Category: General (Page 46 of 61)

This is the 6th and last post describing our visit to the Gulf Coast states including parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Up to this point I have covered New Orleans, brief stops in Mississippi and Alabama, St. George Island on the Florida coast, various beaches, Epcot Center, visits with Mary and Jeff Hayes and Jenn, Jeff, and Rowan Gould, and a quick visit to the Everglades. This post covers our excursion into the Florida Keys, focusing on Key West.

From our hotel in Homestead we traveled the 135 miles to Key West. There are numerous bridges along this stretch (25? 26?) and quite a variety of sea birds, but few beaches and not many places to pull over to enjoy the scenery. Our plan was to get to Key West and work our way back up the Keys, but we ended up staying longer in Key West and made few stops on the way back toward Key Largo.

The weather was great. Lots of sun, lots of islands, and temps in the mid-80s. We made out way into Key West, found a place to park, and took off to view some of the tourist spots. I asked a local about a good lunch spot and she pointed us to this place (Bo’s Fish Wagon) that looks like it should be bulldozed and rebuilt, but it had good food! Really, really fresh fish in the fish sandwich, crispy salads.  Nice.

Pam getting our fish lunch

Our lunch room

Exterior decorations of our lunch place

After finishing our fish we walked around the town for a bit. We had to explore the typical tourist spots, including the “Southernmost Point in the US.”  There was a line to take a photo by this landmark, even in  October!

Here we are in Key West. (Photo by another tourist.)

Within the same block as the photographic southernmost point pictured above, we walked past this “for sale” house (1.9 million) and Pam came up with a hammock rental idea; rent a hammock on the covered porch for an hour or two (+ privileges to use restroom facilities)!  Public restrooms and places to sit back and relax seemed to be few and far between in some parts of Key West; this idea could probably be mildly profitable.

House for sale in Key West

We finished with a relaxing visit to the Fort Taylor beach – which did include picnic tables to sit and relax as well as restroom facilities. We spent part of the afternoon walking the beach and watching the beach activity. “Dear Santa: This year give me a big bank account and a slim body. Do not confuse the two as you did last year.”

Ft. Taylor Beach

jet skiers went past

Para sailing looked popular

If we had stayed until sunset, there is a daily (alcoholic) celebration of the departure of the sun on Key West.  But. it was with reluctance that we departed Key West to drive over 100 miles back to our hotel, reluctant not just because we enjoyed ourselves, but this was the last tourist stop before we began heading home. The next day it was a lo-o-o-ong drive to Tallahassee and the morning after that is was back to Colorado.  We did make one last pit stop in the Keys – we bought a key lime pie at Winn Dixie to take back to the room.  (Dessert and breakfast in one pie pan.)

The following day, return flights were uneventful; first from Tallahassee to Orlando, then Orlando to Denver, then Denver to Grand Junction. (Pam said she should have booked us home straight through the Orlando airport, she was thinking we would have ended up on the Florida panhandle again at the end of the trip instead of the Keys.  Live and learn.  Our car rental return etc. was set up for Tallahassee, back we went.) Upon arrival in Colorado, we made a grocery shopping stop in Grand Junction before heading to the house as Felicity had reported running low on food.  And <snap> just like that we were back again and the vacation was over.

Here is one photo I took over eastern Colorado of a wind farm as seen from the sky:

Wind farm in eastern Colorado

This was a vacation for the books. OK, minimal flight mechanical problems on the way to New Orleans initially, but we also learned some “south of the Mason-Dixon Line” history, visited friends and family, had a few great meals, took many photos and some video, and came back with a new perspective and memories.

Next time: Trip Video and closing thoughts.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

For those who expect Key West to look like Jimmy Buffetville, with quaint fishing cottages (conch houses) and fishing nets strung on fences, surprise! Condos and yachts and upscale everything is the reality.  Also, for being on the Atlantic Ocean, there’s not much in the way of long sandy beaches along the Keys either.  We purposely missed the Fantasy Fest (lots of nudity and sexual content, apparently) but Key West was still hoppin’ on a weekday in October.

