We love New Orleans. Our favorite city in the USA to date. We had walked miles and miles, enjoying the vibes. But it was time to move on. We had a quick look at the local WW2 museum - which was apparently new. With time we hope it will improve in it's collection of planes.
We first went south to hike through a marshy swamp wildlife area , just south of New Orleans, in search of Alligators......
Then we took to the road again to visit the next city to the East: Mobile, Alabama. They too were getting prepped for the Mardi Gras celebration. Mobile has a pleasant feeling 'down town' area with lots of bars, clubs, coffee shops and small streets.
We took the day to visit the local Battleship and the next door Sub.
Both very impressive; and stark reminders of war time life. Ridiculous people ranting about going to war these days, should go for a quick tour on these boats - as a bit of reality check. Important to know though... our civilization is fragile.
The Gulf coast had magnificent beaches with absolutely pristine, soft, white sand. But, spoiled, as is so often the case, with lines and lines of cheaply built box hotels that cater to mass tourism during the summer months. Thankfully, we didn't see any signs what-so-ever of the BP oil slick.
Along the way, we popped into the Navy's Air Museum in Pensacola. As we pulled though the security gate, Peter stood out as a 'Immigrant Foreigner'; so we got told to drive over to a 'special search' area. Gulp!
We carried on though. Even though we were getting a bit War-Machine'd-Out by the point; we thought it was a good idea to check out the military museams while were we in this military centric area.
The Pan handle of Florida was again more of a conservative area: Churches, run-down trailer homes and Confederate flags on the highway. So we didn't spend time there... we just drove though - eye's straight.
Further down the coast, the beaches became varied and interesting - more like a series of intercomcted ponds, inlets and mini-islands. Very much a series of slow, retired, hippy towns with happier people riding their bikes around and fishing on the shores with a six pack. We stopped off at Hernandes beach, passing through Whickie Whackie Beach, a perfect example of happy person hippiedom. No military machines here...
Many people in Hernandes beach had a personal boat slip behind their houses. There we found an Aluminum Sailboat boat to view. A 44ft OVNI for sale. Very much the general class of boat we want to call Chloe; but a little smaller and older that we're looking for ideally. A goodly fraction of it's length came from her huge long swim platform transom; which cut into her living space by perhaps 5 ft or so. The boat was in perfect shape though, built like a tank and we expect it will sell quickly.
The Average Age of the average Florian started to creep up fast , as we travelled south.
Beware of the Sidewalks and aged people driving electric wheel chairs at break neck speeds. They hit you 'n the ankles and shins first !! Yow!!
Next up, we'll keep heading South to the Everglades; a National Park of Florida's where Alligators get big and plentiful and they have a problem with far too many Anaconda's.... Yikes!
