12/6
We’re back on the road. We left Sanford at around 9:00 am and arrived in Augusta at 2:00 pm. We did a little grocery shopping once we arrived because we were low on food. We drove by Augusta National Golf Course after the shopping. This is where they hold the Master’s Golf tournament, one of the most famous golf tournaments in the world. We drove up and tried to take a picture infront of the gate, but the security guard wouldn’t let us step out of the car. He said we could take a picture of the sign inside the car. He really emphasized, “inside of the car”! This was crazy, and I would be curious to know why the security is very strict. After our little outing, my mom and dad went to Planet Fitness to work out, and I decided to stay at the RV and exercise. We made shrimp salads for dinner and then watched the Lawless movie. Lawless is about 3 siblings who make a living by moon shining during the prohibition. The film is action-packed, informative, and includes many gory scenes. I enjoyed it because it kept you on your toes; you had little idea of what could happen next. I give it a solid 8/10 rating!
12/7
Once again, another travel day. We traveled from Augusta, GA, to Dothan, AL. We decided to travel a bit farther to see my great aunt and uncle, who live here in Dothan. We never see them because they live far away. Before we headed to their house, my dad and I got a workout at Planet Fitness. During that time, my mom walked the dogs and even found longhorn cattle that belonged to the campground owner. They said that raising cattle started as a hobby. It turned into a business for the meat ( lean like buffalo meat) and horn measuring competitions & breeding. Their heard counted 100 cows about. The oldest ones were the moms used for breading; they had the longest horns. We actually brought some; I’ll tell you how it tasted once we cook them! The young ones will be sent to the butcher by the time they turn two; apparently, it is the ideal age to turn them into tender steaks & ground meat. We then headed to their house. They were super friendly people, and their dog was super cute. The dog’s name is Harry, he looks like our dog Twiggy but a bit bigger, and he’s more of a mixed breed. After chatting, we left their house to eat at the country club, which had some of the better food we’ve eaten. The pistachio-crusted lamb was delicious, and it seemed that everyone enjoyed their food. I really enjoyed spending some time with my relatives, and I hope they visit us in Raleigh one day.
12/8
We are finishing our three travel trip to New Orleans today. We set out from Dothan, AL and drove a total of 6hrs to New Orleans, LA. We arrived at our French Quarter RV Resort. This RV resort is very unique because of its location in that, you are a 10 minute walk to the center of the French Quarter. We walked it many times. New Orleans is pretty and wonderful but there are some sketchy and ugly places as well. The French Quarter is nestled right along the Mississippi River. It’s the second nicest part of town in my opinion. The reason its called the French Quarter is self explanatory. It’s the original settlement of the French In the year 1718. That’s the reason why many of the streets names are either French town names or important French family names such as Bourbon street. The look of the houses are more Spanish than French because, after two fires at the end of the 16th century, the Spanish ( then owning New Orleans) took over building regulations and implemented fire retardant plaster and home design with a separate kitchen ( where the fires always started!) & a courtyard in the middle, between the kitchen and the main house. This evening, we had reservation at a popular restaurant named Cochon. They serve Cajun and Creole dishes. we shared a lot of appetizers such as the fried alligator bites, boudin balls, pork belly, bbq shrimp, head cheese, and their gumbo. Everything was very good but, my favorite was the head cheese.
12/09
XV This morning, we took a pleasant stroll down to the French Quarter with the pups heading to the one and only Café Du Monde for beignets and café au lait: Cafe Du Monde has been around for more than 150 years, and it started with one enslaved women trying to find ways to offer something similar to coffee when real coffee was scarce. At the time, enslaved people in New Orleans had Sundays off and could make their own money. This enslaved lady named Rose Nicaud created a recipe almost identical to the regular coffee. People were buying it like crazy, so she created the first coffee stand in the French Quarter and accumulated enough money to buy her own freedom along with the rest of her family’s freedom. This is the exact place where Cafe du Monde was established. We ordered our Beignets and while we were waiting, we were accompanied by some live jazz music just outside of the patio. After finishing our delicious beignets, We went back to the RV for a bit and then walked back to the French Quarter and visited some art galleries and a light store. We are expanding our house a little, so we need some art and light fixtures for the new addition.
