Wednesday May 25th 2022

The series of lazy days has skewed my awake time. I’m getting up earlier and going to bed later. The temperature was well on its way to the day’s high around 90 when I got up this morning. It was a sunny day with a little more wind than the past couple of days. A cold front is moving east across the top of the Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to arrive late tomorrow into Friday.

I wandered around the city of Starke Florida today. About two years ago the US301 bypass opened. The road this campground is located on used to be US 301. It is the north south route through town. The bypass keeps the majority of the traffic west of the city. There are many closed business and empty buildings along the old 301 road through town. Some of the vacancies may be the result of the bypass, but I think more are related to the change in the retail economy. There are shopping plazas with empty anchor stores. I think one in particular used to be a K-Mart. Now the biggest stores seem to be a Dollar General and a Tractor Supply. Fast food restaurants and casual dinning establishments still seem to be thriving. Business hasn’t developed along the beltway so travelers still need to come into town for food and services.

The community seems to have developed because of the railroad. The main north south railroad route through Florida still passes through here today. The track divides just south of the center of town. One line continues mostly south and other angles off to the southwest. This campground is in between the two lines. At night, in particular, you can here the trains on both sides of the campground. The train whistles for the grade crossings are very pronounced. Hearing trains at night in campgrounds is very normal.