The Definitive Answer to an Age-Old Question
The question: “Where’s Waldo?”
The definitive answer: “About 10 miles NE of downtown Gainesville, FL.” And here’s the proof, courtesy of Google Maps:
Seemed like a nice little town when I passed thru yesterday.
An early Merry Christmas from the road to all.
Category: Pointless blather
To the truckers that regularly drove through Waldo in the 70s/80s, it was a major speed trap, writing tickets for as little as 1 MPH over the speed limit, and if they couldn’t accuse a driver of speeding, they stopped him for “crossing the centerline” which presents an unprovable defense. We drivers would slow down before getting there so we could cross it in a Protective Convoy, and even then had to be sure to maintain a good distance between us. Seems it was on Life Magazines list of 10 worst speed traps back in the day.
FO: the speed trap on US301 in that part of FL seems to have moved to Lawley (about 5 mi or so N of Starke). There’s actually a freaking billboard on US301 southbound 4 1/2 mi N of Lawley warning everyone of the speed trap ahead in Lawley.
I’m guessing they pinged someone with mucho dinero and he/she decided to get even. “Well played, sir.” (smile)
I wish I’d had a camera yesterday when I saw that billboard.
I remember this town being rated as one of the worst speed traps in this nation by AAA.
The other notorious speed trap was Colonial Heights, Virginia. The JP sat in his car behind the police car and held court on the spot. If you were from out of state it was pay now or wait in jail until someone sends the money.
And a Merry Christmas to you HOndo. Travel safely.
Been through there a few times. Still a speed trap. Over half the town’s revenue is from tickets. Every few years the local news does another story on it.
Hondo, that sign has been there for years, I see it every time I have to go to Camp Blanding. And YES, it’s true, that town uses traffic fines as their major source of revenue!
Nope. It’s in Santa Fe County, NM. I pass the turnoff on my way south out of town, on the way to work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldo,_New_Mexico
http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nm/waldo.html
Medic09: well, I’m willing to go as far as saying Waldo might have been in New Mexico sometime in the past. But as the Wikipedia article says of the entity formerly known as Waldo in NM (emphasis added): “Today little remains, although the name appears on a freeway exit on Interstate 25 some distance to the west.”
Sounds to me like Waldo packed up and moved to Florida when he retired from his job with the railroad. (smile)
Hondo: ;-P