Florida & the Gulf Coast, Apr 10-16
Mum and Dad came with us on a very long drive from Miami to New Orleans, taking in the Florida Keys, the Everglades and many Gulf Coast towns on the way. Fantastic weather made it a great vacation - plus we got to visit some family.
Leaving Miami for Homestead...
...where we stayed with Aunty Doris.
Our first foray into the Everglades.
Lunchtime at Islamorada in the Florida Keys.
Hemingway House in Key West.
Duval Street - where it all happens.
Margaritas in ... where else? ... Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.
Then down to Mallory Square to watch the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico.
Key West Lemonades in Sloppy Joe's, a former Hemingway hangout.
Leaving our guest house in Key West's Bahama Village.
Doing the tourist thing at the Southernmost Point.
Stopping for lunch in a beautiful garden on our way back up the Keys.
Driving through the Everglades on the Tamiami Trail, we saw gators galore.
Our first stop on the Gulf Coast: Fort Myers, where Mum gazes up at a giant Banyan Tree. Then on to Sarasota to spend the night.
Some sand at last, after getting lost in St Petersburg! Here I am on Clearwater Beach Island after breakfast at a Waffle House.
A quick tour of downtown Tallahassee - here's the New Capitol building - before dinner.
We spent the night in Florida's capital city, set among rolling hills, oak-canopied roads and old plantation homes.
Many of the houses in Navarre Beach were wrecked by last year's Hurricane Ivan.
A cup of tea in Pensacola's pretty downtown - the original settlement in Florida.
We reached Penny & Joe's in Magnolia Springs, Alabama, in time to watch another sunset - this time over Mobile Bay.
Then further along the Gulf Coast to Biloxi, Mississippi (casino boat in background).
Finally, Jackson Square in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Mint Juleps in the famous Pat O'Brien's courtyard then some trad jazz on Bourbon St.
