After a day of storms and getting updates about "Matthew", we had our concerns heading south, but locals assured us that we were okay. So into the storm we went. In fact, when we got down to Chokoloskee Island, they knew nothing about Matthew. We left around 8:45am heading first to Bradenton to the REAL De Soto National Memorial Park. We walked out of the film despising De Soto for the havoc he and his men wrought on the natives of southeastern United States. ...

When we came in yesterday, we saw a Bob Evan's Restaurant. Bob Evan's holds a special place in Bob's heart. His dad, Charlie, worked in one in Ohio in the 50's. To pay tribute to Charlie and satisfy our forever hunger pangs, we had breakfast. Andrew joined us. We raised our cups of coffee and toasted Charlie. After breakfast, we planned to explore St. Petersburg. Andrew and Liza were going to catch up with us along the way. First stop was Fort De Soto out on P...

We woke to a calm humid morning and were on the road at 7:45am heading to St. Petersburg FL. The road was two lanes and for the first hour we were heading east into the rising sun making it challenging to see and it was very hypnotic. We unfortunately had a scare. Bob dozed and we went four wheeling on the embankment. Someone was looking out after us. Bob got a handle on it and made a great recovery and we didn't even miss a beat, but our hearts were beating a m...

This was a very looong day. We left New Orleans at 7:11am and if we traveled the speed limit with no issues and no stops, we should arrive at East Point FL around 2:15pm. This was a four state day. Second State: Mississippi. There just happened to be a Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi MS, which was only 15 minutes off HWY 10. Biloxi has had it's share of challenges. First, Hurricane Camille in 1969, then, Katrina in 2005. Luckily, the beautiful beaches were not dama...

We arrived at the Pontchartrain Landing (Marina and RV Park) around 11am. Because we were only going to be New Orleans one day, we immediately hopped in the Beast and headed to the French Quarter right after we set up. We parked just off Frenchmen Street and walked into the French Quarter. It was hot. The temperature was 100 degrees with a humidy factor of 90. Since it wasn't lunch time, we walked up to Bourbon Street headed for the Hard Rock Cafe. (I collect ...