Take the Highway is a site covering highways, byways, historical roads, landmarks, travel.
Taking a road trip and exploring the highways and byways should be a fun experience. You should be able to see sights and gather memories that last decades. One of those memories should not involve getting caught in a pesky speed trap.
Philippe Parkway is a link between the nearly century-old Pinellas County cities of Oldsmar and our destination–Safety Harbor.
Continue reading Philippe Parkway — Destination: Safety Harbor
Deland, Florida–most notably the city that’s home to Stetson University.
North of Orlando and southwest of Daytona Beach, the City of DeLand is a historical town with rolling hills, centuries-old oak trees, and beautiful classic homes.
Along the Manatee River’s south shoreline sits the Bradenton Riverwalk. Fish swim and even jump in the river’s brackish water. Palmetto’s own waterfront district sits off in the distance, taking up the northern shoreline. The landside of the walk features both things typical of other parks and unique to Bradenton.
Memorial Highway was constructed starting in Tampa in 1921 to commemorate those who perished fighting in World War I. An identical statue was built and placed at each end of the highway. Names of local soldiers who died in battle were inscribed near the base of the statue.
Continue reading Hillsborough County’s Memorial Highway, An Original Tampa Route
Gunn Highway in western Pasco and Hillsborough counties is known for being a a well-traveled suburban Tampa road and its proximity to Citrus Park Mall. However, a long, storied history is associated with this once 30-plus mile stretch of road.
Sanford, Florida sits on the south shore of Lake Monroe, a large bulge in the St. Johns River–Florida’s longest river. The City of Sanford has a population of around 55,000 people.
Continue reading Crossroads Series — Sanford, Florida on Lake Monroe
Hello to everyone. I am glad you have found this site.
My name is Steve. I live in Temple Terrace, Florida and want to share my roadgeek passion with all of you.
From a young age, I loved to read maps. Local city maps, maps in the phone book, road atlases, large wall maps of North America. At age 4, a puzzle of the entire United States with all the state capitals listed (I memorized all 50 states, and have since forgotten about 15). Later on, I bought a map on CD-ROM which covered the entire nation. From there, it was Yahoo Maps, MapQuest, Google Maps, and my favorite, Google Earth.
In taking after my father, I enjoyed being on a drafting board from a young age. I drew long roadways, taped together end-on-end, on page after page of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. They’d start out at 2-lane highways and 4-lane interstates. They’d end up as 4- and 6-lane highways and 10-lane interstates, complete with new intersections and interchanges.
Enough of the history lesson from me, though. I will go back into my past when it’s necessary. I’ll try not to tell the same stories.
As Take The Highway gets bigger, some of what you should expect:
•Road trips: I will share some of my favorite road trips around the state of Florida mostly, but also a few others I’ve taken.
•Different highways: I will cover the different highways and byways. I will talk about the known ones, and will definitely talk about the lesser-known ones.
•Crossroads — A Series of Towns located on major thoroughfares: Read about the cities, towns, and junctions where two or more major roads meet.
•Roadside Attractions: Along the highways, check out some of the things along the way.
•Realignments of Highways: Many towns and cities have had their downtown bypassed by major thoroughfares, such as US highways and State Highways for a variety of reasons. I will do a then and now segment on select towns and the roads that once serviced them.
•Much, much more: Even more than I can anticipate. Stay tuned!
Welcome to the Take the Highway Blog, and jump on the highway. Please let me know how you like this. Suggestions and comments are always welcome.
