Sunday morning we were in Sanford and joined quite a crowd on the Rivership Romance to celebrate friend TexAnn Ivy Buck’s birthday! We were all gathered at various tables and Sandra and I found ourselves seated with Grace Chewning, former-Mayor Carl Langford, his son Tom and his wife, Pam. With the exception of Sandra, we are all former Orlando City Hall employees. We had a great time talking about “Silly Hall”, as Grace aptly refers to it.

Grace is the most amazing person I know to remember names and stories! She just remembers everything!

During the cruise in the St. Johns River, I sketched various scenes we went by. Here are two of those.

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After the cruise we quickly poked around Downtown Sanford so Sandra could update one of her guidebooks. In an art gallery we found old friend Pam Treadwell helping out. We got a chance to catch up with the always nutty-cool-dude happenin’s of the Treadwell domicile.

We joined a group hiking across the state, from the Atlantic to the Gulf. Specifically there are 4 taking the trip. The rest of us were just cheering the quartet on. The reason: All four are over 80. Check out Sandra’s site for more info. by clicking here.

It was Marshall Swamp that Sandra and I joined the group. Along the hike I sketched the drawing above from a boardwalk over precious water in the swamp. The image is of a tree that broke near the trunk, spun around and fell into the water. The large piece sticking up is part of the massive root system that is above and below the water. To the left is a small tree growing from the tree trunk’s center.

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After the hike we spun over to ‘The Stage Stop’ restaurant for a late breakfast on Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala. The restaurant was of the many western themed commercial businesses in the area of the once great tourist attraction, ‘Six-Gun Territory’. ‘Six Gun’ was less than a mile away where folks could experience the “Wild West” with gunfights, dancing girls and train rides. The attraction has been shuttered and demolished for thirty years but is fondly remembered and many of the namesakes still exist.

The drawing is of a saddle that hangs up in the corner of the restaurant.

I wanted easy to carry for the trip, so I dropped from the non-fiction and lept into a Mike Shayne mystery. I love this series. I never can figure out who did it! Sometimes I’ll figure out parts of it but never how it all somes together. Though it’s there if you pay reeeeeeeeeaaaalllll close attention.

This one has a Robert McGuinnis cover. However this book is all about blondes. No redheads. I read once that Dell Publishing would just wholesale buy art from McGuinnis and just drop art wherever it would fit.

Heading home we came across one of three new restaurants from the Chik-Fil-A folks. It’s terrific! I love these kind of restaurants and this one is first class! It’s named after the founder Truett Cathy. Truett’s Grill truly does it’s best to reflect a ’50s diner. The restaurant includes displays of the history of the Chik-Fil-A chain. There’s also an HO train that runs along a track near the ceiling along the inside of the restaurant. A separate room is made up to look like the interior of a subway car, with the entrance to the room painted as an entrance to a subway car. It was quite a place with great food and – Milkshakes!

The drawing is of a time capsule that hangs on the wall of the restaurant that was sealed in 2006 and to be opened 2026. I was hoping to color and better distinguish the art but time and the number of drawings during the trip holds me back.

Our last food stop was outside Valdosta, Georgia. We stopped at Old South Bar-B-Q. It’s a family owned and operated restaurant just off U.S.75. Very good bar-b-q.

We began our way home to Florida from Columbus. Along the way we made many stops. I wanted a White Castle “burger” to remind me how much better Krystals are. Then we came across a ‘Tim Horton’s’. I had never been there but have read in the Wall Street Journal of their battle with Krispy Kreme. We got doughnuts there. Aplanned stop was made in Lexington, Kentucky, to a ‘Sir Pizza’. There we got a whole sausage pizza. After that, we stopped at the first Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kentucky. It’s also a museum of the restaurant. We got chicken there. The drive home had become a real roadfood trip!

As we drove through Tennessee we stopped in Louden to nab some ice cream from the Tic Toc Ice Cream Shop that was started by cousins of Sandra. Below is a drawing of their wall menu.

After a great reception and exhibit of Milt Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon art at the Cartoon Research Center at Ohio State University Sandra and I met with a number of Ohio based cartoonists at a Spaghetti Factory. We did a small jam, passing a page around and all adding to it. Even Sandra. The results are below. The art is by Polly Keener, Earl Musick, Don Chambers, Sandra and me.

	The first speaker was Beetle Bailey cartoonist, Brian Walker. Walker spoke of the history of cartooning building to the art of Milt Caniff. That lead to a panel of (Clockwise from left) Mort Walker, Peter Poplaski, R.C. Harvey and Arnold Roth who all gave their memories of Milt Caniff.

 After a lunchbreak P.Craig Russell explained adapting Wagner’s Ring cycle into a graphic novel.  Ted Rall next gave an overview of his graphic novel work.

The Festival of Cartoon Art at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The festival began with a pre-session today. Most were academic speeches about the art of sequential storytelling. The wrap-up was by the great, scholarly R.C. Harvey. Harvey spoke of cartoonist Milton Caniff, who is being honored during the entire festival Harvey has a brand new 900+ page book on the life of Caniff. I picked one up and look forward to reading it. The drawing is of R.C. addressing the crowd.

Later we visited the Thurber House, where humorist James Thurber once lived, and got to view art by the Great Lakes Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society.

On our way to Columbus, Ohio, we stopped at Mammoth Cave National Park and stayed overnight in their hotel. We toured one cave for a couple hours. The drawings were drawn in the depths of the cave with very little light, so forgive the quality.

We made a late afternoon stop in Murfreeboro, Tennessee, to a childhod favorite: Sir Pizza. I had found out a Sir Pizza was on the trail to Columbus, so we stopped there for a late lunch. It was great! The drawing is of the salad bar area. Note the knights that sit atop it.