We probably walked around for a good 3hrs looking at art and lights; I think I about passed out, but I somehow made it alive. We got back to the RV and got a quick workout at the RV’s gym, then we drove over to the not so busy part of town for a nice dinner at Jacques Imos. The head chef trained with Paul Prud’homme, the most famous Cajun chef. My expectations were already high, and they did not disappoint. The Louisiana-style BBQ shrimp was super tasty. They serve the shrimp with the heads on to add more flavor. Another thing to mention is that Louisiana’s BBQ shrimp isn’t actually shrimp on the BBQ. Their idea of BBQ shrimp is a sauce that consists of cream, butter, and worcestershire sauce. I enjoy their style, and I would not hesitate to order this again. I really enjoyed the gumbo with a scoop of potato salad and rabbit, it’s very unusual to me, but it ended up being good. The waitress and staff were very friendly, and they even gave us a complimentary dessert. This was another excellent restaurant In the books.
12/10 *
Today, we will be getting fat. We try to do food tours in different cities with different cooking styles, flavors, and the history of their food. We will be trying Louisiana-style food, also known as cajun and creole cuisine. Boudin is a trendy menu item in New Orleans. It consists of pork, sometimes chicken or pork liver, rice, and seasonings! We tried the pork and rice style boudin during the tour, and it was decent. I much prefer the fried boudin balls we had at a restaurant named Cochon! Our food tour guide explained how there are more Italians in Louisiana than anywhere else in the U.S. She said there are some fantastic Italian restaurants in the area. We didn’t get the chance to eat at any of them, but I did try a muffuletta. Muffuletta is an Italian sandwich consisting of three meat types, 2 kinds of cheese, and homemade olive salad. I loved the bread, the meats, the cheeses, and the olive salad. Which all together created an excellent, fresh, and tasty sandwich. We then headed to three restaurants. They served crab stuffed beignets, chargrilled oysters, gumbo, and jambalaya. The chargrilled oysters were my favorite because of how they prepared them. They add cheese, little breadcrumbs, and the main ingredient… the oyster. You shuck the oyster, add the parmesan, sprinkle some breadcrumb, and smack it on a grill. You then get this yummy cheesy oyster. We stopped by a candy shop for some good pralines. The cool thing is that the older woman behind the counter wasn’t feeling the best, so I helped her do some tasks at the shop. I took the trash for her and moved the trash can. She was super friendly and even gave me some extra treats. This has been my favorite food tour we’ve done because of the guide, food, and information we learned along the tour.
We also did a Voodoo tour. It was a haunted tour about pirates, ghosts, and Voodoo dolls. I don’t believe in this, and almost everyone doesn’t, so I wasn’t that interested in this tour to begin with. I got very bored, but I learned that everyone had to be baptized Catholics to live in New Orleans, even the enslaved people. They all believed in the Voodoo religion in Africa, so they had to practice Voodoo in secret. It became somewhat of a taboo. This is how Voodoo started to become, in the mind of non-Africans, this sort of scary black magic craft when it is a straightforward religion. After the tour, we needed somewhere to go for dinner at 11:00 pm. We walked down Bourbon street and found a little pizza joint. Bourbon street is packed on weekends with drunkies, psychos, and people on segways holding snakes. People were throwing beads necklaces from the bars galleries. It was most definitely a sight.
12/11 *
We visited the New Orleans School of Cooking. They offer hands-on or tasting classes. We were forced to do a tasting because I’m not 18. In New Orleans, you can’t do hands-on cooking classes because of the open containers of alcohol in the room. I still enjoyed watching the chef cook and eating what she made. We were about 25 of us in a room with tables and a kitchen. We met a few people. We met these people who are from Ecuador. They had little knowledge of American food and Louisiana-style food. They were super friendly, and my mom helped them understand what the chef was doing. Will we would talk, the chef prepared gumbo, jambalaya, pralines, and bread pudding. Everything was good, especially the bread pudding. I didn’t learn too much, but she did tell us what makes a dish Cajun or Creole. Cajun and Creole make the same dishes, but Cajun cuisine doesn’t include tomatoes in their recipes. Creole cuisine uses tomatoes and okra to make their dishes. I prefer Creole cuisine compared to Cajun, but it’s all preference. Later that night, we listened to some live jazz on Frenchman Street. This street has become the “New” Bourbon Street of Music. We sat at this outdoor bar patio and listened to a band play some pretty good Jazz, in my opinion.
