Down on the Bayou

Day 1 - Drive to New Orleans: Back on the road again, left Orlando mid morning as we had a 2-day drive to get to New Orleans. The drive up through Florida was a long interstate drive and didn't really stop anywhere except at a rest stop for lunch. Drove past the capital of Florida Tallahassee and then spent all afternoon on the 10 interstate.

After 7 hrs of driving we decided to stop for the night in a state park a little bit off the interstate called ‘Blackwater River’ state park. A lovely state park with excellent facilities. When we arrived it was getting dark, but had just enough light before sunset to make some dinner. That night we played a few hands of Uno with the help of a couple of book lights before we called it a night.  

Day 2 - Drive to New Orleans: Amazingly quiet in the state park last night we had a great sleep. After some breakfast we went for a walk to check out the river, that had a sand beach and river bed (really weird). Not a very deep river but super clean. A lovely spot to dip our toes in and play in the clean quartz sand.

After enjoying the state park in the morning we were back on the interstate heading to our next destination; Mobile, Alabama, about an hour away. We stopped in at the visitor center and got some info about the military museum with a real battleship and submarine and a nice place to stop for lunch.

The ‘Original Oyster House’ where we stopped for lunch on the way to the museum, was an awesome find. The restaurant had been rebuilt after hurricane Ivan in 2004 took out the original. Not only great value but the food was amazing. We were right on the bayou and the restaurant had loads of character with photos and memorabilia all over the walls. We shared a plate of delicious oysters, fried alligator, and a key lime pie for desert mmm.

The museum was really cool; we saw military aircraft, a submarine and the USS Alabama battleship. Marc loved the guns and I really enjoyed seeing how they lived when out at sea.



Before leaving Mobile we stopped in at another Harley Davidson for a pin and poker chip, then continued along the coast towards New Orleans. On the way passing through Biloxi and Gulfport, the damage to this area from the hurricanes was crazy. Basically there was hardly any beachfront property except for the remnants of what once was with overgrown swimming pools and brick slabs where houses once stood. Some people had rebuilt but others were trying to sell the land. The palm trees were all cut in half but sprouting new tops it was crazy to see.

 

That night for dinner we were stopping at another DDD place for Marc called the ‘Blow Fly Inn’ in Gulf Port. Good but not awesome, we shared the green fried tomatoes, gumbo and seafood pasta.

That night in Gulf Port we found a little campground in the dark ‘Magic River Park’ and setup for the night.

Day 3 - New Orleans: This morning the manager of the park greeted us to arrange payment for the nights stay as we had arrived late. The manager had a crazy accent, Marc said he was probably the closest to a hillbilly we were going to get, I could have listened to him all day. Also an added bonus he only charged us $10 for the nights stay!

That morning we took Hank in to get a service, it had been a while since his last oil change. We found a really awesome place that did an amazing job of tuning him up and all at a discounted price! After the service we stopped off at another Harley Davidson before heading into New Orleans.  


New Orleans was a little sad to drive into as you could still see a lot of areas damaged by hurricane Katrina. We were staying in the 'India House' hostel while we were in New Orleans. Located in the mid-city area just off Canal Street. The hostel was really cool, for the first night we had a rad little private room out the back. Apart from a really nice lounge area, big kitchen and there was a pool. It was a really cool hostel.
 
The rest of the day and night was very chilled, we just hung out with all the other travellers, had a swim in the pool and relaxed.

Day 4 - New Orleans: All recharged we caught a trolley down Canal Street to the French Quarter. The trolley was extremely slow but everything in New Orleans was very chilled so you just had to go with it. To start we walked down the famous Bourbon Street, which was very smelly and seedy so didn’t spend too much time there during the day. For lunch we stopped for a famous muffaletta sandwich, really yummy but it was huge. Marc and I shared a full sandwich, which was way too much and probably could have shared a half! 

In the afternoon we visited the hurricane Katrina exhibit at the Louisiana Museum. A fascinating exhibit that went into of the events before and after the hurricane, some personal experiences from survivors and the rescuers, and information on how the levees along the Mississippi failed. There was also a second exhibit we checked out that went into the history of Mardi Gras, the costumes were really cool. To finish we walked around the French quarter checking out the historic streets (loved all the old buildings), stopping for some beverages including some famous ‘Grenades’ a super sweet and very alcoholic drink. When I asked the bar tender what they tasted like the reply was ‘Grenade Flavour’ ha ha. Before heading back to the hostel to freshen up we bought some beads (turtles and cowboy theme for Michelle, chillies and pigs for Marc). We were now ready for Bourbon Street.

After dinner we rallied up a small group of people from the hostel to come out and party with us (3 where under 21 but it was easy to get them in to the bars). We caught the trolley back to the French Quarter and bar hopped for most of the night, drinking and dancing up a storm. Bourbon Street was extremely busy with drunken people everywhere. We had a really crazy fun night; I can only imagine what it’s like for Mardi Gras. The rest of the night was a little blurry but involved Marc and I at a piano bar and me dancing on the stage before heading back to the hostel by Taxi, good times.

