Lake Charles, Louisiana

We've spent the last two days in Lake Charles, Louisiana just looking around and relaxing.

Yesterday we drove about 35 miles South to the Gulf of Mexico to visit the beach one more time. The beaches were clean and deserted so we had the place to ourselves. We found no evidence of the oil spill from Deep Water Horizon but we did find lots of shells.

Today we drove up to Sam Houston Jones State Park just North of Lake Charles to do some hiking. It's a really pretty area of 1000 acres with great trails and the river is just beautiful. The day was cool, clear and crisp so it feels like fall now.












Homes across the river were spectacular. What a great place to live.
For those who follow this blog I just want to wish you all a "Happy Thanksgiving". We head to Kingwood,Texas near Houston tomorrow for ten days and the blog will get neglected so don't expect more for a while. We'll spend the holiday with my Cousin (AKA sis) and  her husband there and then will head for San Antonio on Saturday the 30th. So.... till then, have a great holiday.

Louisiania Bayou

We spent one last day in the New Orleans area taking a boat ride on the Bayou. So..... here's some pictures of the Bayou.

The Bayou is a unique place and those folks who live there are definitely unique. There is water everywhere but it's not dirty or smelly.










The Cajun folks are a breed apart from others. Our boat captain  was a Cajun and it was a lot like having Willie Robertson from Duck Dynasty in the boat. He was funny and informative at the same time.

Alligators were everywhere. In the water and on the shore. We ate some Alligator sausage and it was really tasty. We're going to try to get some to take home.

We got to meet a Alligator up close and personal. I think that's all the Alligators for this trip. It seems that we've seen them all over and so we have. We saw our first in South Carolina and continued to see them from there to here.
A couple of days here (Lake Charles, La) and then off to Houston for Thanksgiving.

The Big Easy

We made it to New Orleans on Thursday driving over from Pensacola some 250 miles East.
Friday we spent the day in the French Quarter walking the streets and visiting the museums there.
We got an education concerning Hurricane Katrina and what man has done in this area that made the storm a real disaster. Too much info to share here so I won't try.

Bourbon street is probably one of the most famous in the world. We found it seedy and a place we would not be comfortable in at night.
We must be getting old!








One of the charms of New Orleans is the street bands. They are everywhere and play music that is distinctly New Orleans. We sat on a bench and listened for a while just taking in the atmosphere that is New Orleans.








St Louis Cathedral is the most prominent feature of the French Quarter skyline. The buildings on each side are Louisiana State museums.







We walked for about 6 miles taking in most of the French Quarter during our day there. This is typical of the streets off Bourbon street. Lots of charm and atmosphere. Today we head to the Bayou for a boat ride in the swamp. More later.

A cold day at the Air Force Museum

Last night was brutal! Wind gusts to about 30mph,shaking the trailer all night and 38 degrees when we got up this morning.
Tonight is supposed to be colder. Is this really Minnesota and not Florida?
We didn't let the cold weather bother us and we headed to the Air Force Armament Museum at Elgin AFB.

The Armament Museum isn't a major museum but it was worth a hour or two exploring the exhibits. Inside there were exhibits of bombs, cruise missiles and lots of info on fighters and their guns. Outside there was quite a number of aircraft including a B-47, a B-52 and a C-130.







Inside we found this P-51. It was the best fighter in the world in it's day being used in WWII and after till jets went operational. This is one Kool machine!







I'm including this one for James. How about a ride in that jet fighter?
There was also a section inside on special operations that the Air Force conducted. Interesting that I knew of some of them while I was still working. Am I getting old or what?


Off to New Orleans tomorrow for a couple of days. Hope we find some warmer weather.

The Gulf Islands

Today was Gulf Island day. We drove about 50 miles west and found ourselves on a strip of beach about 100 yards wide. With the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Pensacola Bay on the other. The beach was little more than the road wide. We went to the end and visited Ft Pickens, a fort built  in 1834 to protect Pensacola Bay from foreign  invaders.

The fort is large with dozens of cannon emplacements and brick walls four feet thick. The fort was built with slave labor and the only action it saw was in 1861 during the civil war when the Confederates attacked the Union held fort. Another interesting piece of history.

