Exploring Hwy 84 -Texas, Mississippi, Alabama,Florida
We are really enjoying retirement; every day is Saturday. My goal is to travel somewhere about once a month. I feel real comfortable with that schedule. Lately I’ve been getting vibes from Pat, my spouse and the Recreation Events Editor, that he would like to reduce the travel a bit. I think he’d be more comfortable if we stayed home for the next six months. Well, we’ll think about it.
We just returned from our annual trek that takes us from central Texas to Jacksonville Florida. Our usual route is through Houston where we pick up I-10. Nine hundred miles later we are in Jacksonville Florida. This year we took a different route. Hurricanes Katrina, Tammy and Wilma are still having an impact on the Gulf Coast States highway system. Some of our friends recently traveled via I-10 in Louisiana and they reported that highway construction had created some impressive traffic jams. As far as I was concerned that was no big deal. I just set out to plan a new route that would allow us to savor some of the jewels of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Okay, Pat would not give me carte blanche to plan an open ended trip-he agreed to three days travel max to Florida and two on the return.
Out came the maps. I confess that I usually log on to Mapquest.com when I plan a trip. However, I must have a gene that is found in those that love to explore as I get excited about the prospect of digging out maps from the stash tucked away in my bedroom closet. I enjoy the challenge of pouring over maps and laying out different routes. Searching for interesting itineraries always leads me to the internet; that has sure changed that way I research things today. When I look back to 15 years ago, I am amazed at the impact that the internet has had on my life. I just love Google; searching for hotels, making reservations, laying out the itinerary. Years ago I would order and pour over AAA Tour Books. Searching via Google has replaced that ritual. Well, almost. Those good old AAA Tour Books sure come in handy. I love to compare prices on lodging; the AAA books give all this information in one compact location. I still supplement the internet with them.
We started out from Waco Texas and headed east via Hwy 7 to Crockett Tx-this eventually leads to Hwy 84. Our first full stop was in Crockett Texas (named after you know who) ; our plans were to find a good local eatery and have lunch in Crockett. We found a Mexican Restaurant that was very busy. That is rule number one when we look for a restaurant in a new city. Never stop at a restaurant unless they have lots of patrons. We learned our lesson the hard way during a trip to New Mexico last year. It was my birthday. We had spent the day touring Carlsbad Caverns. We were tired and hungry. Pat was in the mood for Mexican food. Do you see any trend yet? We drove up to this restaurant; the parking lot was deserted. We went in and looked at the menu. The prices were reasonable and the menu had Chile Rellenos-one of Pat's favorites. So, we sat down and ordered. Well, this place must have been a front for a drug smuggling outfit because they could not be making any money by selling food. In Crockett our experience was much better. The Mexican restaurant was full and the patrons appeared to be happy. We ordered and found great Tex-Mex cuisine.
Taqueria Taco Cafe; Mia Taco House 
We found the square where Hwy 7, Hwy 287, Hwy 19, Hwy 21, and FM 2022 all converge. We took some pictures of the square and historical markers. We got back in the car after looking at some of the shops on the square. Our goal was to reach Natchez Mississippi before dark-Mapquest says 300 miles should take 6 ½ hours; we knew it would probably take 5 hours. We knew some short cuts (zoom, zoom,zoom).
Pat had recently visited Natchez when he and some friends rode their motorcycles to Birmingham to attend the Motorcycle Races. He was anxious to show me the town. Our first stop was the overlook on the Mississippi River with a view of a Riverboat that was docked-this was THE Riverboat were all the gambling took place. I was staying out of that place.
Next we headed for dinner. The place had character and the food was great. We had the pork barbecue.
Then off to our motel. I’m omitting any mention of our motel accommodations. Someone once said, if you can’t say anything good about something, you should say nothing at all.
In the morning we visited the Grand Village of the Natchez.
We then took a short detour and traveled about 50 miles on the Natchez Trace Parkway. The U.S. Dept of the Interior maintains this 444 mile national treasure that transverses Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. You can obtain more information about the Parkway at(www.nps.gov/natr) and the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (www.nps.gov/natt)
Our next objective was to reach Dothan Alabama. We traveled via Hwy 84. Mapquest preferred I-10 but we were taking the scenic route-avoiding any traffic. Estimated time for the 500 miles was about 8 hours. It took every minute. We were happy to finally get to Dothan. After checking in at the motel we headed for the Cracker Barrel. I rate the Cracker Barrel as my favorite restaurant. This Brooklyn Gal sure loves their Southern cuisine. They have first rate service, low fat milk for my coffee, and plenty of vegetables. I’m sure Dothan has sightseeing attractions; we just never found them. Maybe we were just getting tired and we were ready to be in Jacksonville. Early to bed and Early to Rise; we were on the road by 8 am and arrived at our final destination in 4 hours.
