Day 05 - Pensacola Beach, FL to New Orleans, LA

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9am: Another day, another view of the beach in the morning. We all step out for a walk along the water.

We are in the mood for some fun snaps. We keep scaring away the poor seagulls as we take pics running through their ranks. Akshay and Sanak take several snaps jumping up and down the beach. Now I know what causes tsunamis along the Gulf Coast.


1pm: We watch fishermen on the pier, say bye to the seagulls and head out of Pensacola.


3pm: Lunch at Olive Garden. First decent meal for the vegetarians on the trip


8pm: We are in New Orleans. There is some debate over where we should stay for the night. The Clarion is cheaper but doesnt look too clean and is located a few blocks away from the nightlife in the French Quarter. The Inn at the Bourbon is located right in the center of the French Quarter but is a bit taxing on our student budgets. We settle on a compromise - we will stay at the Inn but will balance it out with 1-star hotels on the way back to Chicago from Vegas


10pm: Time to try the famous Cajun cuisine in this part of the world. Sanak is as excited as a kid at the dandy store. Everything on the menu looks good to him. Ditto for Neha. They decide to try the most exotic dtuff they can find on the menu. Anything that they dont understand on the menu is fair game. Out come the Po-boys, alligator sausages and Jambalyas. But the alligator sausages soon kills their appetite. Akshay and me have no tough decisions to make. Just a couple of veg choices on the menu so thats our default option. But even that turns out to be better than the cheese quesadillas that we have survived on so far


12am: We decide to postpone our nocturnal exploits for tomorrow after the long drive today. The party will just have to continue in our hotel room for tonight. We stock up for the night and play I-have-not in our suite
Dhiraj: I have never studied in Singapore before
Neha: I have never had to leave the toilet seat up
Me: I have never weighed more than 60kg
Sanak: I have not driven on this trip
Me: I have never had a complete set of teeth



Pretty unremarkable day. No living in a beachside penthouse, No store managers telling us to get out of their loo, No speeding tickets.

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