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Originally Posted by cuzg8tor
Native Floridian here. I can remember when RT 301 was THE highway that you used to go north and south in Florida (no interstates). Took many trips in the 50s between Tampa and Jacksonville on Rt 301 and Dad always stopped for huge cheeseburgers in Wildwood. I believe it was that little restaurant on 301 that is still there in Wildwood. Back in those days it was just us poor rednecks who lived in this state. Few snowbirds, no money, separate black and white schools, no air conditioning, bicycles came from parts found at the dump, Gators were still the favorite team but games were only on radio, everybody went to church, no Disney, Silver Springs was THE attraction for tourists, WAPE was the new rock and roll station in Orange Park and a "tool of the devil", you could support your family with a 9th grade education, not much crime, no one knew the sun was bad for you, we bleached our hair with peroxide to be cool, penny loafers and white levis were worn, no shorts were allowed in church, we played outside in the woods with the snakes, all the girls were crazy for the Beatles, my wife and I started going together when she was 10 and I was 13 and that was not that unusual although we were not allowed to display public affection such as holding hands or kissing. It was a simpler time.
FYI, Micanopy was named after some old male Villagers with prostate problems (Me Can No Pee).
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My family moved from Baltimore to St. Petersburg in 1959. We would go north every summer for a couple of weeks and we would pick up Hwy 301 at the Jim Walter Building in Tampa and it went right through Baltimore. We would stay at my grandmothers on St. Paul St., which was also Hwy 301. So we never had to change routes. Nowadays Hwy 301 goes through Annapolis and over the Bay Bridge and doesn't go near Baltimore, you have I-95 for that.
I can remember one of those summer trips in the 60's going up Hwy 301 through Ludowicki, Georgia and the Klu Klux Klan was on the corner handing out brochures. I saw that kind of stuff as late as 1985 when I went to Chapel Hill, SC (a real nice college town). I was picking up a new bicycle at Performance and arriving in town the night before there was a large cross burning on the side of the road as you entered Chapel Hill.
in 1968 I studied Hotel Mgmt at St. Petersburg Jr. College and in my second year the folks at Disney came and interviewed all of us for future jobs at the soon to open Disney World. I lost interest in hotel work and found myself joining the Army instead of pursuing a Disney job.
In 1972 I was stationed in Savannah and at that time when going home to St. Petersburg I could not take I-95. The interstate southbound stopped at Hardeeville, SC and didn't start again until south of Brunswick. That was about a 100 miles of two lane Hwy 17, such a pain to drive that road. It was bumper to bumper with tractor trailers, locals and tourist headed to Florida. That stretch of I-95 finally opened around '73 or '74. I also remember while in Savannah listening to the 'Big Ape' radio from Jacksonville 120 miles away, it was a 50,000 watt AM station and was better than anything we had in Savannah and we could pick it up clear as a bell.
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