Back in Colorado, the dogs seemed excited to see “Mom and Dad” (but the cats could have cared less).  Felicity did an excellent job of giving all animals a lot of petting time and belly rubs.  However, returning from vacation and going back to work was frankly depressing.  Enjoying the glorious weather during our time in the Gulf and Florida (68 – 82 degrees night to day – perfect) meant we missed Indian Summer in Colorado.  We returned to Winter’s arrival.  Both of us quickly reviewed our retirement options with our various retirement plans but – alas – retirement is still not in the immediate future for either of us.  Bummer.

Happy Trails.

The day after our Epcot adventure we drove to Brandon (near Tampa) to visit my niece Jennifer, her husband Jeff, and meet their daughter Rowan. Brandon is not that far from Orlando via the I-4, but the interstate has a reputation for being slow. We were fortunate we didn’t have any traffic delays, making the trip in about an hour and a half, but there were slow downs on the return leg. Still, no major problems in making the round trip.

We hadn’t seen Jennifer and Jeff since their marriage many years ago. (Their daughter, Rowan, is 12, going on 13, which gives you some idea of the time lapse involved.) Jenn is the younger daughter of my sister Carolyn. Jennifer and Jeff live in a neighborhood subdivision that has well-kept houses, large yards, and plenty of trees. We arrived around 1:30 PM and enjoyed a visit of more than 3 hours.

Among the many topics we discussed is the state of education in Florida. Jenn is a teacher and has some very pointed insights into how education is approached by both school systems and parents. It still boils down to the home; schools can do their best but unless parents get involved and value a good education, the best efforts of teachers and school administrators will only accomplish so much.

We also spent some time talking about Jennifer’s father Harry, who passed away a few years ago due to cancer. Although Harry and Carol had divorced many years ago, we had kept in contact with Harry and had been witnesses at his 2nd wedding.  We were friends as well as in-laws, and Harry’s passing was an emotional one. Our visit allowed us to fill in some of the blanks surrounding his last few months in Florida.

No visit would be complete without a photo record. Here is a group shot of the 5 of us.

Left to right: Jennifer, Jeff, Rowan (front) Jerry, and Pam

We took leave of the Gould family and headed back to Orlando (on the infamous I-4) for our last night with Mary and Jeff. The next morning would see us on our way to southern Florida, headed toward the Florida Keys.

We decided to drive down central Florida rather than head for either coast line. For the first time I saw some of Florida’s iconic orange groves, hundreds of acres in some stretches. There wasn’t a lot of activity in them this time of the year, but we could see where younger trees had been planted among older trees and other maintenance had been completed. We also drove past large sugar cane fields and a Domino Sugar processing plant. As in Louisiana, sugar cane is a viable cash crop in central Florida. Who knew?

We arrived in the Homestead area a bit earlier than I had thought, so it was decided to make a brief (2 – 3 hour) visit to the Everglades. We saw many large white birds, mainly Great Egrets and White Ibis, and, just before we left, even an iconic crocodile.

Entering the Everglades

Great Egret

Crocodile near Flamingo Point

One of the oddest signs we saw on the entire trip was at Flamingo Point, southern most point of the Everglades road.

What the heck?

We didn’t see any vultures, but we did see this Osprey nest:

Ospreys nesting, Flamingo Point, Everglades

And, finally, a first for me: Coconuts growing in palm trees.

Coconuts in palm tree

Our trip to the Everglades was short but memorable. In a trip video, to be posted later, I have included some footage of the crocodile swimming  and a Great Egret flying and landing in a tree. Not great cinematic stuff but I found these events interesting.

We returned to our Best Western in Homestead for the night after a full day of travel and sight-seeing. Next morning we would begin our visit to the Florida Keys.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I found the details of Harry’s death, as related by Jenn, emotionally moving.  Harry was a faithful correspondent [once each year ] through most of our marriage; his irreverent Christmas cards were always anticipated.  Harry left us too soon.

There are lots of varieties of palms — and not all grow coconuts.  I noticed several palm frond patterns, various palm heights, and differences in trunk types.  Apparently there is even a species of rat living in these palms.  Who knew?

Happy Trails.