Day 5 - New Orleans: Oh my poor head; yes woke up super hung-over. We did not do much at all today except hang out at the hostel. I went for a swim, nursed my sore head and stomach, and slept. Marc however decided the best way to chase away the hang over was to start drinking again and did that for most of the day and into the night. We were going to go out to a jazz club that night but Marc was in no state to go anywhere to listen to music so it was an official didn’t leave the hostel day.

Day 6 - New Orleans: I woke feeling refreshed and ready to see more of New Orleans. However, Marc was extremely hung-over. I forced him to get up and enjoy the day, which took a couple of tries but in the end he was up and ready to go.

Today we explored the Riverfront market a really nice mall next to the Mississippi, it was raining so a great place to spend a few hours undercover looking at all the different shops. Next we went to the French market to eat some food and check out the stalls. Before leaving the French quarter we visited the Voodoo museum, a small museum but cool to stop for a quick look at the small 2 rooms jam packed with voodoo statues, skulls and dolls.

Even though Marc was suffering we made our way over to the ‘Garden’ district to check out the big old homes, cemetery (that was unfortunately closed) and the 200 years old tree lines streets. The big old oak trees were amazing with the Spanish moss and massive roots uplifting the neighbourhood paths.

Our last evening was really quiet, we ate some food and crashed pretty early.

We really loved New Orleans and will be back again one day.
Day 7 - New Orleans: We packed up our stuff and checked out of the hostel. Before leaving New Orleans we went to District 6, the area that was completely flooded when the levee broke during hurricane Katrina. The number of houses that still had the markings on the doors, all boarded up, was really sad. However the community was rebuilding and in some of the areas new houses had been built and people were out and about so it was not all sad. It was actually a little awkward as I was taking a photo of an abandoned house and getting weird looks from the residents next door which made me feel really bad, as this was their reality and I was taking photos of it.








 We left New Orleans and made our way to check out the ‘Laura’ Plantation along the Mississippi. It was a really nice drive along the river however you could not see too much of the river as the view was blocked by the massive levee. There were so many big beautiful houses along the river, massive trees and super green grass. When we arrived at the plantation we were a bit early for the next tour so drove 5 mins down the road to see the famous ‘Oak Alley’ plantation and take some photos of the beautiful 200-year-old oak trees they were huge and really cool to see.

We returned to ‘Laura’ plantation and started the tour at the front of the old French Creole house. The house was raised as it was built before the levee was built, so when the Mississippi would flood the water went under the house. The house had a wonderful family history and we got to see how a working plantation home was back in the day, also got to see the kitchen garden and the slave houses. It was really interesting to learn that the business was owned and run by 3 generations of women (back in the 1800’s this was really impressive). The reason it was called ‘Laura’ plantation was because the grand daughter (Laura) documented her experiences growing up at the plantation and why she left when she learnt about the cruelty her family had shown towards the black slaves and did not want anything to do with it.

Florida continued... Keys, Everglades and Universal Studios

Day 1 - Back to Miami: After the cruise we picked up Hank (who was still parked where we left him, Yea), we drove into South beach Miami to walk around the Art Deco buildings and the beach. I had a map in my lonely planet book that we followed. It was really nice walking around looking at the different buildings from the art deco period and seeing the history of south beach. The weather was still really hot and it was only early morning. After our self-guided walk we made our way to the beach where we watched some very sexy volleyball players do their thing. Then we walked down to the beach and walked along the shore to see the local talent soaking up the sun. We decided against going for a swim as it was super hot and we were not too sure when our next shower would be.

As it was hot we stopped into Starbucks for a drink and to use the Internet to plan our next part of the trip. There was not much more to do in Miami that would not cost us money so we moved onto our next stop the Florida Keys.

It was about an hour drive to the start of the keys and as it was getting late we stopped off at the visitor centre looking for a place to camp for the night and snorkel the next day. The lady at the visitor centre advised not to camp when it was so hot and suggested for us to stay in a hotel. We took her advice and stayed in a lovely little scuba resort in Key Largo and also booked a snorkelling trip for the next day.

After checking in Marc made burgers on a BBQ overlooking the ocean, it was a lovely spot. After dinner we watched a beautiful sunset before kicking back in our hotel room.

Day 2 - The Keys: The hotel room was a great idea with all the bugs and heat it was worth the money for the night. After breakfast we made our way down the road to go snorkelling in the ‘Great Florida Reef’ the third largest barrier reef in the world. It was a pretty good experience but could have been a little better. When we stopped at the edge of the reef we were warned of the jellyfish in the area that would give a slight sting if you made contact with them. Marc and I jumped in together but as I was a little worried about the jellyfish kept swimming over to the reef. This meant I lost Marc who was having goggle seal issues because of his moustache. The reef was really nice hundreds of different kinds of fish and coral. The problem was the jellyfish, not too bad at the reef but they were all around. I freaked out a couple of times when they were near my face but did not get stung once. Once Marc had his goggle fixed with Vaseline on the moustache he found me and we kept having a look around the reef. It was a very shallow reef and the water was bit ruff but over all still a good experience.

