This is the second out of three trips in my "Georgia Vacation". At the time, this was the biggest road trip of my career. That record would not even last 24 hours, as the record would be shattered the very next day on my trip home from Georgia.
This would also be my very first time entering the State of Florida, with my all-time southernmost point going more south most of the way to my destination, which was west of Ocala.
Pre-Trip:
The idea of the trip came on August 21, 2023 during a text conversation with a relative living in Georgia. I threw up the possibility of going to Florida sometime while I was there. My first public mention of the trip came on August 22, 2023, when I confirmed that my Georgia Trip would be happening on the 25th. In that forum post, I mentioned the possibility of going to Florida at some point during the trip, with the exact destination and date still unknown.
On the 25th, I would go on my Georgia Trip, which would set up the trip, though it was still not a guarantee. The 26th would go by, with not much travel at all making it a chill day. However, that morning at a restaurant, I mentioned the possibility of going to a beach in Northeast Florida the next day, which ended up not coming true. That night in the hotel, my travel buddy and I would make the confirmation that the Florida Trip would happen the next day and that we would be seeing a relative.
At this point, I don't think I knew the exact spot yet, all I knew was just "We're going to Florida to see a relative". I went to sleep that night knowing that I'd be in new territory tomorrow.
The day of the trip came around, and I made another forum post confirming that I would be on that trip. At that time of publishing the post, I was at my relative's house to pick up my cousin who agreed to come with my travel buddy and I.
The Trip - Part One
We would leave that house at around 8:25 AM, with me taking the first picture of the trip at 8:29 AM in Fort Stewart. It was right about then when I knew the exact area we'd be heading to. At 8:32 AM, we left the base and entered Hinesville. I turned onto the GA-38 Connector Route to get to US 84, and reached the route at 8:37 AM. I reached the US 84/GA-38/GA-196 concurrency east end at 8:42 AM, and continued east on US 84/GA-38. At 8:49 AM, we passed through the intersection with US 17, and reached I-95 at 8:53 AM.
We turned south onto the interstate, and passed through the US 17/GA-25 exit for Riceboro at 9:01 AM. At mile marker 62, I took my 10,000th road picture, which was at 9:05 AM. I passed the GA-251 exit 10 minutes later, before crossing the Altamaha River into Glynn County at 9:19 AM.
At 9:24 AM, we passed by Exit 38, which serves Brunswick. 2 minutes later, we went through the US 25/US 341 interchange. At 9:30 AM, I saw the Sidney Lanier Bridge (US 17 Brunswick Bridge) from I-95, before crossing US 82 a minute later. We passed through the GA-25 Spur exit at 9:43 AM, before eventually passing the GA-40 exit at 9:52 AM. I continued south on I-95, before getting on the St. Marys River Bridge at 9:55 AM before entering the State of Florida for the first time in my life.
We took the ramp into the Welcome Center at 9:58 AM, staying there until 10:34 AM. We re-entered the interstate, entering Duval County/Jacksonville for the first time at 10:43 AM. At 10:47 AM, we (accidentally) took the exit onto South I-295, but made a u-turn at the US 17 exit just east of I-95 to get on the "northbound" lanes. I continued on the West Beltway until 11:03 AM, where I merged onto West I-10 towards Lake City.
I continued west, passing the US 301 interchange at 11:14 AM, and re-entering Nassau County 3 minutes later. Just after that however, I entered Baker County for the first time. At 11:21 AM, I took Exit 335 onto FL-121 south towards Lake Butler.
At 11:42 AM, I passed by the FL-16 intersection and entered the Raiford city limits. In the city, I passed by CR-229, before leaving the city and passing through more of rural Union County and eventually reaching Lake Butler city limits at 11:48 AM. We passed by FL-100, before heading into the southern parts of the city and passing through FL-231 at 11:51 AM.
We left the city shortly after, and passed through the community of Danville (FL) at 11:54 AM, followed by the community of Dukes at 11:57 AM. Two minutes later, we reached the CR-18 intersection, and entered Worthington Springs. There, I passed the intersection with FL-18, before passing through the main part of the town. At 12:01 PM, I crossed the Santa Fe River into Alachua County.
