Definitely a favourite stop. I took hundreds of pictures. Here are a few favourites.
Saturday, 21 May 2016
Graceland
Spent a night at Graceland RV Park. Major thunderstorms kept us up most of the night. Toured the mansion, airplanes and car museum. It was interesting to see where Elvis lived and the tour was narrated to give you history and details of the home and how he and his family spent their time there. There was a constant stream of tourists, can't imagine how much they rake in at that place! He and his parents and grandmother are burried here. There is a meditation garden which is quite moving.
Back on the highway that afternoon we stopped at Johnston City, Illinois. We stayed at the Arrowhead Lake Campground, which reviews refer to as a "hidden gem". It was, and the gentleman who manages the park, Danny, was the sweetest man. He gave us a great site which overlooked a beautiful meadow...private, and it was extremely reasonable at only $18 for the night! We have met soo many truly kind souls and good people on this trip.
This morning we headed back out and have landed at the Dayton, Ohio, KOA. This is our first KOA. Pricey!!! It's beautifully landscaped and the services and facility are top notch, BUT not necessary. The other sites we've experienced work just as well and you don't really need all the bells and whistles, especially when just staying overnight.
Thursday, 19 May 2016
New Orleans!
We LOVE New Orleans!!!!!! What a place!! We will definitely return for a longer trip.....a plethora or things to do, see, experience, very very rich in culture. And the food!!!! Off the hook! This was our favourite stop of our trip. I was too hung over to update the blog this am...had a very fun night at the spotted cat on Frenchman street listening to live jazz, the shotgun jazz band, super good! We bought 2 of their CDs. Now on the road to Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee!!! It's on the way home so we thought it was a must. Should be fun, going to stay at the Graceland rv park directly across the street from Graceland. Will update and upload pictures in time.
Sunday, 15 May 2016
On the road again...
Sadly we've decided to leave Naples tomorrow morning. We'd love to stay here forever! Looks like we'll be heading to New Orleans.
Friday, 13 May 2016
Naples photos
Drove past a group of borrowing owls!!! Adorable...there were about 6 of them, but this one was posing for the camera!
Naples Pier.
Sunset tonight.
Everglades photos
Baby American crocodile.
Most poisonous tree in the world, the Manchineel tree, yikes!
Canal.
Mucho mangroves.
Orchid.
Pine snake...not poisonous.
Another canal.
Egret...very common, see them constantly.
Large crocodile!
Many osprey...this one was feeding 3 babies!
Black vulture...similar to turkey vulture.
Alligator.
Red winged black bird.
We found these signs amusing and disturbing at the same time.
The Florida panther is found in the Everglades and we've seen signs like this here in Naples on our way out to Marco Island the other day as well.
Gator!
Naples!
We did end up taking a guided boat tour through the Everglades which was very informative and interesting. Turns out the alligators prefer fresh water and these canals are very brackish so we saw salt water crocodiles, birds, one snake...of the 28 different varieties in the area, and a manatee. It is extremely hot and humid this time of year. The benefit of this is that it is very quiet and there are not many tourists. Reasons being the bugs are bad, it is not that comfortable temperature wise and most of the birds fly North. We only spent one night there, but did enjoy it. Leaving the park there are several trails, however the boat guide recommended only one for the above reasons. This particular trail is on a boardwalk so the bugs are not as bad, and it is more open. We did get to see alligators on this trail and the scenery was beautiful. The ponds we're teaming with fish...extremely healthy environment. It was quite late in the day by the time we finished our site seeing. We decided to take the tamiami trail towards Naples. It is a nicer, more scenic drive then taking the somewhat faster highway. There are many air boat tour companies along the way, which we considered, however they were all closed at this point in the afternoon.
As we drove into Naples we were famished and decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner at a steak and seafood restaurant, Bill's! They had live entertainment.....the dude singing had amazing pipes and was singing anything from the Temptations and Motown tunes, to Prince! He was so animated and a great entertainer. Rog ordered the lobster special...two huge lobster and a cob of corn. I had the grilled swordfish. Excellent meal. We were not having any luck finding a state park in the area...the one close by was closed for renovations. They directed us to another park, however I wasn't able to reach anyone there. A search of the area located a private park nearby so we decided to give it a try...our last resort was going to be a Walmart, definitely not our preference. We pulled in and called the after hours number and a lovely lady, who lives in the park and manages it with her husband, came out to greet us and had us follow them to a site. They told us not to worry about anything as they could see we were pretty tired, and to just come see them at the office the next morning. I have to say...although these private sites seem to be a bit more commercial, not as private...it was very nice to have full hookups. No rationing of water, not worrying about having to go to a dump station to empty the septic. It is extremely quiet. This is their off season so there is barely anyone else around. We were given an crazy cheap rate to boot! So far we LOVE this area! The management, Kim and Al, are very solicitous. They gave us all kinds of tips on where to go and what to do in the area. The location is terrific as it's close to beaches, shops, whatever you need is a short bike, walk or drive...there's something very nice about that, having been off the beaten path at the last site. The bugs aren't bad here at all so you can actually sit out and enjoy and there is less humidity, it's very comfortable with nice breezes.
