Traveling down to Key Largo from Hollywood, FL proved to be a little difficult as their was one spot that 5 different highways all merged.  But we managed to get through it.

We got down to Key Largo and started planning out our next day.

We stayed here 2 nights. The first night we walked to a restaurant that overlooked the water.  Beautiful views.

The first morning in Key Largo, we went parasailing at Key Largo Parasailing.

It was awesome!! We did 6 min in the air, taking off from the boat and landing back on the boat.  Going up 400 feet in the air. Getting to see alot of cool aerial views. The take off and landing were easy. The gentlemen who were working the boat were really nice. Would definitely do it again.

After that we walked to the state park which was about 3 miles from the hotel.  We made it to a beach and I ended up going in the water.  It was quite chilly but it was a hot day. While in the water there was a white fish that hung out about 2 ft from where I was. Thought it was dead because it was so still, so I flicked a little water it’s way and it moved. After that we walked around alittle bit but ended up walking back to the hotel to relax and do laundry.

We traveled from Tampa, FL to stay in Hollywood, FL which is close to Ft Lauderdale, FL.

Original plan was to stay in Naples on the beach but it was too packed and we decided to move on.

This stop was more just a layover, as it took us approximately 7 hours to get there.

So we headed to a hotel in Hollywood, FL just to crash and get ready to go down to Key Largo.

Traveling from Alabama to the Pensacola of Florida had a lot of small beach towns as we took the most coastal route.

We traveled through Flora-Bama, which is the state line of the two states. Then we stopped at a BBQ joint in Gulf Breeze to share a rib plate. The ribs fell right off the bone with ease. They were delicious! And it was right on the water, so it was beautiful to sit there as well.

Then we passed through beautiful Destin FL, tried a local brewery, then ended up in Panama City, FL.  I tried to see a cousin, but I did tell her last minute and she was swamped with appointments. So maybe next time.  All in all the trip was beautiful but felt more like we were just traveling through and not enjoying the towns.

On our way to Gulf Shores, AL we came across another NASA customer center in Mississppi and we decided just to see what it was about. It seemed to be more about devices to put in the water to track tsnaumi’s and such. But it was a good break to stretch out legs.  We even saw an alligator in the water, for free :).

Next we made it to Gulf Shores, AL to hang out for the night. This place was nice but more of a tourist town. We stopped in at a place called the hangout but the service wasn’t great and we waited for a table for quite a while. So we left and found a place called Ribs and Reds.  We are glad we did as the service was top notch and we got served right away.  Good ribs and crab cakes.

After eating we headed back to the hotel as there wasn’t much else to do.

The drive to New Orleans was pretty and very interesting.  We learned that Lousiana has alot of rice crops!  And the town of Crowley claims they are the rice capital of America.

We got into New Orleanus late so we got rest and left in the morning to do a swamp tour. We chose the Jean Lafitte Swamp tour because it was only 15 min from us.  The people here are friendly.  And we did get to see quite a few gaters and a couple of snakes.

After our almost 2 hour tour, we headed back to get ready to go down to the French Quarter of New Orleans.  We took an Uber around 3:30pm so we didn’t have to worry about driving and parking downtown.  We started walking around and noticed it was dirty but lots of people where walking around.  There wasn’t much music going on, unfortunately.  We had expected to see people playing on the streets but that wasn’t the case this time around.  We did find a place to get gator bites and frog legs.  Both were great and didn’t last long because they were good.  🙂

We ended walking toward the Frenchman street which had some music but not what we expected.  We walked around until about 10pm and decided to head back as it felt like the same as any other downtowns.

The next morning we went to a place called the New Orleans Food and Spirits because it was recommended by a local for etouffee.  I got the crawfish stew which is the same thing as etouffee.  Michael got the oyster po’boy.  Both were good but nothing fantastic.

After getting food, we headed to Gulf Shores, AL.

From Corpus Christi to New Orleans, we stopped in Seabrook, TX to break up the 7.5 hour travel time. Our max that we want to drive each day is about 5 hours per day.  And we found out that by staying at Choice Hotels, we can earn free nights in hotels and earn extra reward points like savings per gallon at a Shell gas station.  So it can be a win-win either way.

Stopping here at Seabrook, TX, I got to see a friend, Amy Crowder-Simon, from high school that I haven’t seen in like 20 years. It was really great talking with her, catching up, and just talking about what’s going on. It was an enjoyable time and loved seeing her.

The next morning we went to the Houston Space Center, which was just a few miles from where we were staying.  It’s so amazing what our astronauts do and what they are planning on doing in the future.