Shortly after, I turned onto CR-239, before eventually turning west onto CR-236 at 12:05 PM. We finally reached I-75 at 12:12 PM, and we turned south onto the interstate. At 12:23 PM, we took Exit 390 onto FL-222 to find a place to get some lunch, and we found a Dairy Queen.
The Trip - Part Two
We would get back on the road at 1:15 PM, almost immediately getting back onto South I-75. At 1:21 PM, we passed the FL-121 exit, still continuing south on I-75. Just after this, we entered the Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, passing through it and getting to the other end at 1:24 PM.
At 1:29 PM, we entered Marion County, and eventually reached the Ocala Area at about 1:42 PM. We passed the US 27 exit 2 minutes after that, followed by the FL-40 exit at 1:45 PM. Less than a minute later, I saw the first overhead sign for the exit we'd be taking, and at 1:47 PM, we got onto the exit ramp for FL-200. After sitting at the traffic light for a couple minutes, we turned west onto the route.
I passed through the 60th Street intersection at 1:54 PM, continuing on West FL-200 before eventually reaching the CR-484 intersection at 2:02 PM. We still headed west on FL-200, which was now a 2-lane divided highway, eventually entering Citrus County at 2:09 PM and almost immediately intersecting CR-39.
A minute after that, we turned south onto CR-491, passing through rural parts of the county. We reached the US 41 intersection at 2:14 PM, continuing west on the county route. At 2:19 PM, we entered the CDP of Beverly Hills, before reaching Forest Ridge Boulevard. I turned left onto the road, before turning the camera off, making my picture of the traffic light my southernmost picture ever, as well as my documented southernmost point. Eventually, I reached the relative's house in the neighborhood at around 2:25 PM.
The Trip - Part Three
We left the relative's house at around 4:50 PM, getting back onto CR-491 at 4:53 PM. I also took my first picture on the return-half of the trip on the merging lane for North CR-491. At 4:56 PM, we passed back through the US 41 intersection, before eventually getting back on FL-200 at 5:01 PM.
I headed on the other side of FL-200, passing by CR-39 and re-entering Marion County a minute later. At 5:08 PM, I passed back through the CR-484 intersection shortly before we stopped at a gas station to refuel at 5:11 PM.
We got back on the road at 5:26 PM, continuing northeast on FL-200 before eventually reaching I-75 again at 5:38 PM. We merged onto North I-75 a minute later, this time for a way shorter distance as we got onto FL-326 at 5:45 PM and headed east. At 5:50 PM, we reached the US 301/US 441 intersection, and turned north onto those routes.
At 5:56 PM, we reached the US 301/US 441 split, and continued north on US 301. We passed by CR-200A at 6:01 PM, before passing through the community of Citra. A minute later, we passed through the CR-318 intersection before passing by The Orange Shop and leaving Citra. At 6:04 PM, we entered Alachua County for the second time on the trip.
We passed by CR-325 at 6:05 PM, before continuing through plenty of rural areas on US 301. At 6:13 PM, we entered the Hawthorne city limits, reaching an interchange with FL-20 shortly after. We stayed on North US 301, going back through rural Florida. It would be awhile before we saw anything interesting, which came at 6:22 PM as we passed through Orange Heights. In the community, we intersected FL-26, and obviously continued north.
We reached CR-1469 and CR-1471 at 6:25 PM, before entering the city of Waldo. There, we intersected FL-24 as we passed through the city. At 6:32 PM, we entered Bradford County, intersecting CR-221 not long after entering the county. Right after that, we passed by CR-18, before approaching the city of Starke. We reached the south end of the bypass, and continued north onto US 301 Alternate around the city. At 6:39 PM, we passed through the FL-100 exit, followed by the FL-16 exit at 6:41 PM. We got to the north end of the bypass a minute later, and got back onto Mainline US 301.
