the 15th)
- With Andrea living in Orlando, and me living in Kentucky, prior planning and coordination was essential.
- Our wedding was Saturday, the 20th.
- In Florida, you must apply for a marriage license in person at the county clerk.
- There is also a 3-day waiting period after you apply before you can get married, unless you complete a premarital course.
- This meant that for us to be married on the 20th, we had to apply for our license on the 17th, in person.
- That is why we left on the 15th. To give us plenty of time to get to Florida to apply for our marriage license on the 17th.
- We made an appointment at 9:00am and there was very little waiting. The process was easy and quick since I submitted everything online prior.
- The county courthouse had a beautiful Christmas tree in the main lobby.
- With the most important task accomplished, we could focus on the rest of the activities.
- Having spent 37 years in the Army, prior planning and coordination is in my DNA. It paid off here!
Pre-Wedding Photo Shoot
Valiant Air Command, Inc Warbird Museum
My wife appreciates that I am a pilot and she also loves aviation. I’m a private pilot with 600+ hours and I volunteer with Civil Air Patrol (CAP) as an Orientation and Search and Rescue Pilot. For our photo shoot on Thursday (the 18th), she requested I wear my flight suit. Normally I only wear my suit when I’m flying with CAP, but this was a special, private occasion. She arranged the shoot at the Valiant Air Command, Inc. Warbird Museum at the Space Coast Regional Airport. As an aviation enthusiast and a fan of WWII this was amazing.
Established in 1977, the museum preserves those warbirds to educate people about the importance of the men and women who flew them, maintained them, and fought inside them. Their aircraft range from pre-WWI to the modern era. If you are on the Space Coast, a must visit is the Valiant Air Command, Inc. Warbird Museum!
World War II
I of course gravitated to all the WWII planes. We started at a 1952 U.S. Navy Beech C45 Expeditor. A post WWII light transport, navigation, bombing and training plane. It was stationed at NAS Banana River, which is now Patrick Space Force Base, FL. Then we were at the beautiful B-25 Mitchell “Killer Bee”. The B-25 was a WWII bomber that General Billy Mitchell made famous when he led a squadron of them off an aircraft carrier to bomb Tokyo, shortly after Pearl Harbor. It was audacious in that people didn’t think a B-25 could take off from an aircraft carrier, and it was a one-way mission (think suicide). They were to fly to Tokyo and bomb it and then land (or crash land) in China to be picked up by “friendly” forces.
Next we went to the North American T6 Texan. The T6 Texan was an advanced trainer aircraft for pilots during WWII. Nothing like the sound of a massive radial engine. Or the feel of old grease.
They also have an N2S Stearman biplane. It was the primary trainer for the United States and Canada during WWII. After the war they were sold on the civilian market and became crop dusters, sports planes and planes for aerobatics and wing walking at air shows. Yes, a wooden propeller. I’ve never flown a biplane and can only imagine the feeling.
The Tico Bell
My favorite historical plane was their CH-47 Skytrain (DC-3), the Tico Bell. Built in 1942, it was stationed at Station 469, RAF Ramsbury, UK, and it flew 3 missions of 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers on June 6, 1944, D-Day. It was also Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II’s air transport, “Danish One”. You can take a flight in it and they still fly paratroopers for them to jump out of to this day. Awe inspiring.
While a 45-minute drive from Orlando, experiencing the Valiant Air Command, Inc Warbird Museum with my soon-to-be bride was beyond amazing. I was with my lady, seeing and touching history, taking in all the aircraft “smells” and recording it for our history. If you like aviation, I highly recommend this museum.
Rehearsal & Dinner
Graca Fellowship Church
Friday was our rehearsal at Andrea’s church – Graca Fellowship Church. Since Andrea is from Brazil, she found this Brazilian church when she came to Orlando several years ago. They were warm, welcoming and made her feel like family. The times I was in Orlando and attended the church with Andrea, they also made me feel like family. As an only child and introvert, I’m not comfortable being around a lot of people with a lot of hugging. That took me a while to get used to but when you realize it’s their culture, it’s ok.
All their services are in Portuguese but they do have headsets for translation. I am learning Portuguese but at my age, it is not easy. Plus Portuguese is hard! I also didn’t know until recently that Orlando has a huge Brazilian population, estimated at 180,000 in the Orlando metro area (https://pointonrealty.com). No wonder I love visiting Orlando!
Boteco do Manolo
We had our rehearsal dinner at my favorite Brazilian restaurant in Orlando – Boteco do Manolo. It’s on International Drive, close to all of the tourists attractions, of course. It has a great atmosphere, serves amazingly good food and often has live music. Here you order to share. You get a large portion of the dishes you want and you share it with the table. I love Brazilian beef and the black beans and rice. I suppose I should love Brazilian food since I am marrying a Brazilian woman 🙂
Well, that’s a wrap for our busy week. Except, of course, for our wedding the next day, Saturday, December 20. Stay tuned since that is my next post. A fun and fitting way for Buddy and I to close this chapter in life, ready to start our next chapter tomorrow as a family.
We hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our life on a more personal level. Life is too short not to be enjoyed. Whether traveling and seeing the world, or starting a new chapter in your life personally. As the great Walter Cronkite used to say: “And that’s the way it is.”
Buddy and Jordan