Yesterday we went to Marco island, only a 20 minute drive. It is a gorgeous area. We decided to check out Tiger Tail Beach. Now this is a beach! You wade across a lagoon to get over to it and it is breathtaking. The beach is powdery white sand, with tons of beautiful shells. The water was awesome, just the right temperature to cool off a bit, but very comfortable....we'd bob around for long stretches...and I didn't get cold! There were many birds, more osprey, we saw a pod of dolphins swimming by....we could have stayed there all night! We did head back for dinner and Rog barbecued some nice jerk chicken for us, fantastic day!
As we drove into Naples we were famished and decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner at a steak and seafood restaurant, Bill's! They had live entertainment.....the dude singing had amazing pipes and was singing anything from the Temptations and Motown tunes, to Prince! He was so animated and a great entertainer. Rog ordered the lobster special...two huge lobster and a cob of corn. I had the grilled swordfish. Excellent meal. We were not having any luck finding a state park in the area...the one close by was closed for renovations. They directed us to another park, however I wasn't able to reach anyone there. A search of the area located a private park nearby so we decided to give it a try...our last resort was going to be a Walmart, definitely not our preference. We pulled in and called the after hours number and a lovely lady, who lives in the park and manages it with her husband, came out to greet us and had us follow them to a site. They told us not to worry about anything as they could see we were pretty tired, and to just come see them at the office the next morning. I have to say...although these private sites seem to be a bit more commercial, not as private...it was very nice to have full hookups. No rationing of water, not worrying about having to go to a dump station to empty the septic. It is extremely quiet. This is their off season so there is barely anyone else around. We were given an crazy cheap rate to boot! So far we LOVE this area! The management, Kim and Al, are very solicitous. They gave us all kinds of tips on where to go and what to do in the area. The location is terrific as it's close to beaches, shops, whatever you need is a short bike, walk or drive...there's something very nice about that, having been off the beaten path at the last site. The bugs aren't bad here at all so you can actually sit out and enjoy and there is less humidity, it's very comfortable with nice breezes.
Yesterday we went to Marco island, only a 20 minute drive. It is a gorgeous area. We decided to check out Tiger Tail Beach. Now this is a beach! You wade across a lagoon to get over to it and it is breathtaking. The beach is powdery white sand, with tons of beautiful shells. The water was awesome, just the right temperature to cool off a bit, but very comfortable....we'd bob around for long stretches...and I didn't get cold! There were many birds, more osprey, we saw a pod of dolphins swimming by....we could have stayed there all night! We did head back for dinner and Rog barbecued some nice jerk chicken for us, fantastic day!
Wednesday, 11 May 2016
Everglades National Park
We left Long Key yesterday and are currently at the Everglades National Park. Beautiful here. Rog went to put the awning down after dinner last night and was swarmed by mosquitos!! It was totally insane...I had a flash back of the bass lake mosquito masacar from my childhood! Ha ha! No WiFi here....what's up with these parks ?! All good. We are heading out to inquire about a boat tour, want to see some alligators.
Sunday, 8 May 2016
Mile marker 88
A local recommended this restaurant, great ambience, terrific food...best so far! I had the tuna sashimi and Rog had the hog fish topped with a crab cake, in bernaise sauce, with 5 cheese macaroni!!!!! Yum yum yum!!! And that key lime pie that's literally EVERYWHERE in the Keys, we decided to try it here...claim to be the "best"....it was totally decadent!!!
some photos!
Cool art in Islamorada on front entrance to a hurricane shelter!
Beautiful Key West private residence.
Famous Green Parrot Bar...."the Parrot".
Southern most point of Key West.
Self explanatory!
Hemmingways residence.
Butterfly and nature conservatory.
Rog's first catch in front of our campsite...see those teeth! and this is a small barracuda!
Pan fried black grouper, yum!
Back to butterfly conservatory..these flamingos were hot to trot, ha ha! Lots of loud squaking by Rhet.....trying to impress Scarlett.
Higgs Beach, Key West, interesting history.
Our camping buddy, numerous daily visits.
Have seen the most birds directly out front of our site!
Friendly neighbourhood crab.
This Osprey was mesmorizing to watch...he and his partner were out here all day fishing! He looked straight at me when I came out to take some pictures and then went right back to hunting.
Rescued turtles! I must have taken a hundred shots...these are a few from my phone.
On our way out to snorkel.
Low tide.
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