Crowne Plaza Hotel Pensacola-Grand Hotel, Fl

Pensacola... the show was good, the hotel was horrible.<br><br>For the record, Pensacola does not count as Florida. The panhandle is not Florida. I know Florida. Pensacola is Alabama light. <br><br>I couldn't even find a Publix nearby!<br><br>On to New Orleans!!!!! <br><br>:)<br>

De camino hacia New Orleans, paramos a visitar dos Parques Nacionales, el Big Lagoon, uno de los mejores parques en la costa de los USA, y el Tarkiln Bayou Park, caracterizado por las raras especies de plantas como algunas carnivoras.<br><br> On the way to New Orleans, we stopped to visit two national parks, Big Lagoon, one of the best parks on the coast of the USA, and Tarkiln Bayou Park, featuring the rare species of plants and some carnivores.<br>

... roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts and mozzarella cheese. Delicious! And for the main course mushroom and chicken pasta. Mhm....slept in a bed and it was wonderful. Torrential downpour the next morning. But clear skies after that on our way to Louisiana!!!

not good news to report today. I left pensacola FL this morning bound for Miami. Fate had another plan in store...5 or six miles east on I-10 traffic stopped cold. Uuugh...i hate that. Stop and go traffic and no lane splitting makes me cranky. Each time i have to stop theres a high chance of me losing my balance and falling over. The next thing that happened was the state troopers directed everyone off at SR 90, which parallels I-10 but goes thru the little towns and has ...

... West and Hemmingways house to see his 5 million cats. Oh, and one last thing: I always knew it would happen, just not this soon in life. I've met someone dumber than I. When i pulled up to the hotel I saw a dude on a BICYCLE. He was making a trip similar to mine only he started in St. Augustine FL and is bound for San Diego CA. on a bicycle.....he rode 180 miles today. Yep, it takes on kinds.<br><br>Keep the rubber side down-<br><br>RAH <br>

... familiar shaped dorsal fin broke the surface, followed by another, then two more. You wouldn&#8217;t flamin&#8217; read about it. A suitable level of smugness came over me. <br><br>I can talk to marine animals!!! Well ,the dolphins anyway. The Manta&#8217;s are from a different social scene and they&#8217;re very clique-y. The Loggerheads are just plain rude, cute but rude. They just ignored me point blank and swam away. I did manage to bond with a jelly fish as well, but ...

I met my good friend Mark in Gulf Shores to mark the bookend of my trip. We had a great time with his family doing the normal Gulf Shores things like lots of fishing, talking and whatnot. I did get a few pictures here, but at this ...

... fantastic museum...and FREE. All of them unique. We hit some back roads and coastal roads to experience the areas. Almost passed the Outlet Mall, but had a brochure saying "gelato." Thats one item that is impossible to pass up. The shop uses actual gelato spoons! MMM almost like being back in Italy!

I left Houston this morning around 5:30 am and spent the whole day driving. I went through Louisiana but took I-12 part of the way to avoid going through New Orleans because I have lived there, done that. Went through Mississippi and Alabama but did not stop there either because ...