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Adventures in Roadside Archaeology - Florida on Film edition

Dec/09/21 11:38 Filed in: Roadside America | Roadside Archaeology | Florida
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Got up a bit late for “regular” church, so Levi & I had “car church” today. Car Church consists of a ride thru the Florida backroads, with a soundtrack of Willie & Bobbie Nelson’s “Farther Along” and “Dust on the Bible” by the Bad Livers.
Car Church usually results in some incredible conversations with my big man and of course, a few adventures along the way. The conversations are like Vegas. What’s said in the car stays in the car. The adventures on the other hand, are not.

Being a fan of back roads, we were psyched to discover an abandoned, all wood, one lane bridge and roadway that dated back to the early days of auto travel.

We ventured on to Rosewood, home to one of Florida’s darkest stories. You may recall the film of the same name with Ving Rhames and Don Cheadle. Some scenes were filmed here.
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Because “Elvis is Everywhere,” we stopped by Yankeetown Florida, where the bulk of his movie “Follow That Dream” was filmed.

We did some of our patented roadside archaeology and found the Elvis-related “Weall House” back in the hammock (that’s Florida-speak for “woods.”) a couple miles from Yankeetown. The first scenes of “Follow That Dream” were shot here. Unfortunately they didn’t make the final cut, but WE GOT PICTURES!
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The house is in the middle of nowhere on a dead end road. The old house (heck, it was old in 1961!) is well maintained and looks like Elvis just stepped off the porch.

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We headed over to Bird Creek Bridge to recreate a famous Elvis photo. The exact spot where E sat is the railing on Bird Creek Bridge, 4th post in, just after the expansion joint in the road. We didn’t have to say a word, a local who was fishing on the bridge knew why we were there.

“Y’all need a cane pole like Elvis!”
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We chatted a bit. Seems the mullet were being temperamental today. We headed south towards home.

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Even though my favorite road Route 66 runs from Chicago to LA, Levi & I even did some 66ing today. Passing thru Crystal River on the way home, we stopped and did a bit more roadside archaeology, standing where Martin “Adam-12” Milner did in an episode of his earlier series “Route 66.”
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5 hours after our day began, we got back home.

The next time you oversleep on a Sunday, give “car church” a try. You’ll be glad you did.