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Published: July 17th 2009
We just missed Forrest’s home in Greenbow, Alabama but like the fictional Gump we have been roving, often aimlessly from coast to coast. Unlike Forrest, we’re not tired yet. OK, some days are a little bit tiring.
Our New Orleans adventure continued with us sampling more food including Muffaletta’s, Grits, Gumbo, Oysters and Jumbalaya. We don’t quite understand grits. We took in the abundant New Orleans nightlife on and around Frenchman Street and the French Quarter with our friend Karen acting as nightlife guide. Jazz, R&B, Blues, Rock… this city has it all in spades. We were up late for several nights.
We spent the next few days and nights riding about New Orleans, touring the Lafayette Cemetery #1 with its spooky and beautiful above-ground crypts, some dating back to the late 1700’s. We toured the world-famous WWII Museum, an extremely comprehensive and sensitively done history of that terrible war.
Near the end of our week in New Orleans, we woke early to ride sixty or so miles up the Mississippi to visit the Laura and Oak Alley plantations. Gorgeous properties on display with heartbreaking histories. The Laura Plantation has a very informative tour and the plantations’ use
of slaves weighed heavy on our hearts. We learned a great deal and understood in a way that was much more real to us than it ever had been - entire cities were built on the back of slave labor and that was just the norm for the times. No wonder the confederates couldn’t imagine life without slaves… their fortunes as well as their day-to-day lives depended completely on owning people to do their work for them.
Driving along miles and miles and miles of the Mississippi River’s levee was amazing. What’s really struck us about New Orleans is that it’s wildly rich in history, both delightful and heartbreaking. Many gorgeous homes and streets, but an underlying sense of desperation. Katrina’s damage is still very visible in many areas and decay is everywhere.
We moved out of Louisiana, crossing Mississippi and Alabama into the Florida panhandle. We saw our first Pelicans! Also, amazingly white, “powdered sugar” looking beaches lining the Gulf of Mexico. We settled for our first night in Florida at Big Lagoon State Park in the Florida panhandle. We were lucky enough to experience the hottest, most humid and thoroughly miserable camping-night ever. EVER!! We got
little sleep as we lay sweating on top of our bags in our tiny tent and were raided by naughty raccoons which left their little handprints everywhere. So far, Florida leaves one indelible impression: HOT and HUMID! Did I mention HUMID???
We woke up (did we even sleep?) the next morning and got an early start, only to be thwarted by a thunderstorm near Panacea, FL. This would be the first of many Florida T-Storms we endured. We vowed not to camp again in the heat and humidity so we coughed up sixty bucks for one nasty little motel room in Panacea, Florida. What could we do? We were getting drenched again! The next morning was our longest ride per day so far: 386 miles to Fort Myers. We spent a night there, caught up on our laundry, and then set out for Key West, settling 40 miles short in Marathon Key at the adorable Sandpiper motel. The place is oozing with charm!
Using Marathon Key as our “Base of Operations” for two nights, we visited the extremely touristy and expensive Key West (Hemingway would roll) and then a night-time ride back to Marathon key for a quick blog
publishing.
With our visit to Key West we’ve now tagged three of our four farthest flung corners. Our next corner is the little town of Lubec, Maine. We have plenty to do and see before we get there. Next up in Florida is a visit to Miami and the space center at Cape Canaveral.
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Wil Schellings
non-member comment
tough life
Hej guys. How nice to read your experiences. Sounds like you have a tough life. I hope you'll survive. :-) Take care and have fun. See you end of the year.