Finished up our time in New Orleans today. We camped one night at Cajun Haven RV Park in Egan before checking in to Ponchartrain Landing in New Orleans. Yesterday we took a bus tour of the city and learned all about New Orleans, the history and all about the Creole people. Then we walked through the French Market, sampled some awesome beignets, pralines, beers, etc. We then strolled down Bourbon street gawking at all the crazy people and places, listened to some great music and had a great dinner at Pier 24 Seafood Market. Today we took a riverboat dinner cruise on the SS Natchez.........great food, drinks and jazz.
Drove to Gulf Shores Alabama for a couple days and checked into Island Retreat RV Park. Drove all around the area searching for shells and took a ferry trip to Dauphin Island today for sightseeing and more beach combing.
Drove to Miramar Beach Florida today and checked in to Camp Gulf RV Resort. Our site was not "tooooo bad" as you can see from our pictures. I must say, being retired is a really tough life!!!
Been chillin out on the beach for the past couple days and decided to drive around the area today to see some of the sights. Walked around Baytowne Wharf in Sandestin for a while and finished the day off with a pot luck dinner here in the park.
Drove to Rocky's Campground in Perry on Tuesday. Just relaxed yesterday and then today we drove to the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge and took photos of the birds and gators and also visited the lighthouse that was built in 1830.
Spent the past few days here in Old Town Florida at the Yellow Jacket RV Resort on the Suwanee River. This is a beautiful campground and we have a site right on the river as you can see from the photos. We took a drive to Gainesville yesterday to visit the Butterfly Rainforest at the U of Fla. but rain caused all the butterflies to hide so we did not buy tickets to go into the cage to see them. Today we went to a church service here in the campground and then went to the Crab Festival Steinhatchee...........lots of vendors, crafts and festival food.
Drove to Bradenton several days ago, near Sarasota and checked into the Arbor Terrace RV Resort. Sites are kinda tight and close together but the park is really nice. We visited several beaches where Alma spent time looking for shells; Bradenton Beach, Siesta Beach, Clearwater Beach, Nokomis Beach, Venice Beach, Caspersen Beach. Yesterday was kinda rainy so we went to the Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg. Then we had a great dinner at Crabby Bills.
Drove to Fort Myers/Naples a couple days ago and staying in Tropic Isle Park on Pine Island. Did some more Beach stuff on Sanibel Island and Captiva Island. Last night we had a great spaghetti dinner here at the park and then a campfire with music afterwards.Today we visited the Edison and Ford Winter Estates where we saw a 90 year old banyan tree that is one of the largest in the U.S. After that we went out to Fort Myers beach for some more sun and sand.
Traveled to Homestead for a few days and stayed at the Southern Comfort RV Park. We took one day and drove around the Everglades National Park and saw lots of birds and gators. We also saw the Nike Hercules Missile site that was built in the everglades during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. It remained operational from 1965 to 1979. Yesterday we drove down the Florida keys from Key Largo all the way to Key West. Walked around the town, visited the southernmost point in the USA, had a margarita at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville, watched the sunset at Sunset point and then topped it off with a great meal............got home about midnight, tired but satisfied.
We drove THROUGH Miami when we left Homestead a few days ago. Tried to drive up route 1 and A1A along the coast but there was way too much traffic and traffic lights so after traveling about 30 miles in 3 hours I decided to cut over to I-95. Spent the last couple days here on Jensen Beach Island staying at Nettles Island RV Resort. We tried out a few of the area beaches like Jupiter Island, South Beach and Vero Beach but the wind has been blowing 25-30 MPH for the past few days so swimming was out and we couldn't sit on the beach very long without getting chilled.
Been relaxing here at Silver Palms RV Resort in Okeechobee for a few days. Just hanging around the pool, laying in the sun and sippin adult beverages. Mike tried his hand at texas holdem last night at the club house and ended up coming home early. We have not had a good mexican food fix in over a month so we are heading to Pueblo Viejo this evening to see if it is as good as back home in Livingston. Heading to Kissimmee tomorrow to attend Mike's 50th high school reunion in Orlando.
Staying at Tropical Palms RV Resort in Kissimmee. Friday we took a drive over to Kennedy Space Center and spent the day. Had a really great time seeing all the rockets and exhibits.
Went to my 50 year high school reunion here in Orlando on Saturday. Saw a lot of friends and had a really great time. Debbie scheduled a fantastic luncheon at a local winery and restaurant and then we all went over to Debbie's house for more food and catching up. We will also have a follow-up reunion in Toledo for those who could not attend this one in Florida.
Today we spent the day at Epcot. Walked all over the park and ate at several of the countries. Had a really good time.
Drove back to Naples to spend time with some friends. Stayed at Club Naples RV Resort and then went looking for shells again on Naples beach and Benita beach. Today we took a catamaran sailing cruise through the harbor while drooling at all the million dollar mansions.
Drove to Sarasota and stayed at the Sarasota Sunny South RV Resort for a few days. Hit the beaches once again, Siesta beach, Englewood beach, and Blind Pass beach. My tan is just about right now and Alma has bags and BAGS full of shells.
Drove to Palm Harbor and stayed a few days at Bay Aire RV Park. Spent one day soaking in the sun on Honeymoon Island. The next day we went to Weeki Wachee and watched the mermaids put on their underwater show. I remember visiting here about 60 years ago with my parents. Today we drove over to the Tarpon Springs sponge docks and walked around the Greek seaport town.
Staying a few days in Ocala at Silver Springs RV Resort righ across the street from Silver Springs State Park. We have been lounging in the pool and today went over to the state park. We took a glass bottom boat ride and saw several springs as well as a manatee which swam under our boat. Lots of different birds, turtles and monkeys. Several movies were filmed here including Sea Hunt, several Tarzan movies, and Creature from the Black lagoon.
Visting the St. Augustine area for about a week. This is the oldest city in the USA. We are staying at the Bryn Mawr Ocean Resort for about 4 days and then will change campgrounds for another few days. Spend some time on the beach when we got here and have spent a lot of time in the heated pool. One day we took a trolley ride around the city to see the sights and then the next couple days came back and visited some sites that we wanted to see - oldest general store, old county jail, old San Marcos fort, light house, San Sebastian winery (for wine tasting), Whetstone chocolate factory (for chocolate tasting), St Augustine Distillery (for booze tasting).
Came back to St. Augustine beach again and stayed at Pepper Tree RV Resort for a few days. We went to Amelia Island and Fernandina beach one yesterday and stayed in the coach and watched it rain all day today. We went out for a nice dinner at Harry's Cajun restaurant tonight since it is our last night in Florida.
We stayed at 3 campgrounds on the way home after our 2 month trip to Florida. We had a great time and enjoyed the warm weather with almost NO rain. We finally got home on Saturday in time to make it to church on Palm Sunday.