After snorkelling we went back to the room for some lunch before driving down to Key West. The drive was really cool each Island we passed was connected to the next via a bridge. It was interesting as well as the power lines ran next to the bridge and were above ground not under so not much protection for the power lines if hurricanes passed through.

On the way to Key West we passed a turtle hospital that I wanted to stop and see but the next viewing was at 4pm. It was only 1hr away so we decided to hang around and check it out. The hospital was right at the start of the 7-mile bridge, to fill in the time we decided to go over it, the bridge was very impressive. When we reached the other side stopped for a swim in the super shallow and murky water. There were a few people wading on the sand paths through the weeds. It was a nice spot but not really my kind of beach.

We went back to the hospital and started our tour. Luckily we were the only people on it. The tour went for about 90min and was really interesting. We learnt all about the different sea turtles and got to see the patients. The turtles were so cool but a little sad as well especially the ones who had been hurt by boats and caught up in fishing line. Most of the turtles when hurt their bodies would release air into their shell so they would float to the surface and not drown. However when they were better again there was no way for the turtles to release the air and be able to sink again. To try and help these turtles weights are attached to their shells as a last resort to make them more comfortable. It was all very interesting. 

It was about an hours drive to Key West and we made it there by late afternoon. Key West was a pretty big place. We had a look around famous Duval Street, on the way stopping for some fish and chips for dinner and a Harley store. At the end of Duval Street was a pier we walked along as the sunset on another day. As it was getting late was started to make our way back to the car stopping for some delicious key lime pie and the end of Highway 1, mile 0 the most eastern point of north America for some photos. 

 

The drive back to Key Largo took about 2 hrs and the moon was out so it was a lovely night drive.   

  

Day 3 - Everglades: After a bit of a late night we had a little sleep in before we made our way to the Everglades for a fan boat tour. We were not too sure where the best place to go would be so we just drove down the alligator highway to see what we could find.

Coopertown airboat was the first place we saw. It said that it was the one and only original tour of the everglades. We stoped to check it out and spoke to the guy (also it was about $20 cheaper than the other ones we looked at).  Before we hit the water, they had a reptile show out the back. It was really cool. They showed us lizards, snakes, turtles and alligators, all caught from the surrounding glades.  They also showed us some baby gators a turtles that had hatched a few weeks ago (so tine tiny).

Our guide was really nice, he had been working the glades for years. We could only go on certain parts of the everglades because there is a big battle going on about the harm that the boats do to the environment. Then it was time get in the boats, these things are so cool. They took us on a big circle out through the marshy parts then back through these islands that looked very mangrove like. During which our guide told us to be on the look out for gators. We saw three, but only two came super close to the boat. After we got back to their dock they let us all hold a gator that was about two years old. It was really cool.

After the airboat ride it was off to Harley Davidson Miami. We tried to stop off at Benny’s Seafood for the mofongo (its another DDD place) on the way but unfortunately they were closed on this day.  The Harley shop was so Miami, all art deco and shit.  We picked up another pin and a poker chip for Marc’s ever growing collection then began the boring three-hour drive to Orlando.

Day 4 - Universal Studios: After arriving late in Orlando (and cooking on the floor of the hotel room) we were up early for our big day of adventure at Universal Studios. We were booked on the first shuttle to the park, which left the hotel at 8:45. We were both pretty excited about the day (some more than others). When we got to the park it was still really quite and we were not too sure if we should buy the flash passes (these allowed you to skip the long wait in lines). We ended up getting them anyway, it’s a little more expensive, but when you’re travelling with someone that doesn’t like lines or screaming kids its probably a good thing.

First place we hit was Harry Potter land; we thought it would be good to get there before all the crowds, also because Michelle was nearly wetting herself with excitement.  Now I’m not a Harry fan by any means but this place was crazy!  We went on the Dragon roller coaster first. It was one of the rides were your feet hang down (like the lethal weapon ride at Dreamworld). It was rad, we even got the front seats thanks to the speed pass.  After that it was on to the ‘Hogwarts’ simulator ride.  Michelle loved it. You walked through the halls of Hogwarts and they had these holograms of Harry, the red head and hot chick. They looked super real! At one stage they even had it snowin. The ride itself was pretty cool. You got into a row of 5 seats and the idea was you were flyin on a broomstick through the castle. Some were real (like a ghost train) the others you were in a simulation, with this dirty big screen in front of you. As I said Michelle loved it! I got a little motion sick.

Probably the best (except for the butter beer in Harry Potter land. Not real beer but highly addictive) and most scary thing there was the mister freeze roller coaster. This thing was crazy!! It shot you out of this tunnel at about 100km on to this coaster track that had all the bells and whistles. But when u reach the end of the track which was straight up in the air about 50 meters it shot u backwards around the same track where you first started. All this took about 40 seconds. Bloody crazy! I nearly shat my pants. 

The rest of the day we spent lookin around all the themed sections and me getting more motion sickness. Even from the Cat in a hat, which is a kiddie ride (Michelle loved it of course).

We left the park at about 5:30 to catch the shuttle back to our hotel. We both had an awesome day but after all that motion and adrenalin we were both fairly well spent. We just had some noodle cups and passed out after another epic day.