12/12 *
Today was our Garden District tour in New Orleans. The Garden District is 16 blocks by 6 blocks, separated from the French quarter by a large street named Canal St. New Orleans and Savanah are very similar due to the city squares, layout, and the live oaks. We started off by visiting the Lafayette Cemetery #1, which is closed to the public. It needs a lot of repairs & unless you have a loved one buried there or you are filming a movie (both able to get special permission for entrance), we can only look through the main iron gate. Cemeteries in New Orleans are highly unique because the tombs are above ground. After all, most New Orleans is below sea level, making the dirt swamp-like and unusable for burial. Before cemeteries, they would bury people in swamps or rivers, making it impossible to keep track of the dead. I learned that this was very ineffective because New Orleans buried alive people due to the ineffectiveness of checking vitals. Many alive people ended up being the alligator’s dinner. People were buried inside the tombs with bells attached to their hands and toes to stop this big problem. The nighttime cemetery guard would listen for the bells during his shift (where the graveyard shift expression comes from), and if he heard any, he would alert the relevant people to free the person. Cemeteries permitted the people to keep track of where the dead bodies were buried, allow identification, and keep their loved ones safe. The only con was that 120 people were buried in one tomb. You might ask, how do they fit all those people. First, they open the tomb, then use a 10ft pole to push an old and decomposed body into a receptacle that leads to a platform under the original resting ground of that person, after, they place the newly dead body onto the resting ground until there’s another dead body to replace them. Fun fact, after 1969, all movies in New Orleans that used a cemetery backdrop used Lafayette Cemetery #1.
Angie, our guide, told us how the Americans purchased Louisiana from the French, also known as the Louisiana Purchase, in 1803. When the Americans arrived from the North, they didn’t like what they saw. The houses were not to their taste, too close to one another, separated with smelly streets, and surrounded by swamps.
Mrs. Livaudais, the wife of one of the original French settlers, had a massive plantation. She decided to cut a parcel off her plantation to create an area specifically catered to the Americans. Americans wanted to have larger parcels with gardens & some curb appeal, hence the name garden district. There were 4 houses with their garden per block, and beautiful mansions started being built by 1850.
The style of the houses was very different, going from the Second Empire to Italianate, to Greek revival, and others. Most of the homes, however, had balconies, galleries ( which differed from balconies in that it is more extensive and is supported by columns), huge doors/ oversized windows, and very tall ceilings ( minimum of 12 feet) to allow the air to circulate and cool the house down in the horrible heat of the summer in Louisiana. People would gather in the galleries for most of the summer to catch some breeze from the river and even sleep on it below nettings. The galleries were adorned with iron lace, and sometimes the front gate iron pattern would match the design. There were also some Romeo spikes on the top of the columns for the families who had daughters and were worried about boys trying to climb up the columns and try to come secretly inside the house to court them.
We saw plenty of mansions. These houses have been restored to their original outside style, and though the owners can do whatever they want on the inside of the house, the outside is protected by law and cannot be tampered with. There are a few exceptions like this one. The pink house was owned by a lady. During the civil war, union soldiers kicked her out of her own house, and they took over and made it their own home. When the owners retired to their beautiful home. They were greeted with a wallless house. The soldiers had stripped this house to only the studs, so the owners had to restore and rebuild from scratch.
She also mentions that Louisiana had only won one war and was very proud. They won the Battle of New Orleans in 1812 against the British because of a French pirate named Jean Lafitte. Jean Lafitte recruited many of his pirate friends and created a pirate army. Louisiana was short of soldiers, so the pirate army helped them succeed and defeat the British. We loved our tour guide, so we invited her to dinner. Tonight, we would be dining at Commander’s Palace. We asked our tour guide because she did such a great job. Commander’s created Cajun and Creole. They’ve had famous chefs work there, such as Paul Prud’homme and Emeril Lagasse. The restaurant interior was like an upscale restaurant. It had the chandelier lighting and the dressed-up staff. We were required to wear polos or blazers with long pants. The restaurant was huge, we sat upstairs. The food was so so. The turtle soup was finished with sherry, and I think they put too much in all of ours. It was too much alcohol, and it burned your throat. The gumbo was good, but it did not compare to my dad’s. The quail and venison were the best things we had. The taste, texture, and presentation were splendid. The food’s price is not worth it, but the experience is worth it. I give it a 7/10.
