And it has nothing to do with the election (or How the Gore-inch Stole Florida*).
What do you call the stretch of highway running from Miami to (and past) Orlando?
The official name is “Florida’s Turnpike,” but I (as well as other outlanders that I have mention it) have always referred to it as “The Florida Turnpike.” Which term do the locals use?
*Not original. I heard someone else say it.
I grew up in Plantation, just outside of Ft. Lauderdale, so I’ll take a stab.
“The turnpike”
Isn’t it now officially the “George Bush Florida Turnpike,” anyway?
Actually, it’s now officially the “Ronald Reagan Turnpike” (even though I don’t belive he ever stepped foot in the state).
It runs from a small town (northwest of Orlando) called Wildwood, through Orlando and Yeehaw Junction (really! I love that name!) to Miami (connecting I-75 to I-95 or A1A [one of those] at the Rickenbacker Causeway, IIRC).
People around here (Orlando) just call it “the Turnpike” (I don’t think the ‘t’ is necessarily capitalized. There are several tollroads, and most are oficially referred to by their route number rather than a name, as per state law/decree/whatever - e.g. ‘the 417’ (instead of the “Greeneway”; ‘the 408’ (instead of the “East-West Expressway”); ‘528’ or ‘the 528’ (instead of “the Beeline”). Only exception I’ve found is the Turnpike (RR had nothing to do with it, the Republican-lead legislature crammed that one through) and the Osceola Parkway (connecting the Turnpike to DisneyWorld.
Come to think of it, I don’t know the route numbers for wither of those.
That’s right. I can’t believe all the things that are named for him, and he’s not even dead yet: here in DC, we have the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center (quite a building), and Reagan National Airport (named after the man who fired the air traffic controllers).
Anyway, I believe all presidents since LBJ have set foot in each state. I read recently that Nebraska was the only state Clinton has not yet visited, but he’s planning a trip to stop by sometime between now and 20 January, just to get that stamp on his passport.
Liz Langley from the Orlando Weekly made a rather good point regarding the road’s name:
I don’t think you get a stamp on a passport for going state to state…
I always just call it “the turnpike.”
Yep, always just called it the turnpike.
hehe…I love the name Yeehaw Junction too. YEEEEHAAAW!!!
And I like Alligator Alley. You really can see alligators!
Yeah, umm…just “the turnpike”.
My boyfriends brother crashed his car in yeehaw junction. It should still be there.
“The Turnpike” is what most people around South Fl say, and what I do to. Never driven on it yet, which is good since I’d probably get killed.
How about calling it the Ron Way?
“The turnpike” is just a couple of miles from my front door. I take it quite often to Yeehaw Junction (St Rd 60 to Tampa).
I’ve never heard anyone call it either “Florida’s turnpike” or the “Ronald Reagan Memorial Asphalt”.
How the hell is Michi single? To say nothing of not having an SO! What the hell is wrong with you Florida guys?
How many Black Holes of feminine appreciation are there in the state?
Sorry for the hijack.
Thanks for the support DRY. But hopefully one day I’ll most out of FL and maybe I’ll have better luck.
At least my question was one that could be answered. . . .
All I can do, my dear Michi, is not enough. Forgive me for that, but I lack the literary skill to do justice to your virtue:
“The hand that hath made you fair hath made you good: the goodness that is cheap in beauty makes beauty brief in goodness; but grace, being the soul of your complexion, shall keep the body of it ever fair.”
–Measure for Measure, Act 3, Scene i
As for moving out of Florida, come to California! 
Mjollnir–GOOD point!
Well, as adorable as I find Michi, no matter which screen name she uses, I’m afraid both she and my lovely sife deserve better than I can offer her.
But we’ll always have Paris.
[sub]Oh, wait, that didn’t really happen, did it? sigh[/sub]