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Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best |
Since 2003, back before my wife and I even got married, our family has been driving between Indiana and the Florida Panhandle a couple of times a year. One notable landmark was the Saturn IB rocket at the Alabama Welcome Center just across the TN line. It was always something our kids anticipated and watched for, and a fun thing to help pass the time on the trip. We just drove by there and it's gone. Apparently they took it out in September because they're renovating the welcome center and the rocket was too rough to refurbish  . Supposedly they're going to replace it with some kind of mock-up, but I'm not sure of what. The old one was a real Saturn IB. Kind of sad to have a piece of history, both actual and familial, just disappear like that. | ||
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Member |
Luckily, for us, when our Saturn V was getting into rough condition, JSC decided to build a permanent building around it & make it into a new/refreshed exhibit. But, we only got a static test shuttle, instead of one of the mission used craft The Enemy's gate is down. | |||
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Official Space Nerd |
That is nearly criminal that they allowed it to deteriorate past the point of recovery.
I actually PREFER having a 'fake' shuttle there (Houston Space Center). If it were real, you would never be able to even touch it. The fake one, you can walk inside and actually see the cockpit and cargo bay areas. IIRC, that was used to train astronauts, so it should be a fairly realistic copy (the fake shuttle at the USAF Museum isn't nearly as nice, IMO). Fear God and Dread Nought Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jacky Fisher | |||
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| I Am The Walrus |
Curious as to what route you take. I'm assuming you are on I-65 through Montgomery but where from there? Been trying to find a way to skip Atlanta and the awful traffic from Tampa to Chicago. One route I was considering was I-75 to I-10 to some rural road east of I-65 as it veers southwest from Montgomery towards Mobile. _____________ | |||
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| Knows too little about too much  |
There were a a lot of people here unhappy about the way this was managed. Welcome to Alabama. We used to have a really big rocket. RMD TL Davis: “The Second Amendment is special, not because it protects guns, but because its violation signals a government with the intention to oppress its people…” Remember: After the first one, the rest are free. | |||
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| Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best |
We go from northern Indiana to Pensacola, so it's pretty much a straight shot down I-65 from Indy to exit 69 in Alabama where we take 113 to 29 into Pcola. You could probably do that and take I-10 across to 75, but it would be less direct than just going over to Cincinnati and taking 75 the whole way. I65 used to be a really nice drive, but the traffic has gotten really bad in the past 10 years or so. We're currently stopped for yet another wreck south of Birmingham...Google says it's still 2 miles ahead . | |||
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A Grateful American |
Take Hwy I-65 south through Montgomery (west side) to Hwy 80 and then Hwy 80 east (3-4 miles) to Hwy 231 south. You will go around the west side of Dothan circle. Hwy 231 is 4 lane all the way to I-10. And on a southeast track. Puts you out between Marianna/Chipley Florida at I-10. Driven in the Florida panhandle and all points to and from over 50 years. "the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" ✡ Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב! | |||
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Member |
That's the route I take. This space intentionally left blank. | |||
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| Member |
This. Last time I went to Florida I went down 75 through Atlanta (BIG MISTAKE) I hit right at evening rush hour. On the way back I took the route Sig Monkey posted. Much better! | |||
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PopeDaddy |
That rest area / welcome center is under complete renovation. The whole area was demolished for a rebuild. Drove past it yesterday actually. It’s getting close to being finished. Half of that display rocket was original and the other stage was a mock-up. The stage of that original rocket displayed was originally used for underwater skylab training (I remember seeing it as a kid when we took a field trip on Redstone arsenal and went to the NASA underwater training facility…like a really large tank you might see at an aquarium only it had a rocket inside of it so astronauts could train in a simulated space environment). NASA has the rocket portions that was removed. Not sure what plans are for it. It was unsafe to leave standing. Plans are to replace it with a full mock up. Not sure when though. Go to the Alabama space and rocket center and home of Space Camp about 20 minutes away from that rest area location. They have the 1st stage of Saturn V in the NASA Davidson building on its side and a large standing replica outside. Can’t miss it. At all. The Davidson building has a fully glass wall and is adjacent to I-565. The rocket inside the building is nearly completely visible from your speeding car. The rocket outside towers over you. 0:01 | |||
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| Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best |
Yeah we've been to the space and rocket center a couple of times. It's pretty awesome, and that Saturn V is really impressive. It's a bit out of the way on a trip that's already 13-14 hours, though...have to really dedicate a day to get the most out of it. The rest area rocket was cool because you could see it from I-65, and we'd often stop there for a bathroom break and get a quick close-up look at it. | |||
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| Knows too little about too much |
Anything beats I-65 from Gadsden south. Always wrecks and tie-ups. RMD TL Davis: “The Second Amendment is special, not because it protects guns, but because its violation signals a government with the intention to oppress its people…” Remember: After the first one, the rest are free. | |||
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teacher of history |
We drove from Illinois to Talladega many times. We were always excited to see the rocket as it meant we were in Alabama. If in Chicago, I would go straight down I-65. I also get off at Montgomery and go down 231. | |||
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| Member |
Have they completed the road work on I65 north of Indy? I drove to Florida two years ago and I65 was a close second to Atlanta as far as congestion goes due to road work on I65 from 80/94 to Indy. | |||
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Make America Great Again |
Yes, a lot of us Alabamians were really not happy at all when the news first broke that it was being removed! Being an actual 1B, the structure and skin was very lightweight, and being outdoors for so many years just had it rotting away. It was sadly too far gone to be refurbed at all... _____________________________ Bill R. North Alabama | |||
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| Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best |
That I'm not sure about. We are a couple of hours east of you, so we typically take US31 down to 465 and around. We don't get on I-65 until we're on the south side of Indy. | |||
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| Member |
OK. Thanks. | |||
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| I Am The Walrus |
I have seen 231 on the map and always wondered what type of road it was. I’ll be making the drive up in May so that’s the route I’ll end up taking instead of I-75 through Atlanta. Seems unless it’s overnight, there’s no good time to get through Atlanta. Nashville can get bad but it’s nowhere near as bad at Atlanta (yet). _____________ | |||
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| Make America Great Again |
When I drive from the Huntsville area over to see my daughter in Athens, GA, I normally leave the house around 12:30 to 1:00 in the morning. Traffic is so much lighter, even passing through Atlanta... as long as I get through there before around 4:30 or 5:00. By then it's already a nightmare. About two trips back I was on I-285 between I-75 and I-85 and it was around 4:00. Traffic came to a grinding halt between exits. There was a wreck up ahead blocking ALL travel lanes, and I didn't move more than a few feet for over an hour! It was about an hour and a half before I really got rolling again! Oh, and I had been drinking lots of coffee, so that was a double-whammy! LOL I switched to driving through Gainesville to avoid Atlanta altogether after that one! _____________________________ Bill R. North Alabama | |||
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| Member |
That's the route I took home a couple of years ago. 231 is a pretty good road to take. Not as good as an Interstate but pretty good. It's mostly two lanes in each direction. Beats sitting on I75 in bumper to bumper trying to get through Atlanta. | |||
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