Day 59 - Key West Sunset

We spent most of today getting sunburned at Key West while swimming a bit more in the ocean, this time at Smathers Beach.

And after a great lunch and stroll through town with Marli and Phil, we went back to the beach for the sunset.

Oh and finally, on our 3rd attempt to get a selfie at the “Southernmost Point of the USA” marker, we persevered and waited in line and got this photo. 

I just wish I would have handed my phone to one of the other tourists there and ended up with a better photo. But oh well - we social distanced this one.

Day 58 - Summertime in February

We made it to the Florida Keys today, and it feels like summer!

We walked barefoot in the surf for a while and even went swimming.

And the best part - that water wasn’t “just bearable” - it was warm! ( which maybe to a lot of people isn’t saying much but to me it’s huge because I’ve never swam in a warm ocean before - even in Hawaii and even in Mexico the “tropical” ocean was very chilly.

So. Yeah. Big day today.

Day 57 - Goat Farm

We stayed at a Harvest Host again last night, this time it was a goat farm.

Day 56 - Yellow Blossom Trees

We’ve been seeing these brilliant yellow trees blossoming all over the place today.

Anyone know what they are?

They’re gorgeous!

Day 55 - Golf Carts

We drove through a part of Florida where golf carts have their own road! And they're everywhere - you even see them in parking lots like this. I think there are some golfers around here...

Day 54 - Another Play Day

We told ourselves this past weekend that we needed some structure in our schedule and that maybe weekdays would be "work" days for a while. (We do have a few things that we've been putting off.) Well we made it one whole day getting some things done (yesterday). But today we had the opportunity to rent a canoe and well - we couldn't pass that up! 

We had our first date in a canoe in June 1998 in Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle, WA. Almost 23 years later here we are together again in a canoe.

Such fun today on Lake Griffin in Fruitland Park, Florida.

Happy almost 23rd anniversary babe!

Day 53 - Boondocking

“This wasn’t in the brochure!” We thought the cell signal would be good here but wow we were wrong. Beautiful place though! 

This is at a SW Florida Water Management area near Lake Panassofkee that offers free outdoor recreation (camping, hiking, equestrian) if you have a permit. Annnnnd..... you can get a Free permit online if there is space available.

Day 52 - Gulf Sunset

I'll never get tired of views like this.

Day 51 - Horseshoe Beach Park

This is the campground we're in this weekend. (same place for yesterday's photos too).

I never noticed really until I got ready to upload this photo, just how dark brown the water is. We've seen this all over the gulf (Texas, Lousiana, and now here too), and it looks like it's mostly close to shore, and then farther out seems to be more blue.

But wow this photo really drives home how brown it is.

Other than that, wow what a beautiful place!

Day 50 - Another Day, Another Beachfront Campsite

 

Well here we are on the Gulf Coast again. This time along the north side of Florida just a little south of the panhandle.

And again, we see shore birds. A pelican and Forster's Terns.

I keep trying to get a shot of a tern diving into the water for food, but they're hard to get in focus. (they are quick little things) Apparently I need to work on my action photo skills a bit more.

But what a beautiful place, and we're the only campers here! We'll see if that holds for the weekend...

Day 49 - Breakfast of Champions

This is something we’ve been doing every day with our breakfast for several years.

Green Smoothies - We like them with baby spinach or kale; a banana; some sweet fruit like pears, peaches, strawberries or blueberries; and some chia seeds that have been soaking for at least 15 minutes.

Add some water, then we whiz it up and drink it down. A great way to start the day!

Day 48 - Mirror Pond

 Well it's actually a river, not a pond, but wow it sure looks like a mirror doesn't it?

I think this might be the calm before the storm. Weather forecast says windy and thunderstorms and a lot of rain. Because of the road into this site, we were worried a bit about the rain (and one huge puddle we had to drive through to get there), so we decided to leave and find a campground instead to top off our batteries. (overcast and rain expected for the next 3 days so solar panels won't be much help).

So... we're not in our pristine, happy, secluded spot by the river anymore. But that's our final memory of it in that photo there.

Day 47 - Same Campground, Different Day

 

We like this campground so we decided to stay for another night. Beautiful place here by the river, and like yesterday's forecast said, the sun was out and charging our solar panels!

Day 46 - Florida Panhandle Campgrounds

 

We drove around for about 4 hours today down one foggy road after another to several campgrounds before we settled on one. 

