Boil Order

Currently In: NOLA
Heading to South Texas

NOLA had 2 nights of a hard freeze - historic for this area.   With pipes freezing there have been all sorts of water problems in the city now and there is a boil order on.  Many schools are closed again today for the third day in a row.

The good news is that the water system in our coach seems to be fine.  We are not hooked up to the "city water" yet, so still using water from our tank.  We did refill the tank yesterday from the rv park system, so we are going to be using bottled water and boiling as well.

But we did not let that stop us from letting the good times roll!

We met some great folks from Montana at our campground - Les and Monica.  The four of us took the shuttle from the campground into the French Quarter last night just to briefly check out Bourbon Street.

We stopped at several bars with live music.  My favorite was this place where we saw 2 jazz bands.

Looking forward to seeing more of the French Quarter over the weekend without my winter coat!

Wintry Mix

Quick update from NOLA

New Orleans was part of the storm that rolled through the south last night.  Due to the low temperatures and wintry mix that included sleet and ice, schools and government offices are closed today.  Many highways are closed and everyone is staying inside.  I heard on the news that this is historic cold weather for the Gulf Coast and Florida Panhandle.  Awesome!

That's ice on the road, folks.

One side of our rig is covered in ice, too, but it's so sunny today that I couldn't get a good pic.
Although we didn't hook our water hose up and we ran our heater and space heaters all night, we ended up with no water this morning.  We think the line from our fresh water tank has frozen somewhere.  So we moved our space heater down there and hope to thaw it out soon.


Luckily, there is a restaurant on the premises here since we can't drive anywhere.  So off to breakfast, wait for the heat to work, and hopefully all will be well!

An Indoor Day

Currently in Biloxi, MS
Leaving for NOLA and then on to Texas


Because the weather was cold, we decided some museums were in order.  The drive to downtown Biloxi along Hwy 90 along the coast is beautiful.
From the highway you can see the Katrina Catastrophe Tree Sculptures.  When Hurricane Katrina came through Biloxi, it took down a lot of trees leaving only the trunks. The trunks were carved into various sculptures, mostly animals. This is just an example of one.

A little further down the road we saw the Biloxi Lighthouse.  It was one of the first cast iron lighthouses in the south.  Civilians, including several women, operated it from 1848 until it was turned over to the US Coastguard in 1939.  It was finally turned over to the city of Biloxi in 1968.

Eventually we reached the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art.  Neither Johnny nor I know a lot about art, but we wanted to give it a try.  The first thing we saw was a special exhibit on vintage motorcycles.  The red one in the foreground was built in Aurora, IL .

The rest of the museum is dedicated to the ceramics of the "Mad Potter of Biloxi"  - George Ohr.  Naturally, his art did not become famous until he died.  In the meantime, he made a lot of practical pottery in order to support his family.  Annette O'Keefe was instrumental in raising funds to get the museum built.
I loved the color in this piece.

I think the spout and the top of this pitcher is interesting.

We drove down Highway 90 to get to Beauvoir, the retirement home of Jefferson Davis who was the only confederate president.  He wrote his memoirs here. We toured the home which originally was on a large piece of property until the highway was built.  Eventually, Beauvoir became a retirement home for Confederate Veterans.

This guest house on the property sleeps 4 and can be currently rented for $250/night.

There is a presidential library just behind the house.  Johnny and I spent quite some time here learning about the man who tried to avoid succession, but was unsuccessful.  The library and museum are very well done, with videos and plaques that describe much of Davis' life and the Civil War.
Both the home and the library sustained significant damage from Katrina, but much of it has been restored and rebuilt.  There is a small room with pictures of the damage and the piano below, which was found in a tree in from of the home.

Davis died in 1889 and 200,000 people attended his funeral procession in New Orleans.  The beautiful carriage that carried his coffin is on display at the museum.

Highway 90 is also dotted with casinos.  Johnny and I went to one to watch the football game and have dinner.  At the bar, we met Chip (who was in his late 30s?) who told us he was an efficiency expert.  He gave us tips on some of the future cities we will visit.  We started talking about other travels we had taken.  Wow! This guy is well traveled.  It finally comes out that he has been in the Air Force for several years.  It was fun talking-to him.

Yes, we are tourists

Currently in Biloxi, MS
Next up: New Orleans and then Beaumont and Corpus Christi, TX


It has been cold, but sunny here.  Here is our new best friend.

A small space heater that we move from place to place in the coach to keep us warm.  It has made a huge difference!

Because of the weather, we decided to take a short nature walk in Gulfport versus going to the National Forest for a longer hike.  The Clower-Thornton Nature Trail is being improved, we assume after Hurricane Katrina.  It was a short walk, but pretty.

We decided not to try this bridge.  This one is up next for improvement, I hope!

When these trees mature, this is going to be a beautiful trail.

As most of you know, my husband is a model train nut.  If you've ever seen our house at Christmas, you know how much he enjoys his hobby! Gulfport has a significant model railroad club with a 3 room museum - Stations 1, 2, and 3.  They have display cases with trains all the way back to 1895 through current.
There are trains of different scales throughout the museum.

In addition, there is a wonderful, detailed Lego train display.

Here is a shot of their garden display.  There are 4 different running trains here.

A visit to Gulfport wouldn't be complete with out seeing the World's Largest Rocking chair!  We walked through the showroom and met the fourth generation family who still makes oak furniture here.  It was interesting learning a bit about their business - there are not too many small, old family businesses left in the USA!

We're still looking for the World's second largest ball of Twine! (National Lampoon vacation reference).

