Heading West With No Destination In Mind - Part Nine

We departed the Albany RV Resort on Route 19 north and made the mandatory U-turn to head south.

In the town of Camilla we found the Balfour Pole Company. The wintry weather kept this utility pole supply company busy. Products from Balfour Pole Company are often in high demand during hurricane season. But winter storms can also knock down utility poles. The company sends 40 truckloads a week to treating companies in Valdosta and Alabama. The pole peeler processes more than 300 poles a day. The shavings are sent up to this boiler to be burned. The finished poles sit in these dry kilns for three days before going to treating companies that frame the poles to be used to hold power lines.

Along the same stretch of 19, is the Equity Group Georgia Division. This company engages in hatching, growing, slaughtering, and processing chickens for distribution. It was formerly known as Cagle Foods. The company was founded in 1957 and is based in Camilla, Georgia.

In Meigs, we saw a sign for the Four Corners Gin Company. We were thinking Gin, the kind you drink … but, no, no, no … it is a company specializing in cotton ginning. A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, allowing for much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.

In Thomasville is the best local bakery around, The Bread Wagon Bakery. The name dates back to the 1800's, when baked goods were delivered through cities much like the well known milk delivery wagons.  Their baked goods are all fresh and are intended to be used in 5 days or frozen.  They add no artificial preservatives.  Refrigeration can help prevent molding on breads but will tend to dry out most baked goods.  Almost all baked goods are pretty happy frozen but as we all know, they are best eaten fresh!

The first city we came to in Florida was Monticello, it is named after Monticello, the estate of the county's namesake, Thomas Jefferson. Monticello is home to Indian mounds and many historic buildings including the Perkins Opera House. Monticello’s historic 19th century opera house still features regular musical performances, as well as theater productions and musicals. The first floor ballroom also holds receptions on a regular basis. Annually, Monticello hosts a Watermelon Festival. The area is well known for an agricultural heritage and a rural atmosphere reminiscent of "old Florida". Local farms began growing watermelons during the late 1800's. The soil and weather proved to be a great combination for the watermelon crops. By 1884, Jefferson County was considered the top watermelon seed supplier in the world. Prominent seed supplier William M. Girardeau became very successful after he developed the first commercial machine for separating the seeds from the watermelons.

Monticello is "A Main Street Community" and proud of it. At the very center of the city, in the center of a traffic circle, is the beautiful and historic Jefferson County Courthouse, which is depicted on the welcome sign. Nestled among the tree lined streets of Monticello are many antebellum homes which provide a unique look and feel to the city. During the depression of the 1930s, many of the residents of Monticello could not afford to build new homes and the houses were renovated or restored. Today, these homes offer tourists a rare glimpse of the original architectural styles which prevailed in the south prior to the civil war.
At the traffic circle, we came around the courthouse and out of the circle onto FL Route 90 East.

The City of Madison has a Historic District featuring the Wardlaw-Smith House (also known as the Smith Mansion.) In 1972, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Just outside of Madison was a road name that really intrigued me … Roller Coaster Hill … The funny thing was, it was a pretty level road, why would anyone name a flat road as Roller Coaster Hill?! Something that makes you go … hhhmmmmmmm…

The small Town of Lee, population less than 400, has a big motto “Little but Proud.” It is where heaven smiles down on earth. The Town of Lee is a haven from the stress of big city life. Our residents have created a tranquil atmosphere that offers total relaxation for both mind and body. Chartered in 1909, the Town of Lee is said to have originated in the mind of Greenberry Haven, a pioneer of the pre-civil war era.

We crossed over the Suwannee River. It is a wild blackwater river, about 246 miles long. The Suwannee River is the site of the prehistoric Suwanee Straits which separated peninsular Florida from the panhandle. What is a blackwater river? It is a river with a deep, slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands.

The Historic Town of Live Oak, Why is it historic? The Union Depot and Atlantic Coast Line Freight Station (also known as the Railroad Passenger Depot and Freight Station) is a historic site in Live Oak. The station was built at one of two junctions of an Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Seaboard Air Line Railroad lines. The two railroads merged in 1967 to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. In April 1986, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Today, only the former SAL line survives. The Suwannee County Historical Museum is located in the depot. Exhibits include a telephone display, a 16th-century Timucaun Indian Village recreation and local history artifacts.

We finished our day in Lake City by stopping at the In & Out Campground. We met up with some of our Majestic Oaks family here at In & Out and enjoyed an afternoon of visiting and dinner at Olive Garden. Tomorrow we both will make the final leg home to Zephyrhills via FL 90, FL 100 and Route 301.