We started our day in Florence SC.

Let me divert a minute. I remember driving through the beach town of Florence, Oregon. On the beach was a young man with a saddled camel, standing next to a sign which identified him as Lawrence of Florence.

Still diverting, here is a trivia question? Why did the Nightingales name their daughter Florence? Because she was born (conceived) in Florence, Italy. Google it.

Back on the road, heading South. People driving fast. Big trucks. No problem.

So let’s take a break. Get some coffee. Manning, SC. What’s there? Small town, seen better days. Nicest building. The high school, which has been in use over 100 years. Biggest surprise? Stores with the names Levy, Schwartz and Weinberg. That led to a Google search. Manning had quite a Jewish history from 1850s through early 20th century. Who knew? And a great cup of coffee for only $1. McDonald’s.

Onward. Let’s have lunch in Darien GA. Why? Because we can also go to Fort King George. What’s that? We’ll find out.

Small waterfront town on a river whose name starts and ends with an A. Lunch was a pastrami Reuben made of too much pastrami, the right amount of cheese and sauerkraut and two slices of dark rye. Not bad, but I didn’t do it justice.

King George was George I. The fort was the first British fort in Georgia, from1721 or so. Beautiful site with water and marsh views and many live oaks. Fort has been completely rebuilt. As well as an house like the native American tribe members had, and a Scottish looking house to memorialize the Scottish legion that was quartered there, and a cemetery. The fort did not last long. The enemies were the Spanish. They never fought there.

We watched a short intro film, toured the small but interesting museum (worth more time than we had), and hit the road.

And we drove and drove and drove, getting to our friends’ condo in Riviera Beach/West Palm Beach/Singer Island at about 8:30.

Ended with dinner at Johnny Longboat (I think). Very crowded in a commercial area with a lot of very crowded restaurants. Foreign country, this. The food – my ahi tuna wrap could have been better. Just sayin’, Johnny.

Tomorrow, baseball. I have a good chance of being the Nats starting third baseman. Stayed up all last night trying to decide what number I wanted on my jersey. Thoughts?