Search for sign answers leads to a crossroads

Perry has long been a mystery to people traveling north on U.S. 19.

For some reason, we are beset by road signs proclaiming Perry's proximity to us.

Tourists leaving St. Pete Beach who see a sign near the Corey Causeway that reads "South Pasadena 1, Perry 205" probably wonder whether their vacation was all it might have been. They might worry that maybe they missed something by not visiting Perry.

People in Clearwater probably feel wistful when they see a sign that tells them they are 185 miles from Perry, a place that surely must be something special.

For those of us who live in Spring Hill, a sign that says "Perry 146" makes the little town seem almost within reach. Like maybe the next time we're heading to Home Depot, we could just keep on going to Perry.

It's as if the signs are trying to tell us something: that what we want in life lies just up the road in Perry.

I decided I must go there and seek answers to life's great questions, such as why all the signs point to Perry.

For nearly three hours, I slogged up U.S. 19 in the rain. The sky was dismal and the road desolate. Yet, every 20 miles or so, a green road sign calling me to Perry offered reassurance. I had chosen the right path.

For all the buildup, I wound up smelling Perry before I actually laid eyes on it.

A great cellulose paper mill sits on the edge of town. And the dampness of the day stirred up the sweet aroma of something akin to wet cardboard.

Perry's stretch of U.S. 19 is as commercialized as anywhere else, with plenty of fast-food joints and motels. But the downtown of Perry -- population 6,847 -- borders on quaint. When I arrived, people were busy preparing for the Florida Forest Festival, which will take place Saturday.

Buddy Humphries, city director of tourism and economic development, isn't sure why all the signs point to Perry. Nor does he care.

"We're excited that they are that way, for whatever reason," he said. "Tell 'em we want more of them."

Then he asks me whether I'd heard that Perry is the scallop capital of Florida.

Robbie Gail Dugie, a homegrown girl in the Chamber of Commerce office, doesn't know the reason for the signs either. But, she asks, have I heard that Perry is the pine tree capital of the South?

Donnie Barnes, a forestry worker taking lunch at the Downtown Cafe, suspects it has something to do with all the highways that run through Perry. But he's not sure. Then he asks me whether I knew that Perry is home to the world's largest fish fry.

Charles Sadler, a reporter for the Taco (short for Taylor County) Times newspaper, isn't sure. Perhaps, he says, it relates to when Perry was once the motel capital of the South.

Others around town say it must have been a legislative boondoggle, that somebody from Perry must have twisted some arms in Tallahassee to get the town's name on all the signs.

In truth, the real answer is partly romantic, partly bureaucratic.

Yes, Perry was once a mecca of motor lodges, including some that now lie in ruin, in the days before Disney and Interstate 75.

But Perry also happens to be a crossroads town. Running through it are U.S. 19, U.S. 27, U.S. 98 and U.S. 221. The Florida Department of Transportation calls such places "control cities." As such, they get their names on a lot of signs.

Yet, Perry's days of glory in green metal might be numbered.

Most of the signs listing Perry are so old that the first Spanish explorers could have followed them to Perry. They were erected when there were few other places worth "signing," department spokeswoman Kris Carson said. That's no longer the case.

So, as U.S. 19 is widened or resurfaced in the next few years, other destinations will start appearing in Perry's place on new signs, Carson said.

Instead of aiming for a town 200 miles up the road, new signs will aim travelers at places in the 50- to 60-mile range. Spring Hill and Weeki Wachee, which now get mentioned only 15 or 20 miles out, should get a little more advance billing.

Perry, meanwhile, will have to find other ways to endure. That should be no problem. Have you heard it's the quail, trout and redfish capital of the South?

-- Robert King covers Spring Hill and can be reached at 848-1432 or rking@sptimes.com.

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