After leaving St. George Island we began working our way toward Orlando. The journey was pleasant but not outstanding. Getting to Orlando was one of two fixed schedule points we had, the other was a meeting with my niece Jennifer and her family near Tampa. Mary and Jeff were expecting us by late evening.

Pam, Mary, and Jeff grew up together and have known each other since early childhood. Mary had flown to Colorado last year as a surprise for Pam’s birthday and our trip was, in part, a way of thanking Mary for that visit.  Jeff and Mary have been busy renovating their Florida “lake house” and this was an opportunity to view the improvements.

The Hayes house has a commanding view of their lake, has a re-done deck, is very attractive and comfortable.

View of the lake from the Hayes house deck

Here are the four of us having breakfast in the sunny dining room:

Hayes and Fields families at breakfast

Jeff’s arm is in a sling due to recent rotator cuff surgery. This has not slowed him down much as he went back to work within a week even though the recovery period will take several months. Mary retired recently but still has an amazingly full schedule. After a nice breakfast we headed out for our day’s destination, Epcot center.

For those not familiar with Epcot, it is something like a World’s Fair. Centered around a lake, various countries have pavilions that showcase foods, beverages, and video presentations that introduce the country to visitors. Food, beverages (lots of beer and wine) and gifts can be purchased at these pavilions. Each features iconic images of the country and we learned the people working at these pavilions had to be native to that country.

In addition, Epcot offers several attractions in the form of simulators and rides. We participated in The First Manned Mission to Mars (space flight simulation), Planet Earth (history of human development) and Universe of Energy (pretty much as it seems…how humans began to discover and use energy.) More on these later.

After parking the car and passing through security where all bags are checked, we stood in our first line to purchase tickets. Once inside we began to walk, and walk, and walk…

We visited several pavilions and had lunch (bratwurst) at the German Pavilion with dessert at the French Pavilion. We watched the Canadian intro movie “My Canada,” projected onto 360 degree screens. That was interesting…look ahead, to the sides, or to the back and see what is going on in those areas, much like driving in a convertible. We did a little shopping, including stopping at the Twinings tea shop in the British area. We saw more types of tea and accessories than we had imagined existed. Some cocoa and tea found its way home with us.

Here are some photos from Epcot.

Epcot Center and fountains

The Planet Earth ride is enclosed in the silver ball that is Epcot’s major icon.

Gardens in the Canadian area

Norsk Pavilion

Posing outside the Space Center

The Space Center holds the First Mission to Mars simulation. (Photo taken by a park employee after my attempts at a selfie proved futile.) The simulator ride included takeoff, the flight, and landing on Mars. Each “crew member” was assigned a task; Pam was Captain and I was Chief Engineer. We were told to push buttons, located on a console in front of us, at various times during the “flight.” The ride gives one an idea of what a flight simulator can do and was fun as well.

We ended the day by sitting on a bench overlooking the lagoon and watching people pass by. (I can’t say I like the way we dress ourselves in this country; some of the clothing on display should have never been created, let alone worn in public.) It was interesting to watch everyone go past.

We were struck by the number of kids, including school-aged kids, at the park on what we had thought should be a school day. We found that Florida schools  have a “fall break” and we happened to hit it. There were some kids on field trips, easily identifiable by their matching t-shirts. Other kids were there with parents or family. We didn’t expect to see so many people at Epcot on a Friday but the place was quite full (lots of lines for everything).

Near dusk we decided to head back to Orlando on the I-4. Although we hadn’t taken the boat trip around the lagoon or stayed for the nightly fireworks, we experienced a full day none the less. We were tired and wanted to spend some more time visiting with Mary and Jeff so off we went, leaving Epcot with many impressions and memories to recall in the future.

Next up: We visit my niece Jennifer and her family.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Epcot is expensive.  The locals buy season passes and amass Disney dollars to use for the special events, parking and entry fees, etc.  For a one-time tourist, the outflow of money in a short time is staggering.

Now that I’ve been to the “lake house” I can visualize where my friend Mary is sitting when she calls, what part(s) of the house are being renovated next round, just generally her world.  Context is always a plus.

Happy Trails.