12/13 *
We are packing up and heading to Mobile, Alabama! We drove through 3 states lines in 2.5 hours: Louisiana, Mississippi & Alabama. We arrived at Maeher State Park, site #19. Well, we will call that one a find! It is gorgeous, right by the water & as soon as we are done setting up our camp, we are greeted by an alligator, in the water, right in front of us! I sent the drone up for a few quick shots of him. He was huge, so we decided not to leave the dogs outside unattended! Twiggy is the perfect appetizer size!
12/14 *
We went on a little stroll in the morning. We walked in Daphne on a trail that took us to the beach. I got some beautiful drone footage. The dogs were exhausted, so we dropped them off and went to the USS Drum and USS Alabama. The USS Drum was an active U.S military submarine stationed at Pearl Harbor. It was in service for roughly five years. We explored the sub, and it was crazy. The little room you have, all the parts that make this thing run, and the big torpedo launchers. The USS Drum was used for War patrol; the 72 member crew sank 15 ships and earned 12 battle stars. We then made our way to the USS Alabama. This was an active U.S military battleship for roughly five years. It was stationed in the Northern Atlantic during WWII; its mission was to shoot down kamikaze planes and other air enemies. It’s like a military cruise ship. It housed 2,500 troops, and they all had room, and apparently, they all had a good time living with their friends. Besides all the commotion and war outside, the ship’s inside was bustling; they had barbers, leather repair shops, a game room, and other fun and exciting rooms. This sparked my interest in war and ships, so we decided to watch the hunt for Red October tonight because it was about a sub hunting the Red October.
12/15 *
We’re moving again. It’s about a 4hr drive east of Mobile, Alabama. We arrived at the campground at 2:00 pm and hooked up. The water at the campground was contaminated, so we used bottled water. We left and got a Chick-fil-a and drove 30 minutes to 30a beaches. This panhandle part has beautiful white sand beaches with 2-10 million dollar houses. The town had tons of little boutiques and restaurants. It seems like a beautiful place to retire or spend your winter in Florida. After the little outing, we worked out at the campground while my mom prepared dinner. Once we were done working out, dad grilled some chicken, and we had a relaxing night.
12/16 *
We left early for Tampa. We drove 6 hours from Panama City Beach to Tampa. We arrived at the campground at 5:00 pm. My dad called a friend that he had done business with. He lives in Clearwater, FL, and has a hanger with two planes. We got dressed up because we would be going out to dinner with him. He showed us his hanger at the St. Petersburg airport. It’s very spacious; he had a fast prop plane and a loft on the second floor. He also has a jet that’s currently in maintenance. He offered to take me up in the plane, and of course, I said yes. I was just expecting a tour of his aircraft, but no, he offered to take me up; I was wowed. We flew up to about 1,200 feet and 180 knots. We did a VFR flight around the airport and landed right back near the hanger. VFR means you will be using your visual flight instruments to fly instead of your aircraft’s instruments. We went to a steakhouse right after and talked and ate dinner.
