Room with a View, Fort de Soto, Florida

We had a later start than usual this morning, but eventually were on our way further moseying along the coast. We eventually left the unpopulated rural area of the forgotten coast and began driving along strip mall after strip mall. We decided to take an alternate path and opted instead for the touristy towns whose highlights were pastel colored condos and tshirt shops. As we got closer to the St. Petersburg area, we began island hopping, criss-crossing over various bridges until finally reaching Indian Rock Beach. Today's eating adventure was at Keegan's, another DDD special. We got there about mid afternoon and couldn't wait to chow down. I had the grilled blackened grouper sandwich, and Ned had the Parmesan encrusted grouper cheek sandwich with chili aioli sauce. Check out today's eats. Our camping destination for the night was at Fort de Soto County Park. We usually stay at State or National Parks, so I didn't know what to expect. Well this place is over the top wonderful. It's huge, has miles and miles of beaches, lots of cool history, and great bike paths. The added bonus is that we got a secluded campsite at the end of the point, right on the water. Check out today's pic. We hung out at the beach for several hours, playing around with our snorkel gear and swimming in the warm water. Ned, aka Mr. Science, bought a thermometer so that he could test the temp at various locations on our trip. You gotta love that guy! After getting cleaned up from all the salt and sand, we took a 6 mile bike ride around the island, checking out the fort, pier and enjoying the wildlife. We finished up the day with cocktails and snacks at the campsite, watching the sunset. It was so cool watching an egret, silhouetted in the dusk, catching fish. today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Fort de Soto, Florida

Snorkeling at Manatee Springs

We continued our journey along the Gulf driving through "The Forgotten Coast" most of the day. This part of Florida is definitely off the beaten path and not touristy or populated by people or kitsch. We drove through towns with names such as Panacea, which were anything but. Ironically, I really enjoyed this stretch. The well worn rustic houses built on stilts abutting a cypress laden coast line seemed timeless. The temperature was not only hotter, but the air was thick with humidity. At 8 am the temperature read a scooch higher than 80. We stopped at a roadside BBQ joint for lunch and enjoyed the usual southern plate of a meat with two sides. Mercifully, I actually managed to get steamed broccoli for one of the sides, unheard of, but a nice break from the usual coleslaw, fried something or other, and mac n cheese. Today's destination was Manatee Springs, one of Florida's fresh water springs. It feeds into the Suwannee River and is the winter refuge for West Indian Manatees. After setting up camp in a Magnolia and Palmetto grove, we couldn't wait to check out the springs. We heard it was a great place to snorkel, so were well prepared with suits and snorkel gear. What we weren't prepared for was how stunningly beautiful it was. The deep part of the spring is 22 feet and it's a vivid turquoise color. Before we began swimming we saw snakes and turtles in the water. Really! And yet we still swam. The water is 72 degrees year round, which seems cold, but because it was so darn hot and humid it felt refreshing. We had the springs to ourselves for awhile and then were joined by scuba divers and a couple of families. We spent most of the afternoon swimming, snorkeling and floating around. After a late afternoon nap in the hammock, we took a walk along the boardwalk out to the Suwannee River and watched huge sturgeon jump into the air and smack into the water. It was quite the sight to see. Ned wanted to cool off again so he took a dip in the springs. Quite the way to end the day, having a swim all to yourself in these exotic springs. Today is our 7th Anniversary and I can't think of a more romantic setting than camping under Magnolias along the Suwannee River. What a lucky girl I am to be sharing this journey with my Ned. today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Manatee Springs State Park, FL

Solitude on St. George Island, Florida

We slept on the upper bunk of the Eurovan last night hoping to take advantage of the cross breeze. What we didn't anticipate was the added bonus of seeing a wonderful sunrise. What a great way to start the day. After our early morning coffee, we decided to bike to the beach and get in another swim before we packed up and headed out. Two hours later, we decided we had better hit the showers and the road. Today's drive along the coast ran the full gamut, from over the top obscene mansions to funky beach towns. I particularly liked the "taco trucks" or roadside food served up from Airstream trailers. After a few stops, we eventually pulled into St. George Island State Park, a rather remote place located on an island off the central coast of Florida. Once across the bridge we drove to the southern tip of the eponymous island to finally reach the small campground. While the campground was full, the beach was not. In fact, there was only one other family on the beach when we arrived. Sweet! The Gulf waters were just as warm as yesterday, and clear, but not nearly the deep blue aquamarine at Grayton Beach. There was also a considerably smaller surf, which was a little sad for Ned who had purchased a boogie board today in hopes of catching some waves. Nonetheless, a beach to ourselves is nothing to complain about! The beach is known for being a bird watcher's paradise and we were not disappointed. At one point, a Great Blue Heron hung out next to us. We were also visited by a variety of shorebirds, like the Least Tern, Sandpipers and the ubiquitous Gull. It's nice being in such a remote location and having a quiet evening "at home." Tonight we just grilled up some burgers and recovered from fun in the sun before taking a bike ride at dusk. We rode down a dusty dirt rode and realized before long we weren't alone. Two beady little black eyes would stare at you before scurrying across the road. We were dodging small white crabs between 4 to 6 inches. When we would occasionally ride across asphalt you would hear them clickity clack like tap dancers as you rode past. By the end of the bike ride it was completely dark and the crabs would be highlighted by our headlamps. All I kept thinking was, "don't fall off the bike"! Tonight we are being entertained by the sounds of a live bluegrass band from a nearby campsite. They're pretty darn good too! Today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:St. George Island State Park

