Neotextus

We arrived in New Orleans just in time to catch in front of the first really big storm of the summer, a great opportunity to stay put and explore the delights of the city. And what amazing luck – we arrived in New Orleans just in time for the first weekend of Jazz Fest. We decided to skip the outdoor festival events because of the bad weather but we did catch some great live Jazz in the French Quarter.

We did brave the weather for a trip to the Bayous, and it was possible one of the most adrenalin filled days of the road trip so far. We flew in a four seater sea plane from Belle Chasse just ourside New Orleans for a guided tour of the city, the on to Kraemer in the heart of the Louisiana swampland for a much closer view of the crocodiles in the swamp, guided by a local Cajun tour guide. The thunderstorms moving through on the tour really added to the southern atmosphere in the swamp.

The food in New Orleans was amazing – I had the best cheese on toast with pear butter at Green Goddess and some really authentic white beans at the Gumbo shop. Topped it all off with coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

Leaving Louisiana, the call of Florida’s Emerald coast beckoned, and we decided to whisk through Mississippi & Alabama and make a bee-line for St. George’s Island, on Florida’s forgotten coast. We really fell in love with the sandy, white beaches and crystal clear green-blue sea on this tranquil island.

Wow, I can’t belive it has been over a week since I last posted. We have been through the amazing dunes in White Sands, then off for a great drive through cowboy county to the International UFO museum at Roswell (a little cheesy, but still fun).

Next we headed across the Texas pan handle to Fredericksburg, San Antonio (for the Alamo and river walk) before heading over to Austin. This whole area is so beautiful and the people are so friendly – Donna and I are really loving the Lone Star State.

Our first stop on arriving in Houston was to tour NASA’s Johnson Space Center – well worth the visit once you get past the Disney reception center. We took the tram ride to see the spacecraft simulators used for astronaut training and a real life Saturn V rocket.

Yesterday, we drove out to Galveston Island to give Becky and Daisy a good run on the beach, and they loved it. The island is a little run down, and many of the properties have not been repaired after the hurricane of 2008 – maybe it is just the recession, or maybe we have learnt enough to stop fighting mother nature on this one.

Heading east again today – should get to New Orleans tomorrow – we can’t wait!