12/17 *
Today, we visited Lego land. This place is a 10yr olds dream. I wish I would’ve done it when I was young because I used to be a die-hard lego builder but now, I’m not as into lego. There is still plenty of stuff to see and do, even if your not into legos. We watched a water sports show. We did four roller coasters created for kids, and of course, we visited the huge lego shop. I loved looking at the full-sized lego builds. As I’ve gotten older, I understand how complex and challenging building some of these structures can be. If you are familiar with brick masters. I saw the top three builds from last season’s showing. Brick masters are people who can build incredible legos with no directions but with their imaginations. We stopped at the Lego store and bought a Starwars lego. It seemed relatively easy, and Starwars is a good film series. My dad and I actually have a lego Bugatti that we still haven’t finished. I got it three years ago, and it’s still halfway done. This lego is super complex, and you will mess up a few times during the building process
12/18 *
This morning, my dad and I went to work out while my mom cleaned the RV. My Aunt’s parents who live in Tampa are coming over tonight to talk and go out for dinner, so my mom wanted the RV all sparkly and clean. After our workout, I looked and tried to find a place to eat lunch and spend some time before dinner with our guests. I found Ybor City; this city is nestled in Tampa. Ybor City was built and populated almost entirely by Cuban immigrants. We figured that it would make sense to grab lunch at a Cuban restaurant and explore a bit of the city. We ate at this beautiful Restaurant. The Restaurant’s name was Columbian Restaurant. Don’t let the name fool you. It has the Original Cuban Sandwich and was named “Best Sandwich In Florida” by Food & Wine Magazine. The Restaurant was bustling when we walked so we decided to take out. While we were placing our order, The waiter managed to sneak us past that 45 minute wait time. We all ordered Cuban sandwiches because that’s what we came for. Our waiter was friendly, so he gave us a complimentary bread pudding and a free book about the Restaurant’s history. The dessert was excellent, probably one of the best desserts I’ve had. We chatted with the waiter, he told us how the Restaurant was once a coffee shop. He also shared that this Restaurant stretches the whole block because it has 15 rooms to seat up to 1700 people. After lunch, we then walked around Ybor City. While we were walking around, we stopped at this store named Dysfunctional Grace. They sell Taxidermies, real skulls, shrunken heads, and actual human fetuses. It’s super crazy and scary. All of this stuff is owned by a private collector. He has this shop and put some of these on display. Most of the items are real and not for sale. He does have a few fake pieces. He only sells only a few things from his collection. When you walk into the store, you are blown away. You see all of these heads, fetuses, and other crazy things. The actual baby fetuses were scary. It almost feels illegal to see one of these shrunken heads or dead babies. We stayed about 20 minutes inside, and I was relieved when we made our way back to the car.
After the drive home, we cleaned the RV some more for our guests, my Aunt’s parents, who live in the Homosassa area. They met us at the RV, we gave a tour to them, and we chatted for about an hour. We had a reservation for 6:00pm at Beechwood Seafood Kitchen & Bar. The food was decent. The oysters with the mignonette were fantastic. I also ordered tuna crackers, but they weren’t as good as the oysters. The taste of the tuna crackers was not so good. We said our goodbyes and then ended the night. It’s funny how the day went from relaxing to rushing around.
12/19*
Today was exciting. We got the chance to swim with the manatees. Manatees are like the cows of the ocean because they are lazy and eat seagrass. Researchers have found that Manatees are related the closest to Elephants and Hyrax. They believe that Manatees have evolved from wading, plant-eating animals. Not only are they lazy, but they are also huge. A full-size adult can stretch 10 feet and weigh 800 – 1200 pounds. We booked our tour through River Ventures. It’s a company that’s located right next to the Crystal River. This river is known as the Manatee Capital of the World. So once we arrived, they showed us a brief video on proper Manatee etiquette.
We then put on the provided wetsuits because the water was 72.4 degrees. Manatees come to Florida in the winter because the water temp stays above 68 degrees. The video explained how Manatees are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. You cannot touch, disturb, or change their course of movement. For example, a manatee swims up to you, you must not move and wait for him to go along. The good thing about Manatees is that they are gentle as can be. Manatees are also known as gentle giants because they move super slow, have no teeth, and love humans. We took a bus ride down to the lake. We hopped on one of their boats. There were about 8 people in our group today. Our Guide and Captain did a great job finding Manatees for us to swim with. We found a little residential area with three Manatees. We found a Mom and her baby eating grass, going up for air, and swimming. It truly is a fantastic sight to watch them do all this. We even saw a Manatee with Propellor scars. Manatees like to swim next to Boat engines because they enjoy the shiny reflection the propellor gives. So, the boat starts up, and a manatee is hit. They don’t die because of this, but it can’t feel too good. After watching them, we got back in the boat and headed back to the docks.
We were freezing at this point, and we weren’t enjoying this so much. Once we arrived at the starting point, we changed back into our regular clothes and went to a local spit for lunch. The local spot on this island is called the Freezer. They serve seafood that is fresh and yummy. I got a pound of shrimp for 11 dollars, that’s an excellent price, and my mom and dad shared crab legs, clam chowder, and a pound of shrimp. After lunch, we drove home and got ready to pick up my brother from the airport. My brother will be joining us from early Christmas to the end of the trip. We picked him up at 10:00pm and then drove to the RV and went to bed.
