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Published: November 27th 2012
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Sequoyah Wildlife Reserve
The unknow snake that Ben nearly stepped on and then decided to prod with a stick...he soon stopped that though when it nearly went for him! PART 2...........Oklahoma City.........We found an Econolodge in Bricktown which was an old industrial part of the city rejuvinated with cafes, resaurants and bars with a canal running through it, we ate Italian and had a little wander but were tired after a long, law breaking day so we hit the sack. Once again we hit the I 40 which we'd now been on for 5 days and over a thousand miles and headed east through Oklahoma state through Henryetta, Sallisaw and over the border into Arkansas. By now the land was getting alot greener, there were Ash, Birch and sequoyoh trees in abundance and we were seeing creeks and rivers and patches of swampland, very different from the 1500 miles of Arizona and Mojave Desert we'd left behind. We stopped at a wildlife reserve for a stretch and hopefully a walk. There was a huge lake and the river running to it had a trail along side leading to the lake, we set off through the swamp along the river around lunch with nobody else around and got to the lake in good time, i was looking at the wading birds and ducks on the lake with the binocs when Shelly
spotted a family of Otters in the reeds right near us, we quietly watched as they were hunting fish along the margins of the river then dissappeared into the reeds, magical, we walked over a rope bridge over the river heading back when i came within a foot of standing on a snake, perfectly camuoflaged on the track basking among the fallen leaves, it was about 2 feet long but thankfully not one of the highly venomous Cotton mouths which apparently were everywhere around here, although it possibly was venomous, i haven't looked it up yet!! That night we stopped in Conway and found a nice motel with an indoor pool, a great excuse to do some exercise, the first in 3 weeks, my burger/beer belly is coming on a treat!!! Tuesday 20th we set off early heading for Memphis, Tennessee. We decided to go straight to see The King at Graceland which was downtown Memphis and spent most of the dad on the tour including an audio tour of his house and grounds which where alot more modest than i'd imagined, then on to the museums and onboard his two private jets, the Lisa Marie and The Hound dog
II. I was all Elvised out after 4 hours of non stop Elvis!!! We headed for a motel we'd booked earlier and then headed out on foot to explore the world famour Beale Street where all the Blues, Jazz and Rock and Roll bars and cafes were. We had a great night watching several bands and even attempting a bit of bopping! Next day was much of the same, a walk along the banks of the huge Mississippi river and plenty more eating and drinking including a full rack of ribs! We also met Dave and Amy from Chicago who were a great laugh and stayed with them most of the night.
Nursing sore heads we eventually got going mid morning and set off south on the I 55 towards 'the Big Easy' New Orleans or N'awlens as they say it in their deep southern drawl y'all...!!!As we got within 40 miles of the coast the swamps where everywhere and when we where 10 miles from the city we were driving on one big bridge 20 feet above continuous swamplands for miles around, we got into Downtown New Orleans which was decidedly low rise and very ramshackle, the houses
were all very tired and shabby or maybe it was shabby-chic we couldn't decide. we were unsure if it was a legacy of Hurricane Katrina which devastated the city in 2005. We got to the hotel in the French Quarter, downtown and put our bags in our rather smelly box room and headed out to explore. We were warned several times by people and the Rough Guide to be careful about wandering off the beaten track so i was mindful of that, we stayed in the French Quarter which was easily big enough to explore for the 2 days. We found it very charming, quaint in places with bags of atmosphere and history, the people were friendly and the little bars and restaurants plentiful. When we got to Bourbon Street we were greeted with a full on street party, load music and drunk people spilling out of every bar! Very full on but enjoyable esspecially after a few beers! We found ourselves in the Spotted Cat on Frenchmen Street where we watched a couple of great Blues bands and met some great guys! Next day we had another wander and headed for the markets and treated ourselves to a Harmonica
and more food and drink! We had a quite night and hit the hay reasonably early. Next day we got on the road but headed for bywater and the 9th Ward, two of the districts of the city most affected by Katrina. It was still very evident how much was destroyed when the hurricane hit as probably 50% of the houses were abandoned, falling down and rotting away, there where skips dumped in driveways and huge piles of mud rock and debris where the roads had been cleared in the clean up. We heads East out of the city on I 10 and saw all the reconstructed levvies that had been breached during Katrina only now they are twice as big! We drove out of Louisiana and into Alabama, Forrest Gump country, we hugged the coast and back roads and drove along the Bayous. There where shrimp and oyster boats in all the little marinas along with mountainous piles of empty oyster shells in the boat yards! I was looking out for Forrest and Leiutenant Dann but they must've been out shrimping! We drove on and was out of Alabama and into Florida and Mobile. Mobile was very pretty, we
Graceland
Welcome to Graceland! drove into the centre along avenues of huge trees and even bigger houses! The port was huge and also housed the Destroyer USS Alabama, now a floating museum/ memorial. We drove on and stopped in Pensicola Beach on Santa Rosa Island a long strip of brilliant white sand and crystal clear water, we stayed for 2 nights and had a few drinks in an Irish pub the first night, met some great people and Karaoked till the small wee hours!! We went walking along the miles of beaches the next day and Shelly spotted a ray jumping clean out of the water, 7-8 times, my guess is it was after small fish on the surface, very entertaining! As we set off this morning the rains came down!!! Torrential!!! So we're now sat in the library waiting for the sun to show his face. Apparently tommorrow is going to be about 20 degrees which will do for me. We're stopping in Panama City, 60 miles east of here and its 3pm so we're gonna make a move, we have 12 days now to explore Florida so the plan is the Everglades and the Keys and plenty of beaches, fingers crossed the
Graceland
The King's front room! weather holds!!!! Till next time.......in a week, not two!!!!!!
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Peg and Tom
non-member comment
"Blue, blue, blue suede shoes.....
Wow! You've been through cities we've never even heard of! Ah the South! They are an interesting group of people. I don't think there is one salad bar in the South! Ha! Just mashed pototoes, gravy, fried chicken and grits! Ha! Graceland looked like fun. Sorry to hear N'awlens is still struggling. Been on Bourbon Street. WILD! Sounds like you two are having a great time and meeting good friends....along with keeping all the bars in business! tee hee Anxious to hear about the Keys. Have always wanted to visit there. That's "Jimmy Buffet" and Margaritaville country! Safe travels..Peg and Tom