We stopped at Pensacola Beach for a stroll and found this blue Huron waiting just for us. As you can see, the beach is pure white and is made of quartz crystals. The clear blue water against the white of the sand makes this place just beautiful.






The RV park here is really nice and the folks friendly. This is the view from our trailer door. We face the Chocawhatchee Bay with the Gulf just about a quarter mile away. Two more days of this! How will we survive?

National Naval Air Museum

Yesterday we headed to Pensacola Naval Air Station to visit the National Naval Air Museum. Pensacola is also home base for the Navy Blue Angels so lots to see and do there.

As you walk to the entrance you are greeted by this F-14 Tomcat. It's just a taste of what it to come inside.

The museum has over 55,000 sq ft of floor space with aircraft filling every nook. Here the retired Blue Angel A-4 aircraft hang in formation. These are real aircraft used by the blue Angels for several years.

This is typical of what is there. I think it's better than the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian mostly because of the many interactive displays. We experienced carrier flight line operations in a surround movie, and flew with the Blue Angels in a simulation. I climbed into the cockpit of a F-4 Phantom from the Vietnam era and was fascinated by the POW exhibit we found there.



Just outside, this F-18 Hornet aircraft sits on the ramp. It's the current Blue Angel ride and it was a treat to  just "kick the tires" on the aircraft. My love of aircraft made the day special and my bride didn't complain so all in all it was a great day.

Tallahassee

We been decompressing in Tallahassee for the past three days and I think we have gotten rested. So.... today we ventured out to Wakulla Springs State Park South of Tallahassee. It's one of those "find a gem in a bucket of coal" experiences and so it was today.

It's not prominent in the tour books but what a gem we found. The river shown here is formed from a spring. Going up river the river just stops in a 80 feet deep pool and that's the spring. Down river the scenery is spectacular and the wildlife is abundant.

We saw lots of smallish Alligators (6 to 8 feet). This is typical of the alligators that make their home along the bank. Some were sunning on the shore and some were swimming.

Turtles were abundant with many different varieties. Again some were sunning and some were swimming.

This is the biggest alligator we ran across. The boat captain indicated that he is one of the biggest in the river and is a estimated 12 feet plus in length.

The real surprise of the day was the Manatees we found there. These docile mammals were everywhere in the river and we saw dozens of them. We saw large males, cows with calves and several groups swimming together. The one shown here is just under the water at the front of the boat. Notice how clear the water looks. It really was that clear.

Here's another picture of the river. The boat ride took about a hour and 10 minutes and covered about 6 miles of the river. We took our time and stopped whenever we saw something to stare at.

If you are in the Tallahassee area in the future this is a must stop. The park has some nice hiking and the boat trip is $8 and worth three times that. What a great day and a gem of a park!

All things Disney

I've been getting a little flack from folks about the lack of a blog for the past week. Let me explain.
We have been at the Disney complex every day for the past 5 days and, as I am getting on in years, yours truly has been beat on his fanny by 5:00pm every night. So.....no blog.....just a nap before bedtime.
The day usually started around 9:00am at the park and we walked about 5 to 6 miles each day. Lots of live shows, 3D movies, rides and educational things filled the days.

Monday was EPCOT day. We did the land, The sea, Imagination and part of the world showcase.
7 hours to see half of it!

Tuesday was Animal Kingdom day. An African safari, lots of shows and this large fake tree. Again, a 7 hour day but we did see all of it.

Wednesday was Hollywood day with lots more shows, a super stunt show and more movies and rides. Again, a 7 hour day to see it all.

Thursday we were back at EPCOT to finish the rest of the park. We stayed for dinner at Germany and then made it home later than usual.
Another great day.








Friday was the Magic Kingdom day. This is vintage Disney with all the stuff we have enjoyed for the past 50 + years.

We have been here so long one of us has grown ears. Time to head out so tomorrow we start our trek toward home. We head toward the Florida panhandle for a couple of days in Tallahassee before  driving to Ft Walton Beach for a week on the gulf. More from there.