We saw a beautiful river flowing past one of them, but that wasn't the place for us. We kept driving until it felt right.

And now - we're pretty happy with this one. 

After we got here we had a bit more thunder and lightning and some heavy rain, but the rain has stopped and tomorrow's forecast looks like some sunshine.

Day 45 - Farm Life

We’re staying at a Harvest Host farm tonight, and with that we get to spend some time with the animals.

Shannon got some happiness from piggy (and it seemed it was mutual by the way piggy was snorting).

We both loved the white chicken with the “oh I just can’t be bothered” hair style.

And after visiting with the animals we got a tour of the place. That’s the lavender field in the 3rd photo there. It’s Florida’s first lavender farm and a great place to stay. Check them out on Harvest Hosts...

Day 44 - On the Road Again

 

4 states in one day. We woke up in Louisiana and planned to head north a bit. But then we looked at the weather forecast and decided to head east instead.

4 hours later we ended up in Florida.

So all told - Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. 

Day 43 - Po Boys

Day 43 - Po Boys

We sampled a highly recommended sandwich restaurant today that we were so looking forward to.

Unfortunately it didn’t live up to the hype and we need to go to George’s again to set things right.

But it did have a cool mural painted over one of the closed-off windows.

Day 42 - Shower Day

 

Today is shower day in more ways than one.

This campground has showers and we're taking advantage today.

And as you can see, mother nature is taking advantage too with a massive downpour... here is the view looking out the windshield at our campsite. 

Day 41 - River and Fog

 

We went for a bike ride today along the Mississippi River Trail. And it was quite foggy.

But we just pushed on and had a great day. Finally the fog lifted and the sun came out and there was New Orleans across the river.

Day 40 - Muffalettas

 

I have seen the light. And it is spicy.

I have a new favorite sandwich - a Muffaletta from George’s Southside in Baton Rouge.

Who knew a spicy sandwich could be this good! (well I guess George knew...)

Click here to see some photos if you like.

Day 39 - Whitney Plantation

 

Today we visited the Whitney Plantation Museum at the suggestion of our overnight host. WOW, he had said it was like a holocaust museum and he was right! It seemed fitting that we visited here during Black History Month.

Sugar Kettles - used in refining sugar

Wow we have a dark past - I'm deeply saddened at how people treat other people all because of the color of their skin.

A beautiful courtyard hides some dark secrets

Day 38 - Tree Critter

We saw this guy today when we were walking through the LSU Botanical Gardens.

Is this a newt? Or a gecko?

It sure was able to hold still on that tree trunk. 

Day 37 - 3rd St. & Mississippi

 

We made it to Baton Rouge today. These shots are from 3rd Street downtown on the bank of the Mississippi River.

We had a great dinner at Cecilia's Creole Bistro (Sweet & Sour Alligator, Crawfish Étouffée, Skillet Cornbread and Pork Porterhouse). It really didn't suck.

Afterward we walked to the bank of the Mississippi and got a few shots before heading back to our B&B.

Yes - we're staying in an AirBnB this weekend and we'll be watching the Super Bowl on a 70" TV! We're pretty stoked about that as well.

Day 36 - Hitch Those Up a Bit!

This sign is on the building by the pool at the park we’re camped in.

Day 35 - Crawfish Traps

 

We saw these things today in flooded fields that looked like traps of some kind. Shannon mused about them possibly being crawfish traps.

And I was wondering why all the fields looked as though they were intentionally flooded. "They look like rice paddies" I said.

So when we found some time later I googled it and guess what - we were both right! Rice has been a big crop in Louisiana for a long time and some farmers augment that by using the rice as bait and trap crawfish too.

Who knew??

Day 34 - Louisiana

We made it into Louisiana today. First time ever for either of us. Just drove over that big bridge and there we were.

One of the first sights we saw was that church built up on stilts. We wondered what it must be like to have a hurricane blow through. But we didn’t have to wonder for long.

Soon after that, we drove through an area that had been ravaged by back to back hurricanes last year. I kind of wanted to get some pictures of the devastation but something kept me from it - these people are still trying to rebuild. Many of them are displaced, some businesses haven’t reopened yet. We looked at two campgrounds but both are still closed - it just didn’t feel right to get photos to gawk at.

So we kept driving farther east and found this beautiful place on Bayou Lacassine.

Day 33 - Shannon gets in touch with her inner photographer.

We did a short hike today around Village Creek State Park and Shannon got down for just the right angle on this berry bush.