At 6:46 PM, we passed through the city of Lawtey, intersecting CR-225, eventually followed by CR-125. Shortly after that, at 6:51 PM, we entered Clay County for the first time ever, and got greeted by the Concrete Test Road. At 6:53 PM, the test road ended and we got back onto asphalt before eventually re-entering Duval County/Jacksonville at 6:57 PM.
Almost immediately after entering the county/city, we passed through the community of Maxville, before intersecting FL-228/CR-228. We still headed north on US 301, before eventually reaching I-10 at 7:04 PM. We decided to continue on US 301, and headed straight onto the Baldwin Bypass (US 301 ALT).
At 7:05 PM, we passed through the US 90 intersection, before re-meeting Mainline US 301 two minutes later. We continued on US 301 North, passing through the community of Bryceville at 7:11 PM, where we passed by CR-119. At 7:23 PM, we finally entered the city limits of Callahan, and right before the intersection with US 1/US 23/FL-A1A, we decided to stop at the local McDonald's and get some dinner.
The Trip - Part Four
We ended up staying at the McDonald's for about 48 minutes, getting back on the road at 8:11 PM. At this point, it was almost dark outside, but I continued taking pictures. At 8:23 PM, we reached the I-95 interchange, and we merged north onto the interstate. We passed the northernmost exit in Florida at 8:30 PM, and passed the "Thank you for visiting Florida" sign a minute later. Right after that, we crossed the St. Marys River again and re-entered the State of Georgia.
A couple minutes later, we passed the GA-40 exit again, as the sunset was fading into nighttime. At 8:54 PM, we passed by Exit 29 for US 17/US 82/GA-520 again, and at 8:57 PM, I saw the Sidney Lanier Bridge again, and got a mediocre picture of it. At 8:59 PM, we passed through the interchange with US 25/US 341 again, right before passing through the northernmost of the Brunswick exits at 9:00 PM.
At 9:04 PM, we reached the GA-99 exit, continuing north on I-95 through Southeastern Georgia. We passed GA-251 at 9:09 PM, followed by GA-57 at 9:16 PM. At this point, it was completely dark and most of my pictures were blurry. However, I managed to find a trick to get better nighttime photos with my iPhone, so I used it as much as I could, especially at exits/interchanges.
We re-entered Liberty County at 9:22 PM, and shortly after that, we passed through the US 17/GA-25 exit for Riceboro again. At 9:30 PM, we reached the US 84/GA-38 exit, and merged onto the routes from their east ends. We passed through the US 17 intersection at 9:35 PM, and eventually, we got back to GA-38 Connector at 9:48 PM.
We turned onto the route, before turning right at its east end at 9:51 PM. After we turned right, we passed through the gate to Fort Stewart and at 9:54 PM, I took my final picture of the trip inside the base.
After:
After I took my final picture of the trip, my travel buddy and I dropped my cousin off at their house, before turning around to go back to our hotel. That night, I would pack some of my stuff to prepare to return home the next day, which would be the biggest road trip of my life (unknown to me the night prior).
The trip granted me 1,390 photos, which broke the record for most photos I've taken in a trip by just 2 photos. That record obviously wouldn't last long, not even 24 hours as I would take the "scenic route" on my way home the very next day.
As for county collecting, every county I visited on the way TO Beverly Hills/Ocala would be brand new for me, plus Clay County, FL on the way back to Hinesville, GA. I would get way more mileage on roads, as almost everything was brand new (the exception is the very start/end of the trip). This trip would be my first and only time in Florida as of 8/27/2024, plus my only time south of Hinesville, GA.
While I was at my relative's house in Beverly Hills, I told him about my career/pictures and that I would try to send him a big portion of my road pictures. Unfortunately, I ended up forgetting to get his phone number, and he ended up sadly passing in December 2023 without getting to see any of my road pictures. That's the reason why I put more photos than ever on this Road Trip Page.
On the positive side, while I was in the Ocala Area, I was listening to the radio and actually liked the songs they were playing. I managed to remember the station until I got home where I found out they had an app, which I downloaded to listen to occasionally. To this day, I still have that app.