12/20*
We are leaving Tampa and headed to Fort Myers. We packed up and headed out. While we were exiting, we met another Newmar Coach owner. He also has a Facebook group post for the Newmar Coaches. People can ask questions, advice, and other things related to Newmar. He was super friendly and even helped us out with one of the problems we were currently experiencing. We had a short drive to Fort Meyers; that’s always likable. The reason why we’re driving to Fort Meyers is that the RV needs to be serviced. We decided it would make the most sense to include a service while in Florida.
We parked outside the gate; we had not booked a campground because we wanted to be first in line for the next day. We only had 1-2 days to spare down here. After we parked the RV, we drove to Sanibel Island. Sanibel Island is a popular island town. Many Floridians will drive down and spend a week down here. We only had a few hours, so we drove around the island and walked on the beach. We brought the dogs with us to the beach. They loved it but us; not So much. The number of bugs biting us was horrible. We needed up leaving the beach with over 20 bites each. It was awful. We decided to leave the island and find somewhere to eat. We settled on Dixie’s Fish Company, located in Fort Meyers Beach. The food was so good, I had a BLTAE add shrimp. My brother had peal N eat shrimp, and my mom and dad had salads. Everyone said their food was good, and I believe it. Great restaurant to eat at, and the ambiance is good as well.
12/21 *
This morning, we woke up very early. We had to move the RV to the service center. Today is the day the RV is getting serviced. A few things need to be checked out and fixed on the bus. While the bus was being serviced, we toured a 1.5 million dollar RV. It was impressive but very similar to ours at the same time. After the tour, we decided to go shopping because we will be heading to the Everglades on the 30th. We purchased water shoes, expedition pants for my brother, and slides for the Key West trip. We decided to go for a walk with the dogs. The trail had lots of palm tree leaves due to the increase in high winds that day. Being good civilians, my brother and I cleaned up and had some fun doing so. After the walk, we grabbed chipotle and a Starbucks and then picked up the RV at the service center. After we finalized with the workers, we drove to the campground about 30 minutes away from the RV dealer. Once we settled in, my mom made her famous turkey burgers. My dad was the one who grilled them, and we all enjoyed them very much outside in the warm weather.
12/23 *
We’re going to Key West or the southernmost part of the U.S. The drive is about 5hr through the Everglades and the outskirts of Miami. We decided to rent a house and take the car instead of driving the big bus down. On the way, we passed the outskirts of Miami Airport, and I saw some planes. We made a stop in Islamorada because that’s where my mom and dad got married. We had lunch there and visited Casa Morada, the exact place their wedding took place. We arrived in Key West at 5:00 pm; the rental was next to the lighthouse and Ernest Hemingway’s house. My mom made a great choice because the location was perfect. We walked to dinner on Duval Street, the restaurant was not busy at all, but the food was delicious. I had the Carbonara with shrimp. The flavor and sauce made the whole dish. It was so good, I could honestly eat that every day. It was late after dinner, so we went straight back to the rental and fell asleep.
12/24 *
This morning, we picked up the bikes. My dad was not with us because he had left early this morning to fish. He loves to fish, especially bonefish. The Bikes are very convenient, and I highly suggest renting out bikes when coming down to Key West. We biked down to a French Café for breakfast. I had a croissant sandwich, my mom had the same, and my brother had a breakfast crepe. After breakfast, we biked to the Southernmost part of the U.S. We tried to take a picture without the buoy, but the line was so long, so we took a photo of us next to the water. After, we biked to the marina and saw Tarpon and Manatees. They feed the Tarpon here at 4:00 pm every day. We then biked to a bridge so I could do some plane spotting. Key West Int’l Airport is a fairly busy airport with 225 departures per week. Its significant airlines are Delta, United, American, and Jet Blue. Due to the runway size and low demand, it has no service to any international destination. We biked back to the rental. On the way to the house, I saw a yellow Ferrari; it was super clean. We chilled while my mom went to pick up my dad. Unfortunately, he didn’t catch anything, but he had 7 opportunities. He’s trying to fly fish, so it’s more challenging than usual; Props to him. All four of us had not eaten, so we went to the Bahama Village Market. Several years ago, it was an open-air market, but now it is an outdoor full-service restaurant. The food was good. We then visited the 0 Mille marker for US1. We walked around some shops in the afternoon; my brother and I got bored, so we went back and chilled at the rental. My mom and dad stayed out looking at art and shops for some time. We met them at Mallory Square for Christmas Eve pictures. We wore our Christmas hats and watched the sunset. Once we got back, we got ready for our Christmas Eve dinner. The Restaurant was nice, but the food was overpriced, and it was a set menu. I’m not saying it was terrible, but it wasn’t the best. I still enjoyed our Christmas Eve night!
