By taking I-95 or the Turnpike, Alligator Alley and I-75, one can drive from Pompano Beach to the Fort Myers area in little more than two hours. This is a considerable improvement over the days when a person had to take Tamiami Trail or travel south of Lake Okeechobee and then on State Road 80.

In the early years of the twentieth century, crossing the state was even more complicated. In his book, My Early Days in South Florida From 1905, Albert Erkins describes his journey:

In December 1920 . . . I boarded the Florida East Coast train at Fort Lauderdale at eight-thirty AM, and arrived in New Smyrna about three PM. There I had to wait a half hour for the Orange Junction "shuttle" train to Orange City on the main line Atlantic Coast Line.

I arrived at Orange City junction and waited at a small station. Fortunately a stand sold soft drinks and sandwiches. At 9 PM, we left for Lakeland. I stayed overnight and the next morning boarded a train and arrived at Fort Myers about noon.

What it meant to cross Florida in those days must be considered. There was no Tamiami Trail, no direct line across South Florida coast to coast, so this was the best way from Fort Lauderdale or Palm Beach to St. Petersburg, Tampa and the west coast.

Erkin's book, written in collaboration with August Burghard in 1975, offers a unique glimpse at Florida before development. It has been out of print for some time, but copies occasionally turn up at specialty book stores such as Past Perfect Florida History.