Postcard mailed from Funiak Springs, Florida.
Arrived at Funiak Springs about 6 PM. Am at the hotel where we stopped with Claudelle. Left Chas 9PM yesterday. Slept about 1 hr. Smoke and fog were terrible on Atlantic Coast. Had to drive slowly. No mishaps. Swamps here been on fire about 2 weeks. Fires are out now but smoke is there.
W.E.D.
December 29, 1931
I just checked the recommended 2012 route from Charleston SC to DeFuniak Springs FL on Google Maps. Google defaults to Interstate highways whenever possible, so it sends you an extra 55 miles, through Jacksonville, and ends up with a travel time of 8 hours, 43 minutes (most of that at a gas-drinking 70 mph). Taking a route Walter was likely to use in 1931 on US 17 through Georgia, Google predicts a travel time of 9 hours, 17 minutes, not counting the hour that he slept.
When Walter made the trip 80 years ago over inferior roads in a car that typically ran about 40 mph, it took him 14 hours of actual driving time.