In the Deep South

Moving on from Florida, we made a brief stop in Alabama, at the outlet mall in Foley. We each got some new footwear, all this touristing wears out shoes quickly. We spent one night in Mississippi, in Gulfport. Miles and miles of beautiful sand beach along this area of the Gulf of Mexico, very similar to Pensacola Beach. But it was chilly, windy and the surf was pretty rough. The houses are built on pilings at least 1 and sometimes 2 stories off the ground, so I guess we'd be safe to say they have water issues. The next day we drove into Louisiana and arrived in New Orleans!

Denis braving the GoM (Gulf of Mexico)



We decided we wouldn't want to carry groceries up to these places!

We had coffee and beignets at Café du Monde, that's the way to start the day! Better than Starbucks! After a visit to the French Market and wandering around the French Quarter we shared a muffuletta at the Central Grocery (similar to Edmonton's Italian Centre shop, just smaller). Muffuletta is a 10' round Italian sandwich, with all Denis' favourite things; we had enough for the next day, they are huge, good thing they are cut in quarters.  We did some touring on the trolleys because it was cold and windy. We did walk along the levee (riverwalk) to the cruise ship terminal and its very high-end outlet mall. We also walked around the Garden District and Bourbon Street on our last day enjoying a bit warmer weather. There are still obvious signs of the devastation of Catrina, many buildings in the poorer areas that have not been repaired or torn down.  We listened to some live music in the Musical Legends Park, we went to Preservation Hall but did not go back for the show at night. We visited the Destrehan Plantation as we were leaving the New Orleans area. 

Me trying to convince Denis we should have 'Dinner at Antoine's'

But he preferred the ambiance and the food at the Central Grocery

Then we were on the move again, following as close to the coast as possible, no more sandy beaches it was  bayous and swamps, miles of bridges and causeways! We were in Lake Charles, Louisiana for a night and then into Texas.

We didn't take a picture of the 'watch out for snakes sign' at the other end of the parking lot. Note that the 'beast' has shiny new hubcaps, Denis feels much better!

We managed to avoid the Houston area and headed for Galveston, back to the beaches, houses on pilings and people trying to surf. We stayed at a state park on Galveston Island with the beach just across the dunes. We had a nice evening with our neighbours who were from Ontario.

Next stop San Antonio! We parked our trailer and before we were set up our neighbour came over to chat because he saw our trailer was from Grande Prairie and he is also! We enjoyed visiting with them and maybe meeting up later in Arizona. We visited the Alamo and have walked a mile or two along the Riverwalk.  Also took the Rio (river) taxi tour. There are more people friendly spaces in the city centre than any other city I've been to. Fountains, manmade waterfalls and the restored village (La Villita). We went up in the Tower of Americas, very similar to Calgary Tower, 100+ feet taller; but as Denis pointed out less than half as high as the CN Tower. It was a beautiful clear day and we got a great bird's eye view of the city. We also made a mandatory visit to the Mexican market but managed to escape without too buying much.

Across the alley, oh no it's the plaza from the Alamo!

Enjoying the Riverwalk

Today is American Thanksgiving and there is a turkey dinner at the resort so we'll get a turkey fix. Friday we are going to the Christmas light up and boat parade (so actual floats) along the Riverwalk.

 

South and further south

Continuing to chase some warmer weather we drove through the beautiful Virginia countryside. Walton’s Mountain scenery, went through Rattlesnake Hollow, we didn’t stop. Stayed in Danville just north of the North Carolina border.

Halloween day we put our beach bum costumes on and went to Myrtle Beach, nice sunny day but a bit windy, we waded but didn't swim. First time at the beach on October 31! We walked along the board walk, the place is a long string of casinos, hotels and amusement parks.

Trick or treat!

Next stop Charleston. We spent a chilly, rainy Saturday doing a driving tour of the old town and then went to the market. Four blocks (covered) of all kinds of merchandise, we missed the farmer's market but it is not covered so we likely wouldn't have stayed long. Temp was 11 but it felt much colder, I was shivering in my 'fall' jacket. The weather improved a bit the next day and we went to Fort Sumter, that's where the American Civil war started. On our way again, we stopped and toured the Middleton Plantation, the oldest formal gardens in North America.

We made it to Florida! We spent 3 days at a very nice resort and took day trips to Cocoa Beach and Denis got to spend the day at the Kennedy Space Centre.

Welcome to NASA (space cadet, Denis!)

In the rocket garden!

We were thinking of staying for the winter but we've more country to see. Another night at a nice but very different resort.

We're now in Pensacola Beach for a week.

Camped amongst the big boys!