Wednesday morning we left Foley, Alabama and headed to Gulf Shores. Pam wanted to find the Post Office and mail a few postcards from Gulf Shores (she liked the postmark). A sign off the main road pointed us in the right direction and we found the PO without any problem and mailed the cards.

This was going to be another “driving” day as we entered the Florida panhandle and worked our way south to St. George Island. St. George was recommended to us as having a good place to stay on the beach, the Buccaneer Hotel. On the way we stopped at Ft. Walton Beach, another high point of the trip along the Florida panhandle. Ft. Walton became our most favorite panhandle beach stop, having a gorgeous beach, a near-by restaurant, and a few shops. Here are the photos:

Pam on Ft. Walton Beach

Great expanse of white sand beach and ocean was delightful to see

Jerry with his camera gear

After quite some time spent walking, eating, and observing the beach scene we reluctantly left and began heading toward our evening destination, St. George Island. One thing we had not factored in was the slower speed limit along the coastal highway(s).  Much of the Florida panhandle is posted at 25 mph, and rarely did the limit get up to 55. This caused us to under-estimate the amount of time it takes to get anywhere. After a day of driving, which included crossing many bridges, we realized we would not get to St. George Island in daylight. To make matters more interesting we passed into the Eastern Time Zone and lost an hour of daylight/time. We crossed the long bridge over to the island in the dark, found the hotel and got a room, then picked up a couple of sandwiches for dinner.

Buccaneer Hotel is right on the beach

In the morning we located a local grocery store and got stuff to have breakfast on the beach. (Wow, the island grocery prices were amazingly high.)  We drove up to the east end of the island and entered the state park there. Finding a parking spot we took our food and spread out on a picnic table where we could watch the beach activity. After eating we did some beach walking, keeping on our shoes and light coats as the morning breeze was cool. This stretch of  the beach was more interesting than some — instead of just sand and water there were grasses, sea shells, sand dunes, and birds we hadn’t seen before.

Breakfast on St. George Island

Pam’s favorite beach shot from St. George Island

Thursday morning was off to a great start — we spent some time walking both the gulf side and bay side of St. George Island before we had to get going toward Orlando. Note: The bay side has more trees and grassland marshes making for a very interesting ecosystem. We were surprised at how a few hundred yards over the top of the island could make such a big difference on each side.

We had stopped at a few other beaches but one can take only so many beach pictures. (A few more will be displayed in the Key West post.) I had to get in a photo of the little Sandpipers that feed at the beaches as I like to watch their antics.

Sandpipers are fun to watch

Next time: Mary and Jeff plus Epcot Center.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

The beaches of the Florida panhandle.  Nice.  Just about perfect in October.  I miss the beach.

Happy Trails.

I have a few additional comments concerning our day in the French Quarter. The first concerns the cemetery which is pretty much Catholic. There was a Protestant section near the back where burials were below ground. This section was mostly given up (bodies moved and re-interred) when the downtown area was further developed but a small section does remain. (I guess that shows how the Protestants ranked in the social order.) To be buried in the Catholic section now you must be able to trace your lineage to a family who already has a spot in the cemetery. We did see a few newer plaques on some of the crypts.

The second comment deals with just being in the South. The first night in New Orleans we ate at an IHop restaurant and I asked the waitress if there was a house specialty among the waffle offerings. Her response was “They’s alllll good, y’all.” Yep…we were in the South!

On to new material.

We had planed to leave New Orleans and head east into Mississippi right away. but Pam  found a tourist attraction that sounded like it would be a good stop…Houmas House, a sugar plantation that had origins in the early 1700s. We decided to take the tour and  it proved to be a great one.

Before getting into photos and such, a few comments about history. It should be clear by now that both of us have an interest in history and how things got to be the way they are. We learned a lot about the South, particularly Louisiana, that was never covered in our Midwest public education. For example, there were many sugar plantations in the south. (Domino Sugar has a huge plant in Florida, we drove past it.) We usually think of cotton being the major crop, and it was big to be sure, but sugar fueled much of Louisiana’s pre-civil war economy and is still an important cash crop today.

