Trip planning advice to game

MJMGator

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Waldo was the worst speed trap in the country for decades. Police department finally shut down and it’s calls go to the State Troopers.
 

stephenPE

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I drove throught Waldo for 30 yrs to work and never got a ticket. I drove the speed limit. 301 is basically an interstate highway going through that town. I will admit the speed zone they put out by the flea mkt was used as one. They set up out there at 5am and took you down for going 55 in that 45. THat speed limit was only needed on the weekend when the flea mkt was up and going. People fly through Waldo now.
 

Gator By Marriage

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I drove throught Waldo for 30 yrs to work and never got a ticket. I drove the speed limit.
That makes your not getting a ticket pretty self explanatory..........

When we lived in DC and would drive down to UF or further down to the in-laws, we would come down 301 from I-10 to Gainesville. I knew nothing about it, but Mrs. G. was paranoid as hell about getting a ticket in any of those towns (Lawtey, Starke, Waldo, etc.) I would set the cruise right at the speed limit just to keep her happy.
 

bradgator2

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If you take 301 from Baldwin to Waldo, don't worry about your speed, except in Starke. You can make up time easily the rest of that stretch.

Ha, outdated news. 301 now 100% bypasses Starke. A highway that goes around Starke, that is driven like the autobahn, is the best use of taxpayer money ever.
 

Nalt

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I am hoping to get down there for the Bama/UF game this fall. Maybe I'll see some of y'all down there...
 

gator1946

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That makes your not getting a ticket pretty self explanatory..........

When we lived in DC and would drive down to UF or further down to the in-laws, we would come down 301 from I-10 to Gainesville. I knew nothing about it, but Mrs. G. was paranoid as hell about getting a ticket in any of those towns (Lawtey, Starke, Waldo, etc.) I would set the cruise right at the speed limit just to keep her happy.

4 of the maybe 8 speeding tickets I've gotten in my life were in Lawtey. I didn't worry about Waldo nearly as much as Lawtey. No tickets from Waldo. Every time I was pulled over, I had to balance what I wanted to say to that damned cop vs a prolonged stay in beautiful Lawtey. I'm pretty sure he was the same cop for years. Get distracted talking to someone else or just zone out thinking about something else...and boom that SOB was there ready to pounce for one mph over the limit. AAA put up a huge billboard warning you f you were Southbound. I don't remember if there was one Northbound. So if you weren't paying attention, you had no one to blame but yourself and the a.s.s.hole cop.
 

Thick&ThinG8r

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Ha, outdated news. 301 now 100% bypasses Starke. A highway that goes around Starke, that is driven like the autobahn, is the best use of taxpayer money ever.
They should purchase the land now to connect that b!tch all the way from I-10 to I-75 north of Qcala.
 

bradgator2

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They should purchase the land now to connect that b!tch all the way from I-10 to I-75 north of Qcala.

They have been pushing that for years. The problem is there is MASSIVE old Florida horse money resistance.

There wasnt any Starke money to fight it :lol:
 

soflagator

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4 of the maybe 8 speeding tickets I've gotten in my life were in Lawtey. I didn't worry about Waldo nearly as much as Lawtey. No tickets from Waldo. Every time I was pulled over, I had to balance what I wanted to say to that damned cop vs a prolonged stay in beautiful Lawtey. I'm pretty sure he was the same cop for years. Get distracted talking to someone else or just zone out thinking about something else...and boom that SOB was there ready to pounce for one mph over the limit. AAA put up a huge billboard warning you f you were Southbound. I don't remember if there was one Northbound. So if you weren't paying attention, you had no one to blame but yourself and the a.s.s.hole cop.

So here's a question. Which stretch of driving is officially the worst part of Florida:

a) Waldo through Lawtey and Starke(before the new bypass).

b) 40 from Ocala to Daytona. Lynn and Astor(google it just for fun) even sound like garbage and there are at least 12 Dollar Generals.

I give the nod to 40. But honestly, I'd rather skateboard down Blue Heron Blvd wearing a David Duke shirt than drive either one of those disasters.
 

gator1946

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Never done 40 Ocala to Daytona. But because of business I've driven almost all of the state. Try Jax to Pensacola if you want to be miserable for hour upon hour. It's interstate, but it might be the most boring drive on the face of the earth. 301 South out of Ocala at night is also at the bottom of my list. If you're into star gazing it's probably great. If you're trying to drive, they don't believe in lights anywhere. Driving that stretch one night I saw two huge meteor fireballs back to back. They were either real or I was hallucinating. I couldn't confirm it because in that area there was probably not another living soul who would have seen them...maybe a cow. I was past the horse farms.
 

soflagator

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Never done 40 Ocala to Daytona. But because of business I've driven almost all of the state. Try Jax to Pensacola if you want to be miserable for hour upon hour. It's interstate, but it might be the most boring drive on the face of the earth. 301 South out of Ocala at night is also at the bottom of my list. If you're into star gazing it's probably great. If you're trying to drive, they don't believe in lights anywhere. Driving that stretch one night I saw two huge meteor fireballs back to back. They were either real or I was hallucinating. I couldn't confirm it because in that area there was probably not another living soul who would have seen them...maybe a cow. I was past the horse farms.

I10 panhandle stretch is rough. Never driven all the way to Pensacola, but dated a girl from Panama City. So I did West Palm to PC several times. We broke up.
 

Sec14Gator

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This is not an entire drive, but this one fork in the road nearly killed me and many others. I recall there being 5 large water tanks between the fork for safety reasons:

upload_2021-3-30_12-59-48.jpeg

The problem wasn’t the road per se, but that each option was so miserable that driving square into the barricades seemed like a better choice.

Edit - In looking closer, you can see someone has in fact driven the barracades back about 100 feet. Poor soul.
 
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Double Gator Dad

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So here's a question. Which stretch of driving is officially the worst part of Florida:

a) Waldo through Lawtey and Starke(before the new bypass).

b) 40 from Ocala to Daytona. Lynn and Astor(google it just for fun) even sound like garbage and there are at least 12 Dollar Generals.

I give the nod to 40. But honestly, I'd rather skateboard down Blue Heron Blvd wearing a David Duke shirt than drive either one of those disasters.

I will select B. 40 from Ocala to Daytona.

There is nothing scenic about it at all and it is the slowest rural route in Florida. When I have driven through there I take solace in the fact that I drive there once every year or so only.
 

soflagator

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I will select B. 40 from Ocala to Daytona.

There is nothing scenic about it at all and it is the slowest rural route in Florida. When I have driven through there I take solace in the fact that I drive there once every year or so only.

The forest stretch is actually ok. Not a big fan of the two lanes and absolutely zero cell service. But it’s the train wreck areas on either side that make it so miserable for me. I always think to myself, this is the part of Florida that people are talking about when they make fun of Florida.
 

Swamp Donkey

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You need to get you a CB radio, boy.

screen-shot-2013-11-21-at-17-12-37.png
 

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