A Tale of Two Highways

Due to my increased travel for work this year, Beth and I were able to break with our traditional January trip to the Northshore of Lake Superior and made a getaway to the Florida Keys. The Keys are a vacation paradise off the southern tip of Florida, the Northshore is a backwoods retreat near the Canadian Border.

Despite the extreme differences in geography, there are some strange parallels between these two getaway destinations. The first is the way that the two are dominated by the single, two lane highways that provide the only access in and out. Highway 61 for the Northshore and Highway 1 for the Keys.


HIGHWAY 61





Minnesota's Highway 61 is the northern tip of old U.S. Highway 61. U.S. 61 used to run from New Orleans, LA to the Canadian Border just north of Grand Portage at the tip of the arrow head in Minnesota. U.S. 61 now ends in Wyoming, MN and the northern end has become Minnesota Highway 61.

Minnesota's Highway 61 runs from Duluth along Lake Superior's Northshore all the way to the Canadian Border. Mile 0 is at Duluth while Mile 150 is at Pigeon Falls at the border.


HIGHWAY 1






U.S. Highway 1 is the only route in and out of the Florida Keys. This highway runs from the southernmost point in the continental U.S. (Key West) all the way north along the East Coast to the Canadian Border in Maine.

The portion that serves the Keys runs approximately 120 miles from Florida City down to Mile 0 in Key West.


Photo by Mrs. D-Monk

Both highways so dominate the landscape that almost all directions refer to mile-markers.