Day 135 - Tue 10 Dec 2019 - New Orleans (Updated)

In the morning we walk around the old French Quarter in New Orleans. We see many historic buildings with ornate wrought iron fencing on the second and third story balconies.

We learn that most buildings actually date from the Spanish period. The city was founded in 1718 by the French and was the capital of French Louisiana. In 1763 it was ceded to the Spanish under the Treaty of Paris. In 1803 it briefly reverted back to the French, then Napoleon sold it to the United States the same year. With this act Thomas Jefferson nearly doubled the size of the United States!

As we walk down, we see the partially collapsed (12 Oct 2019) building that was supposed to become the Hard Rock Hotel. Unfortunately this has caused all the old trolley trams in the area to be rerouted so we are not able to get a ride in one of those. Most remarkable were the Mardi Gras & voodoo shops.

We carry on to the Mississippi waterfront and spot a classic Mississippi steamer. We also see elements of the flood protection system that infamously failed during Hurricane Katrina on 29 August 2005.

All this walking is making us hungry so we head to Willie Mae's for some authentic Louisiana cuisine. We try some different flavours of Fried & Baked chicken, beans and rice. It's all finger licking delicious.

Even though we are stuffed, there is space for some classic French beignets from Cafe du Monde.

We see the word 'Acadian' re-appear in many guises. Some information panels describe how the Acadians settled here from Canada/Nova Scotia. What is being failed to mention is that they were deported by the British from Nova Scotia in the Great Expulsion of 1855 as we learned earlier on in the trip. La Louisiana was the name for the entire French land claim in North America and exteneded all the way to what is now Quebec, Canada. Over the years, the word 'Acadian' morphed into 'Cajun'. Those born in Louisiana afterwards were referred to as 'Creole' which means 'born in the new world' and has nothing to do with race. Today however, the words Acadian, Cajun and Creole have a much more recial and social economic connotation and as such are used selectively by different groups.

After the French sold Louisiana to the Americans the government worked hard to erase the French language and culture. It wasn't until Acadian soldiers were used as interpreters in France during WWII that the French heritage gained recognition.

Today: 29km - 1h20m

Total: 17,313km - 347h15m

Day 134 - Mon 9 Dec 2019 - Florida > Alabama > Mississippi > Louisiana

Another big drive crossing 3 state border lines. On the way we top up at a super petrol station: 15 rows with 4 double sided pumps = 120 pumps!!

Today: 494km - 6h34m

Total: 17,284km - 345h53m

Day 133 - Sun 8 Dec 2019 - Clock change

Unfortunately we have to say our goodbyes and get some serious driving time under our belt. We change our course to due west, across the Florida panhandle. On the highway Martijn spots a small alligator on the hard shoulder trying to make it’s way across the road! We gradually move from the swamp into more undulating territory. We stop for lunch in the Osceola National Forest and after 5 long hours we park up for the night in Chipley. We’re still just in Florida, but changed the clock an hour back to Central Time.

Today: 440km - 5h30m

Total: 16,791km - 339h18m

Another big update

Again lots of photos and narrative added:

Day 117 - Fri 22 Nov 2019 - Alligators!
Day 118 - Sat 23 Nov 2019 - The Florida Keys
Day 119 - Sun 24 Nov 2019 - End of a road
Day 120 - Mon 25 Nov 2019 - Navigating Miami
Day 121 - Tue 26 Nov 2019 - A house
Day 122 - Wed 27 Nov 2019 – The pets
Day 123 - Thu 28 Nov 2019 - The Beach
Day 124 - Fri 29 Nov 2019 - Petsitting
Day 125 - Sat 30 Nov 2019 - More petsitting
Day 126 - Sun 1 Dec 2019 - Last day petsitting
Day 127 - Mon 2 Dec 2019 - Flyboarding
Day 128 - Tue 3 Dec 2019 - Universal’s Island of Adventure
Day 129 - Wed 4 Dec 2019 - Kennedy Space Center
Day 130 - Thu 5 Dec 2019 - Another Rocket Launch
Day 131 - Fri 6 Dec 2019 – Jacksonville Beach
Day 132 - Sat 7 Dec 2019 - Day of fun

Day 132 - Sat 7 Dec 2019 - Day of fun

The kids have a whale of a time playing with each other. We get treated to a delicious seafood lunch as Safe Harbour. After dinner we head to the Seawalk for the Deck the Chairs festival of lights.

Today: 14km - 40m

Total: 16,352km - 333h48m

Day 131 - Fri 6 Dec 2019 – Jacksonville Beach

We have a relaxing day doing schoolwork, laundry, baking bread, watching TV and playing video games. We have a big Friday night pizza party courtesy of Janine.

Today: 22km - 45m

Total: 16,337km - 333h07m

Day 130 - Thu 5 Dec 2019 - Another Rocket Launch

We stayed local so that we can watch take 2 of the launch. We park up on a lay by on the causeway with and excellent view of the launch pad and the rocket assembly building we saw yesterday on the bus tour. Looking at the map and our position Martijn thinks the pad we can see is not the one that is going to be used for this launch. We talk to some other people that are also waiting for the launch but nobody seems to know. Just before launch time we walk up the flyover bridge and from there we can see the other launch pads. We can definitely see something on the other pads so we train the cameras there. At T - 0 we are proven right and watch a majestic launch. This is the launch we saw. We were hoping we'd be close enough to hear the roar as well but take-off is silent. Then finally after 1 min when the rocket is already far overhead the roar start rolling in. Based on the speed of sound we figure we were about 20 km away. Pretty awesome!!

After that we drive up to Jacksonville beach to stay with a friend from Martijn's previous work.

Today: 256km - 4h30m

Total: 16,316km - 332h20m