I like Traffic jams

The band, not on the interstate

A bad 60’s music reference aside, the best description for the second leg to Panama City Beach would be traffic, coffee, traffic, coffee, then more traffic. I-65 was bumper-to-bumper at 80 mph. It reminded me of the old adage,”Either lead, follow, or get out of the way”. When traveling to eastern Florida, we always take I-75 through Georgia, which is also a traffic head-ache, especially around Atlanta. I’d hoped I-65 through Alabama would be better but no such luck.

Our first coffee stop was JJ’s Coffee and More in Ardmore, TN. We ordered breakfast and coffee and were on our way right back into traffic. Soon after, a big slow down appeared on Google Maps. We needed a shortcut to avoid the 20 minute slowdown.

Now usually these shortcuts are a red herring, a bad idea. And by the time Google Maps starts showing them, 500 of your fellow travelers have already taken advantage, thereby creating back-ups at four way stops on county highways and likely earning the stink-eye from locals having their errands delayed. We’ve seen it so many times, the alternate route saves eight minutes then 4 minutes, then it disappears as an option because the shortcut is now all bottled up. But not this time!

I picked a shortcut that Google hadn’t developed yet and it worked. We beat the traffic and saved almost 15 minutes!!! What a major victory!! It’s amazing how important a small win can be on a trip. We were back on the interstate at full speed but just a little bit later, another slowdown, this time with NO alternate route. Fortunes of travel, I guess.

The last 175 miles to Panama City Beach is by two-lane and four-lane state highways. Amazingly, traffic was light with the only slowdowns through towns and the occasional vendor stand along the road.

We stopped at one such roadside stand. It is there we learned about Honeybell oranges. Seems if you cross a certain tangerine with a certain grapefruit you get a Honeybell. Not super sweet but tasty. The orange has a shape like a bell. We bought a dozen.

As our trip progressed, we found Village Coffee in Troy, AL. I had an Americano and Mary had an iced latte. That set us up nicely for the rest of the trip.

We arrived at our Airbnb late in the afternoon and walked 4 minutes to what would become our go-to restaurant for the trip, Schooners. Right on the beach, informal, and busy. We always went early and didn’t have to wait for a table.