12/25 *
This morning was exciting; waking up on Christmas morning is still something I look forward to each year. This year, I asked for a new phone and a new Alexa. I already got the phone because we left a month before Christmas in the RV. I was still very excited when I saw the stockings on Christmas morning. I’ve always loved the stocking stuffers my mom gets. She usually gives clothes, chargers, some sort of candy, and gift cards. This year, my stocking stuffer had Ferrero Rocher, two shirts, an iPad charger, and gifts cards. My brother had very similar gifts, but he also got AirPods. He lost his AirPod Pros two years ago in the plane seat. He was sleeping during the plane flight. His left AirPod fell inside his seat, and we never got it out. If you are ever on a Delta flight, check your seat because you have the chance to win a free AirPod. After we opened our stockings, We made our way to the marina, where we would be spending a few hours having fun on the water. Before that, we required a quick bite to eat. We decided to eat at this Columbian restaurant. It was good, nothing special, and it got the job done. After lunch, we then drove to the marina. Our captain was relatively young, and he knew what he was doing. We first did some fishing and then went to a sand bar. The water was frigid, which was surprising; we only went waist-deep in the water, which was already a little too much. It was worth it because we walked to this beach in the middle of the ocean. We explored the beach for 15 minutes. I found a rope swing that was broken. I tried to use it but didn’t get very far with that. We walked back to the boat and then started cruising our way back to the marina. We watched the sunset on the boat; That’s always a pretty view. We then got back to the marina, said goodbye, and headed to the movies. We were hungry again, so we went to a Mediterranean cafe near the regal theatre. We then watched the movie, this was the Kingsman movie. The Kingsman is a CIA-type organization, and in this film, They explain how they become the Kingsman. This was another great day in Key West.
12/26 *
Today is our last day in the Keys. Earlier in the trip, we visited the Southernmost part of the U.S. but didn’t capture a photo with the buoy. The reason for this was because of the line. Today at around 10:00 am, we decided to try again. The line was still long, but we figured today would be the only chance. We only sat in line for 20 minutes; if the people in line were picture gurus, you might be waiting a bit. We snapped two photos and bilked back to the rental. My parents wanted to go back to Duval Street and do some shopping, my brother and I were over it, so we just sat at home and waited for them to return. The afternoon was very laid back, and I enjoyed that. We had a dinner reservation for 8:00 pm at Bagatelle’s second floor, outdoor patio. I ordered the beef carpaccio and roasted chicken. This was accompanied by the incredible views and live music from the street. Both dishes had a fantastic taste.
12/30 *
Today, we went on an Everglades expedition. The Everglades National Park is a wetland preserve on 1.5 million acres. The 1.5 million acre wetland is located on the southern tip of Florida. The Everglades consists of marshes, pine flat woods, and mangroves. The Everglades is a complicated area. Some of the Everglades are covered in grass, trees, or water. If you see more trees, that means the water in that area is high and has suitable living conditions for the tree. If you see grass, that means the water is low. If you happen to see no grass, that is due to the increase in water levels causing plants to drown. The Everglades is also home to many unusual species. You will find Alligators, Manatees, Sawfish, Florida Panthers, Leatherback Turtles, and maybe a Python. Many people visit the Everglades, and there are a few ways to experience this vast wetland. The most popular method is to take an airboat and cruise over the grassy marsh.