Slavery was common, but we learned there were thousands of free blacks and native (Creole) peoples in Louisiana that worked as field hands, shop keepers, and skilled tradesmen. Women were allowed to own property and many are prominent in the history of New Orleans. Trade was international and sophisticated. This aura of sophistication is not generally the impression one gets from our northern schools, and our visit gave us a new perspective on the culture and social history of the area.

We visit Houmas House Plantation

Circular staircase in Houmas House

Louisiana Live Oak and Spanish Moss

The above photo was taken from the second-floor balcony of the house. Originally the view, and trees, would have extended down to the Mississippi River but the levees, built in the late 1920s, removed many of the oak trees and restricted the river view. Many old mansions, often located on the banks of the Mississippi, were bulldozed during the building of the levees. Of the estimated 1,000 plantations that once existed in Louisiana, only about 30 remain.

Costumed guide and grounds around Houmas House

After the tour of the house we ate at the on-site restaurant (excellent meal!) and then took a tour of the extensive gardens.

Pam near the Tea Room

Front yard of Houmas House

This stop turned out to be a high point of the trip: very informative, beautiful house and gardens, and an excellent restaurant lunch — all enjoyed before we headed off to Mississippi and Alabama. Highly recommended if you ever get in the area even if you are not into the historical aspects as the tour, gardens, and restaurant are all worth a visit.  Future expansions of Houmas House will include reconstructed slave quarters and a steamboat museum.  If you are interested in more information about this place visit their web site at http://houmashouse.com

It was just as well we were not on a tight schedule, but we did have to begin heading east toward the Florida Panhandle. Heading north from Houmas House to Baton Rouge, we then caught the interstate east. After a time, Pam, navigator for the entire trip, noticed a small road on the map that closely followed the Gulf coast. We decided to take this more scenic route and that’s how we ended up making our first beach stop of the trip, in Long Beach, Mississippi.

First beach stop, Long Beach, Mississippi

The beach was amazing. White sand, clear 79 degree water, air temperature in the mid-80s, and ocean views to the horizon. Benches near the road gave us a place to sit and take off our shoes, which we then left near the benches (a practice we found to be quite common on all the beaches we visited).

This was our first beach stop and we regard it as a high point. It was great to get out of the car, walk the beach, and just enjoy being in the moment.

As you can see from the shadows it was getting on in the afternoon, so we had to head off and find a place to stay for the night. Between Houmas House and the beach stop it had been a very, very good day, just what we had hoped to get when planning this adventure. Topping off the day, we spent the night in Foley, Alabama at a newly remodeled EconoLodge (best motel of the entire trip), ready to pass through Gulf Shores, AL the next morning.

Next time: Ft. Walton Beach (lunch at The Crab Trap) and on to Orlando to visit Mary and Jeff.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

My local library will be locating a specific historical book for me to read with info on the Mississippi delta – this particular title was recommended by Susan, our carriage guide in New Orleans.  It’s obvious there are big gaps in my grasp of Southern history, much of which was taken from Margaret Mitchell. The cotton fields of the fictional Tara are apparently a whole different ball game from the sugar plantations in Louisiana.

Happy Trails.

We are back! This will be the first of several posts detailing our trip to the gulf coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The trip celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary and concentrated on visiting friends and a lot of beaches. The 10 day vacation took place between October 19th and October 29th.

I’m going to narrate in more-or-less chronological order, beginning with our visit to New Orleans. Other locations along the way include the Florida Panhandle and St. George Island, Epcot Center near Orlando, Key West, and visits with friends Mary and Jeff Hayes and my niece Jennifer, her husband Jeff, and their daughter Rowan. Let’s get started!

The weather throughout was just about perfect, with daytime temps in the mid to upper 80s and evening temps in the mid-60s. No rain fell, probably because we had packed umbrellas and rain coats. Our rental car was a 2014 Chevy Cruz, a mid-size sedan that delivered around 38 mpg but was (just) big enough to handle our suitcases in the trunk, leaving the back seat open for items such as the camera bag, water, and other travel odds and ends.

