To be fair; Ground Zero in the title its the only reason I clicked on the story... which I then closed the window.

I can now see almost 24 yrs. after the fact, that the loosening of thoughts & images will occur, but to me, the word "Ground Zero" will always evoke the memory & be synonymous with the day of 9/11.
I don't think Matt intended his travel hardships to equal a day in American sorrow, but his title inference to ground zero did automatically make me think I was going to read something about that day...
was it for click bait or whatever phrase people use today, Matt would only know.. I follow Matt's columns and enjoy them I think he's more professional than that.

i agree fellas that should not be the title its disrespectful to many

Congratulations, Matt. I'm glad that when You picked a place, after logging all those miles, You picked Palmetto.

"...on the north bank of the Manatee River, has low frame-and-brick business buildings and
numerous clapboard houses. The riverfront is alive with fishing and pleasure craft."
Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State (1947)

Boost, others,

"Ground Zero" has been a colloquial phrase since long before 9/11. Hell, I was in a band called Ground Zero in the late 90s. I agree with the sentiment, but I don't want the phrase any more monopolized by the tragedy than I do the rainbow for what it has become.

Thanks. Brad,

Thanks for chiming in, Brad. The term "ground zero" has meant "where the action is" since I started writing and dinosaurs roamed the earth. If I had meant Ground Zero as it applied to September 11, 2001, I would have have used it this way in the my headline 'Ground Zero.'

That said, I appreciate the sensitivity around it and truly meant no offense to anyone. In light of that, though I won't promise never to use it again I won't use it again anytime soon.

BoostBros and ApachePete, I hear you. Thank you for your comments.

Matt, your titles have always been interesting, informative, humorous and sometimes even a bad pun. They are you, they are part of what makes you a good writer and an interesting person.

Padraig
​

I am sucker for bad puns and dad jokes. Guilty as charged.

Thanks for the kind words.

Thanks, Matt.

Pete

While that may be true, after 9/11/2001, the meaning for the majority of people who were at least 10 years old then (35 or older today) probably is associated most with the shock of the attack on America.

A terrible day that will “live in infamy.”