Swimming on The Emerald Coast, Florida

We pulled out of Mississippi pretty early, around 7ish, and headed for Alabama. Rather than do a straight shot across, we thought it would be more fun to hug the coast, drop down and follow Mobile Bay. I was most impressed with the town of Fairhope, Alabama. In the downtown area, every street block had the most gorgeous flower bed arrangements. Each one was a work of art and looked like something out of Sunset Magazine. We continued to take the alternate route just to keep viewing the gracious homes on the bay. They all had long driveways dotted with moss covered trees, massive magnolia trees and broad green lawns. We finally crossed into Florida (crowd roar) and continued to drive the coastal route, checking out all the touristy beach towns. The biggest wow was definitely driving over the bridge from Fort Walton into Destin. Bam, just like that the water turned into a deep turquoise blue, with the whitest beaches I've ever seen. At this point I couldn't wait to get to our campground and start swimming. However, lunch was calling so we stopped at a beachside cafe called the Crab Shack. We had crab cakes and a shrimp basket. Yum! We finally arrived at Grayton State Beach and were like little kids, throwing on our bathing suits, jumping on ours bikes and pedaling down to the beach. It was AWESOME! Clear, clear tropical water, soft white sand and a whole afternoon to play. We had a riot swimming in the Gulf, getting turned topsy-turvy in the waves, and hanging out on our raft. Ned says tomorrow we definitely invest in a boogie board. I'm game! We reluctantly headed back to camp, got showered, and rode our bikes into the tiny little beach town of Grayton. We decided that the perfect ending to the day was margaritas on the deck and soft shell crab sandwiches. If this is day one in Florida I honestly don't know how we are going to top this. Let if be known that the day after the rapture, I've died and gone to heaven. today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Grayton State Beach, Fl

Hugging the Gulf Coast

As predicted we had a pretty low key morning hanging around the campsite. I really appreciated having this time with Megan before she starts her new job on Monday. I expect she's going to be pretty busy and not have much to hang out with her mama. Our destination restaurant for our final meal was Willie Mae's Scotch House which is famous for its fried chicken. Willie Mae is in her 90's and the fried chicken is rumored to be stuff that legends are made from. We drove thru a residential section of a really depressed part of town where most of the houses looked as if they've never recovered from Katrina. Unfortunately, when we arrived the restaurant was closed up, with no explanation. Another person who had arrived as well told us about Little Dizzy's and said it also had great fried chicken. We were a little disappointed to find that it was in downtown New Orleans and didn't have nearly the character of Willie's Mae's ramshackle little home. We were even more disappointed in the fried chicken after eating it. Meh...I could do better. Nonetheless, it was a fun experience to try out all the different spots in The Big Easy and quite a gastronomical 3 day affair! We took Megan to the airport about 3, said our goodbyes, and once more were just the two of us traveling down the highway. We decided rather than stay another night in New Orleans, we would just continue to follow the coast until we were tired. We were really curious to explore the beaches of the Gulf Coast. We traveled along the coastal road hugging the Gulf of Mexico and were surprised at how empty it was, but were pleased to see pristine sugar white beaches. This area was where the eye of Katrina came thru and six years later not much has been rebuilt. We stopped to pick up some roadside peaches and the vendor said the place looks completely different and will never be the same. As you drive along there are miles and miles of beach front property for sale. The upside is that you feel as if you have the place to yourself. We decided to stop at one of the beaches and get our feet wet. Well, after Mr. Ned put his feet in the water, he looked at me and said, "Wanna go for a swim"? The great thing about being on vacation is that there's always time for a swim! We switched into our suits in the van and then swam in the Gulf for the first time. The water was the perfect temperature, a little greener than we expected and a heck of a lot shallower. p.s. There were no tar balls. We went out about 50 yards or so and the water never got deeper than about 2 1/2 feet. We also noted that it wasn't very salty. It still felt pretty darn good to swim and play around in the water. When we got back to the van we were able to take advantage of our mini shower...really mini shower. Sure does feel good tho to clean off the sand before getting in the car. As we continued to drive down the coast we were amazed at the lack of people. Here it was a Saturday afternoon around 4 or 5 o'clock and we practically had the place to ourselves. Weird. We found a state park in Gautier, Mississippi that was pretty empty, much to our delight. Even tho we are close to the coast, this little campground is in a thick woods and the insects sound like the jungle ride in Disneyland! There's a persistent buzz and the air is thick with humidity and no-see-ums. We ain't in Kansas any more. See today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Shepard State Park, Gautier, Mississippi