Our rental car, a 2014 Chevy Cruz

We flew out of Grand Junction and made a layover in Houston before landing at the Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans. The first two air links were delayed, one due to mechanical problems and one a software problem, but we didn’t miss any connections. Our luggage managed to keep up with us through all the changes so the flight ended without incident.

Leaving Grand Junction

Selfie on plane out of Grand Junction

(For the first time ever I tried taking selfies; some turned out, some did not. May need a selfie stick.)

New Orleans turned out to be an interesting town. We concentrated on visiting the French Quarter, including Bourbon Street. (Bourbon Street was named after French nobility, the House of Bourbon, and has nothing to do with liquor -although the actual street smells like beer.) Below are a few photos but look for a video, to be posted later, that includes footage of an impromptu street jazz band.

French Quarter is known for ornate wrought iron enclosed balconies

Wrought iron balconies became a symbol for wealth and prestige in early French Quarter construction. There were a lot of these, some more ornate than others, but all sporting some unique feature and often greenery and flower baskets.

Very ornate iron work on display in the French Quarter

Pam had wanted to visit one of the New Orleans cemeteries where burials have been above ground. While historically interesting, it was sad to see how many of the crypts have fallen into disrepair  as families moved or died out, leaving no one to care for their burial plots.

History plaque at cemetery #1

New Orleans Cemetery #1

(Note: I did some PhotoShop work on the above photo to eliminate some power lines that cross the back of the area.)

After this (somewhat morbid) side trip, we returned to the French Quarter, walked around many of the narrow streets, then decided to take one of the carriage tours that begins and ends at Jackson Park near the waterfront.

Pam on carriage in French Quarter

Our tour guide, Susan, has lived in the French Quarter for 30+ years

Susan, our tour guide, had comments on the history and architecture of the area as well as insight into the local culture we found informative. If you plan to visit New Orleans, take one of these carriage rides; it is well worth the $20.00 per person charge.

After most of a day spent playing tourist, we returned to our car and decided to take a drive north along the Mississippi and see some of the area. We quickly found the levee system blocks the view of the river from the road so could not see the river traffic and water-borne commerce, a disappointment for us.

We had hoped to see Pam’s niece, Caitlin, who lives in New Orleans but she had come down with a sinus infection and we could not make a connection. We did, however, drive through the area where Caitlin lives – the St. Charles Street area – and came across this sign:

Our daughter Felicity got a kick out of this sign

So our first day of our vacation was full of activity and new [Southern] experiences. We did enjoy ourselves, but we recognized when it was time to find dinner and retire to our hotel for a night’s rest before heading out the next day.

Over-all impressions of New Orleans:

Bourbon Street is interesting but over-rated. Smells like a bar crawl for blocks (“shtick, shtick,” what are my shoes sticking to?) Architecture is often surprising with small (and usually beautiful) garden areas behind the buildings which one can glimpse through gates and doorways. Entire area is zoned commercial although many live in apartments over shops. Recommend  taking the tours if you are in a hurry; these get you most of the info you want and cover  the high points 0f the French Quarter.

Next up: Day 2, Houmas House Plantation and our first beach stop.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

General thoughts on travel these days-

• actually sleeping on motel beds is an art
• where are the public toilets? More signs please!
• we start later (sore backs) and end earlier in the day  (tired legs)
• rather than being part of the crowd, we often sit and observe the scene
• humidity – great for the sinuses, not so much for skin and hair
• we carry less on day trips (no more heavy backpacks)
• we’re still map readers, not GPS devotees, an issue on occasion
• traveling with a spouse has its moments (even after 40 years)

Happy Trails.

Wednesday morning, October 29.

We are heading home today. Right now we are trying to stuff everything back in our suitcases and wondering how everything fit in the first place.

Yesterday was a driving day. We left the Homestead area and arrived in Tallahassee in late afternoon, just over 500 miles. Note: There are no hotels around the regional (small) airport. We drove into town and stayed at The Baymont, a lower-priced hotel but it served us OK.

A recap of Monday: We had headed for the Florida Keys. The result was a mixed bag, not quite what we expected, which was to see a mix of older fishing villages and sand beaches. That’s not what we got.