We decided to do a bundle of activities through Wild lime Tours. They offered a wet walk and two boat rides. We started the morning off with a wet walk. We wore our expedition pants and their provided wet shoes. The hike lasted about 45 minutes. The Everglades were very muddy, but the water was cold and felt good in that Florida heat. The experience was incredible, and we even saw an Alligator trail. We grabbed lunch at a local restaurant and headed to the last activities. We drove to Everglade City and hopped on a Skiff boat, and cruised the mangroves. We saw the movement of a Sawfish but not the fish itself. You can only see this endangered species in two places, the Everglades or Australia. Our boat captain took us through a secret passageway through the mangroves. It was very narrow and wholly hidden, making it even more of a thrill. drugs were a problem here in the Mangroves because of the hidden location just like the one we entered. To top the mangrove thrill, we had about 5-7 dolphins jumping and cruising behind our boat for several minutes. I think we all really enjoyed the Skiff boat. After the boat ride, we ate some smoked fish and fish roe at the local bbq joint. The fish was excellent, and the roe was different and not at all like sushi roe. We then drove to the final part, which was the airboat. The airboat is a boat that uses a plane engine to power itself. This boat is perfect for the Everglades since the engine isn’t in the water at all. We visited an old Indian village during our excursion. This isn’t your typical Indian Village; this tribe built their Village on Everglade Marsh using wood and local resources many years ago. The Village is still standing and is often visited by tourists, and is maintained by the Indian family. I also saw a few planes in the sky and looked at some ginormous alligators. My favorite excursion out of the three was the airboat because it is a rare type of activity, and it’s a different and overall better way to explore the Everglades. Wild lime Tour group puts together a wonderful tour, and I recommend it.
12/27
We left Key West today. It’s time to head back to Fort Meyers, pick up the RV, and head to Naples. We have a few more adventures before we make our way back home on the 6th of January
Dec 28 – Jan 2
We decided to spend our last few days in Naples, Florida. We booked a very nice campground with pickleball courts, a pool, workout room, and events. To stay in the resort, you need a class A motorhome. Class A motorhomes are generally big and spacious compared to the other classes. The campground was beautiful; we played pickleball most days and swam a lot. The RV resort allows people to buy RV lots. These lots start at 300k for your 45-foot motorhome. They keep a few lots for travelers who stop by just like us, but they’re hoping to sell all the lots at one point. While in Naples, we went fishing, looked at some 25 million dollar houses, and spotted some cool cars. We visited Marco island; Marco island is very wealthy and a great place to visit. We spent New Years’ at the campground; the RV resort had a party, so we joined in and hung out for a while and then went to our next-door neighbors and stayed until 2:00 am. Our 5 days in Naples went by incredibly fast, and we were off to our final location of the trip. The Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, FL.
My last attraction on the list was the Kennedy Space Center. The Kennedy Space Center is where NASA and SpaceX launch their rockets. Blue Origin plans to launch its Orbital Reef rocket here in the upcoming years. There are many attractions to visit and experience at the Space Center. We unfortunately didn’t get to see one of their rocket launch but there are many more in the schedule. NASAs next big mission is human exploration to Mars; The project name is Artemis 1. Artemis 1 is a series of complex missions that will enable mars exploration for humans. The Kennedy Space Center has tons of exciting activities. We decided The first activity I chose was the talk with Astronaut Mike Foreman. This activity has just returned due to COVID, so we’re pretty lucky with our timing. He shared his experiences working on the ISS. He was part of two successful missions to the ISS. He told us about the pilot flying the shuttle and made a joke about the little work needed to fly the shuttle; people were very engaged and entertained by him. Not only was he funny but he was very informative. After, we took their tour bus around the complex. We passed by the rocket assembly building on our way to the other space center. The additional space center is an add-on of the big one but has a viewing area and a giant rocket hanging on the inside. We explored inside, we got to experience a reenactment of a shuttle launch through a replica of a previously used control room. After we were done, we hopped back on the bus and drove back to the main building. We then visited Space Shuttle Atlantis. This is the main attraction in the center; Atlantis is housed In the middle of the multi-level room and suspended at an angle for excellent viewing. The Atlantis was the first reusable space shuttle. It was very successful throughout its 25 years and 33 space missions. Our final activity was the rocket simulator launch. It’s simply impossible to create a rocket launch without being in a rocket, but NASA did their best. You first enter the rocket, seated with 20 other people. The seats then tilt you back, and the whole rocket tilts with you. The computer then starts a countdown until launch. Once you launch, you’re traveling very fast and soon out of the earth’s atmosphere. Like I said, you can’t experience any of the G’s or force acting upon your body. It’s a neat and exciting experience if you visit the Kennedy Space Center.
We are now wrapping up our Florida & Lousianna trip and heading home for 3 weeks. We have just spent 120 out of 150 days in the RV. We have now visited 14 states out of 50 in the RV. I’m excited about our next trip out west, but it’s going to be a long few months, and I’m definitely going to like being home for the summer.
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