You probably notice that I don't post much about restaurants we have visited, but I couldn't pass this one up.  The owner of the campground we are staying at suggested Taranto's and we are glad he did!  One of the best meals we have had, and of course regional cuisine.
We tried the boiled crawfish.

It's a bit of work to peel the tail, but worth it!

The restaurant is small and very cute.  And the people SO nice - they showed us how to eat the crawfish.  We also tried the gumbo and po boys.  Wonderful.  We are going back tomorrow before we leave for NOLA!

City of 5 Flags

Currently in: Biloxi
Next up: NOLA then Texas

Pensacola is known as the City of 5 Flags referring to the 5 governments that controlled the area at various times: Spain, Britain, France, the Confederacy and the United States.  There is a lot of history here.  We definitely need to come back to see all that Pensacola has to offer.

We took a quick walk around the historic district and looked at the homes from the 1800s that are now repurposed for retail.

We also saw the Old Christ Church built in the 1800s during the American period.  It also served as the public library and as a museum at one point.   In addition, archeologists have found remains of a Spanish building and a British kitchen under the church floor!

Here is a photo of the Julee Cottage once owned by a free woman of color in the early 1800s.

These historic homes are near the Seville Square.

There are a number of Live Oak trees in this square which get very old and whose branches grow very long, just like the Angel Tree in Charleston.  They have a creative way to hold the branches off the ground. It's a wooden sculpture of a little girl standing on a little boy's shoulders who is standing on a dog.

I don't know what kind of tree this is, but I saw one like it in Siesta Key, too.  I like how the branches grow right from the bottom of the tree.

Leave it to Johnny Keefe to find a unique fun place in Pensacola - The Seville Quarter. Although we were there at lunch, and not for the nightlife, it looked like a cool place.

It is a renovated warehouse with different bars and restaurants inside.  The owner finds antiques, like these bar chairs below, to add to the atmosphere.

Look at the rafters in the ceiling of the this restaurant. The other ceiling had the old tin tiles.

Pensacola Beach was on my bucket list of cities to see when we started this adventure.  Although the weather wasn't the best, we took a walk on the beach so I could check it off!  Look at those waves.

Emerald Coast

Currently In: Navarre, FL
Leaving for Biloxi, MS tomorrow
Then on to NOLA, Beaumont, and other cities in South Texas

Emerald Coast is the name given for the area from Pensacola to Panama City, FL.  The water here is aquamarine, hence the name.

Our campground takes its name from the Emerald title as well - Emerald Beach RV Park.  It is just a lovely park, but the weather has not been conducive to enjoying all it has to offer, especially the small beach.  I would have loved to use one of those lounge chairs under the tiki umbrella! Bring me a pina colada!
We didn't have one of these sites right on the beach, but our site was really nice.

We had some gorgeous views, too.

One of our first touring stops was the Gulf Islands National Seashore.  The seashore extends along most of the coast.  We learned about the forts (no longer active) that protected the coastline as well as the barrier islands and how they were formed.    After a quick stop at the Visitor Center, we walked along the designated path.

I also took these shots just off the path along the coastline.

On a different side of the Seashore, we saw this heron hiding in the grass and got this shot.

Then is started walking along the shore to us.  At one point it was only 20 ft. away.
If I lived along the coast in Florida, I would definitely be a "birder".  The variety is incredible!

Today was our last full day and I was determined to get in a bike ride after all the rain.  We woke up to fog, so decided to drive to Ft. Walton Beach and look at the path to Destin.  Decided it was not in the cards this morning so we just stopped at Destin and strolled the boardwalk.  Tons of boats and restaurants and shops.  A long weekend here would be a blast.  It's a must return place. Party town!

Once we got back to our RV, it was 70 degrees and the sun started to peak out.  We went to the Seashore near Navarre beach we had visited yesterday. Time to get on those bikes! After they were off the car, lo and behold - the mist started.  We hopped on the bikes anyway.  Wind and rain, the whole way.  Our luck was so bad we just laughed and collected seashells instead.  And the sun came out.
On the way home, Johnny declared it was a successful day.  I think he needs to set the bar a bit higher!

Our igloo

Currently in chilly Lake City, FL
Heading to Panhandle today
Will be in Gulf Coast and New Orleans soon!

On our way from Siesta Key to Lake City, we decided to have our coach weighed to make sure we were not overloaded and putting too much pressure on chassis and the tires.  Turns out, we can buy more stuff!!
But it is a relief to know that, while we need to have our suspension realigned, our belongings are pretty well balanced in our coach.

Luckily, the snow that Lake City got on Wednesday had melted by the time we got there on Thursday.  Unluckily, the cold is still here.  We filled out fresh water tank and unhooked our hose for city water so we wouldn't have to deal with frozen hoses/pipes.  It worked!
It got down to 23 on Thursday night and 29 on Friday night.  We had our electric heat and propane heat on.  We had the fireplace (which acts as a space heater) on as well.  Still woke up to a coach at 55 degrees.  So, we sat in front of the fire with coffee and blankets to get warm before we left for breakfast and some heat!

A walk through historic Lake City was on the docket, but decided to take a drive instead.  Unfortunately,  historic Lake City has seen some better days.  Much of the retail storefronts were empty and the homes around the downtown were dilapidated.  Bummer.
I was looking forward to a short walk through the state park, but decided we better keep an eye on the coach (to make sure it warmed up) so opted for a walk around the RV park.  In our winter coats.  In Florida.
Not to worry about the alligators on the RV park property.  Too cold for them today.

But they offered a free breakfast on Saturday morning, so we took advantage of that before hitting the road again.