The place is highly commercialized. We did have an excellent fish lunch (in a place suggested by a local) and the beach at Ft. Taylor (Key West) was nice and we spent some time there, but the rest of the time we were a bit disappointed with how expensive everything was. Live and learn!

Our itinerary for the return trip has several links: first Tallahassee to Orlando, then Orlando to Denver, and finally Denver to Grand Junction. We gain 2 hours moving from Eastern time back to Mountain time, but it willl still be a long day.

Once we get home there will be a lot of work to do, but I hope to go through our photos and videos and post a few photos (and eventually a video) filling in our our experiences in more detail.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Take away signs from the south on stores/shops:  “Git and Go,” “Git and Split,” and “Yoga, Y’all.”

Happy Trails.

Sunday morning, October 26.

Friday we spent the whole day at Epcot Center. It was an interesting experience! We did lots of walking, looking, and some eating. We finished the day by going into some of the halls and taking the simulated rides (first manned trip to Mars, Planet Earth, and Universe of Energy) amoung them. The last bit of time in the park visit saw us sitting on a bench that overlooked the lake and watching people flow by. It was a full day.

Saturday we drove to Brandon (near Tampa Bay)  to visit my niece Jennifer and her husband Jeff. We met their daughter, Rowan, a bright girl of 12 (going on 13.) We enjoyed this visit; we had not seen Jennifer and Jeff since their marriage.

Today we drive to southern Florida. There are several venues  that we will have to “pass” on this visit including Sea World, Universal Studios, Busch Gardents – Tampa, and probably the Everglades. We don’t have the time to take these in, maybe next trip  (if there is one.) Our plan for today is to get down to the Homestead area at the end of the Florida mainland. Monday we will drive out to Key West and work our way back up to the mainland.

Tuesday will be another driving day as we will head north to Tallahassee  and get ready to fly home on Wednesday. Sad to say our trip is getting close to being over.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Friday morning, October 24.

Tuesday’s trip through Gulf Shores was pleasant but the top stop of the day was at Ft. Walton Beach. After getting our feet wet in the surf we lunched at a place called The Crab Trap which is located right on the beach. Food was excellent and we had a great view of the ocean and split time between eating and watching the people on the sand.

Wednesday  night we stayed on St. George Island at the Buccaneer Hotel, located right on the beach. The hotel was OK but basic. We grabbed a couple of sandwiches from a local pizzera and called it a night. In the morning we stopped at a local grocery, bought a few items , and had breakfast on the beach. The ocean side beaches are not quite as pure as the gulf side beaches but that is OK; there was more surf and more sea shells than on previous beaches. Breakfast on the beach was a nice way to start the day.

We reached our friends in the Orlando area last night after a day of driving across a lot of the state. (Lots of driving.)  Mary and Jeff were expecting us and we had a good conversation along with some tea and dessert Mary had prepared. Their house is right on a small lake and I am sitting outside enjoying the views as I type this.

Today it is off to EPCOT Center, a visit that will take most of the day. We will return to the Hayes House tonight when we are done, then tomorrow it is off to visit my niece Jennifer and her family who live in Brandon. Although the distance is not great, Mary and Jeff  indicate that I-4, the main route to Brandon (the Tampa-St. Pete metro area) is often very slow on weekends and the trip could take several hours. Hopefully it will not be that bad, but we shall see.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Just the first of a couple quick posts from on-the-road. We flew into New Orleans on Sunday night. Monday we did the French Quarter, including Burbon Street, and walked the River Walk. We took one of the carriage rides and listened to some street music. Let the good times roll.

We also drove up along the Mississippi, but because of the levee system we did not see much of the actual river, a disappointment.

Tuesday AM we toured a plantation (Houmas House) and had a great lunch on-site. Then it was off driving our next link, up to Baton Rouge then east on I-10.

Pam had spotted an alternate route on the map that followed the Gulf so we got off the superslab and took this much nicer route which gave us views of the ocean. At one point (Long Beach, Mississippi) we pulled off and walked the white sand beach barefoot. It was a great stop.

Last night we stayed in Foley, Alabama, and today we head for Pensacola and places east — into the Florida panhandle.

I’ll have another quick post in a couple days.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!