ANOTHER 1,200 MILES

With the concern about Hurricane Gustav creating havoc in New Orleans, pretty much three years to the day after Hurricane Katrina – It was a reminder about how behind I was with my blog entries.


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Our road trip in late June from Miami to New Orleans (Trip Photo Set) was at the start of the Hurricane Season and apart from some tense moments driving through treacherous thunder storms we avoided getting whipped up and blown away.

Well... when I say driving, I was in the passenger seat hiding my head behind a pillow, peeking out occasionally to take the odd happy scared snap.
After all I wanted to be able to remind Darren what a skilled and brave driver he is, for all 1,200 miles of our road trip.

Darren and I meet up in Miami after his brief trip to Panama with Todd. (Trip Photo's)




They saw the Panama Canal, caught up with an old work mate and experienced other stuff probably not listed in the standard visitors guide. I didn’t go because we were hesitant if it was a suitable destination for a pregnant chick. Due to my absence I won’t go into any detail - but do remember to ask Darren the story about the Dead Dog, the rubbish bin and the “Gas” station, it was pretty funny.

Boy trip aside..

We reunited in Miami. I wore my Pimping Bling Bling to fit in the my gangster/Rapster Peeps in Miami…… or maybe not! It could be that I opted for the tent dresses and the cotton/lycra waist maternity shorts – You decide!!

Itinerary: First two nights in Miami

Our first day we took a drive down the Florida Keys.



Sweeeeet houses, Retirees and shell shops but a cool drive along one ultimately long bridge surrounded by water, water and more water.

To reach the end of the keys to the point that you are 90 miles from Cuba would take over 3 hours – making it an 6 hour return drive so we opted for about the half way mark crossing the 7 mile bridge.

The expanse of the bridge running parallel to it is what remains of the Old Seven Mile Bridge, an engineering marvel in its day that's now on the National Register of Historic Places. It is on the old bridge that you can see the gap that was blown away for the making of the Arnie Movie – True Lies.




Dinner was out on the Miami Beach Strip; neon lights were glowing, pimpy cars were roaming and people were strutting – I just happily sat drinking my delish virgin Mojito taking in the glamour that is Miami Beach.

Itinerary: Hit the Road for Orlando, Florida

We took the coastal route to our next stop of Orlando via Palm Beach Florida. I cannot begin to describe the mansions of the rich and famous that you witness along the manicured streets of Palm Beach. That is…when you had an opportunity to glance through an open gate or over a luscious green hedge. A stop in the city center to stroll around the high scale retail outlets could have been the order of the day but witnessing it all from the comfort of an air-conditioned car was a lot more enjoyable.

An example of the mansions we couldn't see... :( Privacy is overrated!!!!

We arrived in Orlando for a 2-night stay at Todd’s Florida address. Darren can not visit Florida without venturing to two destinations, the first being a churrascaria restaurant (Brazilian Steakhouse) called ‘Texas De Brazil’ – a meat lovers delight.

Orlando is the home of pretty much every theme park you can imagine, even a religious theme park called Holy Land Experience. Any other time I would be bursting at the seams to be out and about exploring all of them, riding all the hair raising rides but given the circumstances I was a little subdued.

We decided that Universal Studios would offer more than just thrill seeking rides – that assumption was kind of wrong but we still had a pretty good time watching the animal show and people throwing up at the Fear Factor show. Once the spectacular afternoon thunderstorm came in I ready to get out of there - as my belly increases my tolerance level is decreasing.

Back on the road again and a last minute stop at Darren’s 2nd ‘must stop’ destination ‘Steak & Shake’ for the best Oreo milkshake in the country – Apparently!!!!!




Itinerary Update: Make way west for New Orleans

Stopping at America’s own Panama City was uneventful but the beach towns that followed were amazing. Discussing elaborate notions of spending 6 months renting a beach front unit in Pensacola or Navarre Beach (Florida’s Best Kept Secret).




It must have been amazing, one look at my freckled, pale complexion illustrates that I am no beach babe, far from it but it was a spectacular setting, pity about that whole hurricane predicament.

The beach affair was over – it was time to get to New Orleans. Of course we were Holiday Inning it all the way and we were a little concerned when we took a wrong turn into a dodgy neighborhood and saw this sign… Keeping it real!



Given that under the circumstances we could not experience the real culture of New Orleans – no late nights in smoky jazz clubs, bopping away and sipping cocktails.

I was pretty much ready for the turn down service at 7pm…. And no I don’t really go for that service hey! You would have to tip.

We did make the most of our two days walking through the historic city, enjoying the tourist trap of Bourbon Street and the surrounding French Quarter District. A bus tour of the city gave us an opportunity to witness the destruction that still existed from Hurricane Katrina, to the exquisite Garden district and the old slightly eerie cemeteries around the city (thankfully in the day time).


A diet of Southern Fried Chicken and Original style jambalaya was the order of the day. It was definitely a destination worth checking out.

Advice for others: preferably stay away late August/September and if you can avoid visiting during the nine months of carrying a baby – although I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

XX

Mel