We also got to try gater bites and crawfish while we were here.  Before leaving we also got to try T-Bones BBQ.  Great BBQ brisket and greens beans.

This town was clean and cute.  Would come back for sure.

After a great time at San Antonio, we headed to Corpus Christi, which is 7 hours from where we were.   Just outside of San Antonio, we stopped at the locally owned BBQ joint called McBee’s BBQ. The flavors were great, the sandwich we had was tender and good. The ribs were a little on the tough side, but still tasty.

We finally arrived, it was about 6pm. We were surprised to see all of the oil manufacturers that were in the area when we came upon the city. They were everywhere. But after passing them, you saw the ocean. Which due to the gulf stream, the ocean is very merky.

Our first night there, we just rested. I caught up on one of the blogs. (trying to do better and keep it more current)  So, I found the closest Little Caesar’s pizza to try their Smokehouse pizza, and we just hung out that night at the hotel.  The next morning we got up and started down the ride to Padre Island.

The first stop we made was a local coffee shop and everyone there was friendly.

We next went to the Texas Sea Life Center where they help animals that have been injured and if possible will release them back once they have healed.  The falcon though will be an ambassador to educate people because his wing never healed correctly.   And the boa constrictor is not legal to have so it will not be released in the wild.

This island is interesting as it is a turtle preservation area and all ocean currents direct everything right to this island. Tons and tons of trash from all over the world end up here.  One of the rangers told us that one day, they had 800 volunteers and they picked up 50 Tons of trash! She told us some days there is nothing and other days there is a lot. Even cars, dishwashers, and boats will wash up. At this center, they hand out free trash bags to anyone that wants one. And I can see why. Although when we were there, it was pretty clean.

We now traveled back to the hotel, so we could walk around the North beach.

We walked along the beach. And headed to the USS Lexington.

This ship was commissioned in 1943-1945 and was an aircraft carrier. It always amazes me how intelligent the armed forces are.

Now onto

After finally making it to San Antonio, we stayed about a 1 mile from the downtown riverwalk.   The hotel was nice but it was in a run down area, although overall an okay neighborhood.  We felt safe walking in the area.

After making it to the riverwalk, we stopped off to have a drink and appetizer, however the service was not good, so we left within 15 min of arriving.  The ducks were hanging out close by on the river.

We continued down the path and came across a place that we decided to try.  The staff was nice and we ended up trying a pretzel loaf.  We had never had one and thought why not.  A pretzel loaf is basically a small individual sized pretzel baguette, cut open and included salami and cheese.  We folded it like a sandwich and dipped it in their mustard and cheese that came on the side. It was good.  Will have to keep it in mind for when we get home.

Next we continued to walk around and meet some great people.  It was also neat to be able to sit along the river, seeing the boats coming through the river and just relaxing enjoying the night.

After the riverwalk we came up to the street level, and came across a piano bar which was cool watching the two piano players battle it out on the pianos.

After seeing the piano players, we walked over to do a carriage ride downtown, with Sam (the horse) and Isis (pronounced e-sis).  Our lady driver was great!

After a long day, we went back to the room for some rest.

It’s been a couple days since I have last blogged. Sorry about that. When we left AZ, and stayed in Deming, NM.  Cute town that came about due to the wars.  By this day, both AZ and NM were amazingly warm for a March day.

The next morning we set off to the City of Rocks state park. A place where rocks were formed from volanic rocks, water, and wind.

There were some cool rocks and beautiful scenery. But truth be told, it seemed cooler when I looked it up but when we got there it was just okay.

Before leaving the City of Rocks, Michael got to give a new some water. Which was cool to see. (uploaded in videos).

After leaving the rocks, we drove through the Gila National Forest. Beautiful forest filled with trees, mountains, rivers, streams, etc.

It was a long drive through the national forest (2 hours) but amazing views and worth driving through.

About 3/4 of the way through we stopped off at Hillsboro to grab a bite to to eat. It was a cute small town that started because of mining. We ate at the Hillsboro cafe, an eclectic mix of of burgers and Mexican food that draws locals to come eat there often.

After getting full, we traveled into Las Crucas. We tried a local brewery as it was a long day.  The people there were nice and friendly. The place reminded us of the Pozo Saloon out in Santa Margarita, as they have concerts and can have up to 1400 people in the area.

Now we headed to an area close by that has a recycled Roadrunner that is huge. It was awesome to see thrown away items became art.

After a long day, we headed to El Paso, TX.  Due to how dirty the town felt, we only had a Boom Boom Shrimp appetizer at Bricktown and headed out. The appetizer was great though! And the people working here are wonderful!

We left full and got on the road. We stopped in Fort Hancock, and got some shut eye on our bed in the vehicle…