Jacksonville Florida is a great city to visit and live in. We stayed for a month. I think I really pushed Pat at little too far this time. We saw a lot and when we finally started home we decided to take the fast route via I-10. The roads going west were great and we kept going until we were really tired. We were lucky and found a wonderful motel in Slidell Louisiana; it was right across the street from a Cracker Barrel. We drove around awhile before we found the motel and we were intrigued with the community. There were some interesting and quaint shopping areas. I’m willing to stop again and stay a few days so that we can explore the city. The next time we drive to Jacksonville, we are staying in Slidell instead of Baton Rouge (which is where we usually stay).
Our final day on the road went very smoothly. We bypassed Houston by taking Hwy 105 West out of Beaumont- this runs into Hwy 6 which took us through Aggie land in Bryan College Station and then directly to Waco. We were sure glad to get home. I’ll share our experiences and pictures of the Jacksonville Zoo at a later date.
We all enjoy jumping on a highway and getting to our final destination as quickly as possible. I try to remind myself that the journey is more important than arriving at the destination. This trip we tried to live that axiom.
We then took a short detour and traveled about 50 miles on the Natchez Trace Parkway. The U.S. Dept of the Interior maintains this 444 mile national treasure that transverses Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. You can obtain more information about the Parkway at(www.nps.gov/natr) and the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (www.nps.gov/natt)
Our next objective was to reach Dothan Alabama. We traveled via Hwy 84. Mapquest preferred I-10 but we were taking the scenic route-avoiding any traffic. Estimated time for the 500 miles was about 8 hours. It took every minute. We were happy to finally get to Dothan. After checking in at the motel we headed for the Cracker Barrel. I rate the Cracker Barrel as my favorite restaurant. This Brooklyn Gal sure loves their Southern cuisine. They have first rate service, low fat milk for my coffee, and plenty of vegetables. I’m sure Dothan has sightseeing attractions; we just never found them. Maybe we were just getting tired and we were ready to be in Jacksonville. Early to bed and Early to Rise; we were on the road by 8 am and arrived at our final destination in 4 hours.
Jacksonville Florida is a great city to visit and live in. We stayed for a month. I think I really pushed Pat at little too far this time. We saw a lot and when we finally started home we decided to take the fast route via I-10. The roads going west were great and we kept going until we were really tired. We were lucky and found a wonderful motel in Slidell Louisiana; it was right across the street from a Cracker Barrel. We drove around awhile before we found the motel and we were intrigued with the community. There were some interesting and quaint shopping areas. I’m willing to stop again and stay a few days so that we can explore the city. The next time we drive to Jacksonville, we are staying in Slidell instead of Baton Rouge (which is where we usually stay).
Our final day on the road went very smoothly. We bypassed Houston by taking Hwy 105 West out of Beaumont- this runs into Hwy 6 which took us through Aggie land in Bryan College Station and then directly to Waco. We were sure glad to get home. I’ll share our experiences and pictures of the Jacksonville Zoo at a later date.
We all enjoy jumping on a highway and getting to our final destination as quickly as possible. I try to remind myself that the journey is more important than arriving at the destination. This trip we tried to live that axiom.
Our route from Waco TX to Jacksonville Fl.
Took Hwy 77 south, Hwy 7 east to Crockett, Hwy 7 east towards Nacogdoches, Hwy 59 north to Hwy 84, Hwy 84 east to Natchez Mississippi, Hwy 84 east to Enterprise, Hwy 12 east to Dothan, Hwy 231 south to me 10 east, last stop Jacksonville Florida.
We know there was a more direct route to Nacogdoches from Waco, but we wanted to visit Crockett.
Took Hwy 77 south, Hwy 7 east to Crockett, Hwy 7 east towards Nacogdoches, Hwy 59 north to Hwy 84, Hwy 84 east to Natchez Mississippi, Hwy 84 east to Enterprise, Hwy 12 east to Dothan, Hwy 231 south to me 10 east, last stop Jacksonville Florida.
We know there was a more direct route to Nacogdoches from Waco, but we wanted to visit Crockett.
FYI: If your final goal is the greater Jacksonville Florida area, visit James Angelo's web site for information about real estate in that area.
Would you like to share your favorite eateries and sightseeing destinations in the cities we passed through? I would love to receive your thoughts on places we missed during our journey. Click here to contact us. I’ll post some of those that I receive. I am looking forward to receiving your tasty tidbits. Please use "Exploring Hwy 84 -Texas, Mississippi, Alabama,Florida" as your title.