Bayous and Bourbon

We had a lazy morning around the campsite, sleeping in and playing Angry Birds on the iPad. In a matter of a day, the weather went from spring like to humid summer which definitely contributed to us kicking it down a notch. We were also still recovering from our crawfish & shrimpfest at the campsite last night. Our big event for the day was to take a swamp tour. The tour we chose was very low key, in fact we met the guide at a shrimp market, where all the local fisherman have stalls selling their live shrimp, crab, crawfish, etc. Our guide, "Captain James"' was a real character and certainly had the gift of gab. He kept up a nonstop banter, in his Louisiana drawl, telling many stories that were a little off color. We saw probably 20 gators, herons and turtles, and several critters that are indigenous to the swamp. I really enjoyed Captain James stories about how his family has lived off the swamp for generations, from tagging alligators to eating mushrooms that grow on Willow Trees. The breeze on the boat as we were tootling around the swamps was also much appreciated. After the tour we decided to take a detour into New Orleans and check out the Lower Ninth Ward to see what progress has been made since Katrina. Ever so slowly the area is rebuilding, but quite honestly it is still really poor and depressed. The biggest and most delightful surprise of the day was connecting with Becca, one of Megan's best friends. Just as pure coincidence it turns out that Becca is moving to New Orleans. In fact tonight is her second night in New Orleans and the Uhaul was still parked in front of the building. So, Becca, her boyfriend Jared, and all of us met up at Mother's for a jumbalaya and gumbo dinner then walked to the French Quarter and strolled Bourbon Street. Oh, how different this place is on a Friday night than on a Thursday morning!! We took in the sites, aka strip joints and noisy bars with people spilling out onto the streets and an awesome brass jazz band. Oh yes, we partook in the festivities, some of it captured on film, but I'll be discreet in what I post...haha you owe me Becca & Megan! We didn't return to the campsite until close to midnight, so I'm pretty sure tomorrow is going to be another lazy morning. See today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Another day of debauchery in New Orleans

Taking it easy in The Big Easy

It felt really great to sleep in this morning after the long ride yesterday. We lucked out on the perfect time to visit New Orleans, not too humid during the day and breezy, cool evenings. The first stop today was picking up Megan at the airport. What a treat to meet up with her in The Big Easy. Megan took a red eye flight so we promised her cafe au lait and beignets at Cafe du Monde first thing. They were served piping hot with powdered sugar on top. I wouldn't exactly say the sugar was sprinkled on top, more like an avalanche was dumped on them. They were light, fluffy, chewy and yeah even tasted better than what is in the photo. After that little jaunt we strolled the riverwalk, meandered thru the streets of the French Quarter taking in the flower strewn balconies, musicians, horse drawn carriages and eccentric characters hawking every ware. We eventually made our way to Bourbon Street where daiquiris are king. Ned and Megan tasted a couple of flavors, before Ned chose a white Russian daiquiri and Megan settled on "White Girl Trouble", which she thought was only fitting. The bartender took a liking to those two, and before you knew it, they got free shots to chase down the daiquiris. Well, you can imagine how all this imbibing can make a fella hungry, so next up was a muffalleta at the Central Grocery, of course! Delish!! This is definitely one of my New Orlean's favorites and is going to be hard to beat. We figure there are about 12 different local favorite dishes we gotta taste before leaving. Our only challenge is how to fit that into 3 days! (Hope, if you are reading this blog, you know I'm counting on you to whip me back into shape after this trip! I promise to hit the gym everyday, but for now a Girl's gotta do ...) After an afternoon nap at the campground we went looking for a local place to by some hot boiled crawfish and shrimp. Oh and local it was...let's just say there was a card game going on, people hanging out on crates and lots of drinking. We took the sacks of crawfish and shrimp back to the campsite and dug in. While we were enjoying the local fare, the mosquitos were enjoying us. We are thinking about doing a swamp tour tomorrow and eating good knows what. Today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:New Orleans, LA