We started the day in Pensacola Beach just down the road from our campsite. It has a lovely broadwalk full of bars, restaurants and shops. I manged to find some replacement wet shoes just in time for moving away from the beach but I know we are going to need them again when we hit the west coast in a couple of months time.
We then headed for the Alabama border. You would have expected that moving from one state to another would be marked by something more than a simple sign, its almost a bit of a let down going over a border, if you weren't waiting for it, you probably would never know.
Our drive took us through Mobile (correctly said "Mobill"). As we were driving along, we saw a huge battleship so stopped to take a look. The ship was the USS Alabama. It only cost $4 to get into the park with the ship and lots of other planes, tanks, guns and other stuff. You had to pay a further $15pp to go onto the Alabama but we didn't really have time to do this. Lee really enjoyed himself and was like a kid in a candy store so he's made a special section just for the video, including a section dedicated to his Dad.
Next it was to the Mississippi border and a Payless Shoe Source where we found replacement flipflops and sandals. Let's hope these ones last a little longer!
For most of the drive, we were on the interstate except where there was a state border so that we could stop on the state line and take a picture. To get to the Louisiana border, we went onto the smaller state route at Biloxi. There was a pretty lighthouse here in the road and some interesting themed restaurants including one called 'Slap Ya Momma's'!
We continued onto Gulfport where we hit the state line. This was a much prettier drive than the interstate, the beach was on our left and we went through little towns with holiday homes and even President Jefferson Davis's former home.
We finally went over the bridge into New Orleans, seeing the skyline we knew we were nearly there and a cold beer was waiting for us in one of many bars!
Our hotel Maison Dupuy was right in the middle of the French Quarter and whilst it was a 5 minute walk to the action on Bourbon street, it was far enough way to be quiet and easy to get to by car. We also had a tram stop a 5 minute walk away to getting further a field.
That night, we hit Bourbon Street like everyone does in New Orleans. I am going to do a separate post on New Orleans but it is an experience, I have never had so much noise hit me in one go and I have never seen a town which is so busy on every night of the week, there are no quiet days!
For dinner, we went to a place called Mothers which I read on another blog as a recommendation. It is a very different from any other restaurant we have been in, you queue up canteen style to order and then your food is brought to your table when its ready. All over the walls are pictures from the history of the restaurant. They do very good Po'Boys which we didn't have as they looked like french stick sandwiches, we can get these back home! Instead, we had samplers of New Orleans traditions Gumbo, Crawfish Etoufee and Jambalaya as well as a portion of their famous ham. It was amazing! Neither of us could chose a favourite, they all tasted amazing and for once, the portion size was perfect, we were not needing a stomach pump or taking home bags full of food.
Here is the video:
Watching the Video and yep it was indeed a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, my all time fave airplane. I had a model of it as a little kid and loved the look of it. Also looked like a F-4 Phantom shortly after the Blackbird, another cool plane which I remember from a pack of fighter planes top trumps I had. Again another plane used in Vietnam. Right on with the rest of the vid now....
ReplyDeleteYay another post credits scene :-)
ReplyDeleteLoved the photos from NOLA too, some great buildings and the food looked yummy