Country Roads

My Trip to Alabama, “Sweet Home” it is.

Old Fire Truck at the Pioneer Village Museum

“Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong, West Virginia, mountain mama, take me home, country roads” John Denver

I sing the lyrics of that song in my head and sometimes out loud whenever I travel through rural areas. Something about driving through small towns, windows down, the wind blowing through my car, with the smell of oak trees and farmlands in the air, that brings out my inner county girl. Ahhh, the country, relaxation, food and did I say good food?

Living in Florida, I don’t get to see a whole lot of rural areas because I live in Orlando, yes, the land of Disney World. My experience with Florida is that it is a vacation state filled with beaches, hotels and amusement parks. So, when I think of country roads, Florida is not the first state that comes to mind.

Don’t get me wrong, we do have areas in Florida that are quite rural. In fact, we have many quaint small towns in Northern Florida. However, they don’t feel like the country to me, so the roads aren’t country roads, they are just roads. They lack that country charm, that good old down-home feeling. That southern hospitality that many people associate with the country, the South.

Geographically, Florida is the in the South, but to my friends, I always clarified that although…