9-21-24
Departure from Bielefeld at 5.30 am. The drive with the rental car went very well and we were on time at the airport in Frankfurt. We spent the time until departure in the Lufthansa lounge. The flight was very pleasant, we left a little late but still landed on time in Washington.
Shortly before the onward flight to New Orleans, it was announced that the flight had been canceled. Big chaos and we were stranded in Washington. The airline gave us a hotel voucher and we were rebooked. Tomorrow we are supposed to continue to New Orleans via New York. Hopefully it will all work out.
9-22-24
An early start to the day, our replacement flight to New Orleans (via Newark) departs at 8:30 am. The connection in Newark is also on time and so we are in BIG EASY at 3 pm local time. And oh wonder, our suitcases have made it with us
The air and temperature in the sauna is humid and steamy
But no one should imagine that we are here for pleasure, so we check into the hotel, settle in, shower, finally change into fresh clothes and off we go.
Bourbon Street, what do you imagine it to be? A party mile. And it is, especially as there are thousands of football fans in town today, lots of green Eagles jerseys between black and gold Saints shirts, a blast of air-conditioned air and live music coming out of every pub. And the atmosphere was great, even though the local Saints had narrowly lost in the last minute. Actually, we would have been in the stadium or in the immediate vicinity, so no wonder they lost. So!
We wanted to take a quick look at the Mississippi before we went out for dinner… Without further ado, this turned into a two-hour paddle steamer trip including a Creole dinner buffet on the Natzchez down the Mississippi and back. At the end, around 9 pm, we took a bicycle rickshaw back to the hotel and after an hour the lights literally went out on us
9-23-24
We are awake before the alarm clock and get ready for the excursion. Gray Line offers an Oak Alley Plantation & Swamp Tour, which we had already booked from home. 8:45 am at the Lighthouse by the Natchez dock. A good hour in the frozen bus with a very well-informed guide, we as shivering Europeans sit with our fortunately packed rain jackets next to summery dressed fellow travelers
The plantation is now a foundation; the last owner wanted to preserve the beautiful estate for posterity after her death in 1972. She succeeded. Some of the original pieces of furniture from the family that built the house in the 1830s are still in the rooms, and some have been added from the period. What doesn’t sound so old to us now, both the building itself and the furniture, is very old for the USA with its relatively short history.
We continue on to the swamp tour: in a small private sanctuary adjacent to a national park, a witty guide shows us how well he has trained „his“ alligators, he feeds them and they practically make little men in the water. We also see a few groups of wild boar and three cute-looking raccoons.
It was definitely very entertaining.
Back at the hotel – first a break, but hunger drives us out again.
On the recommendation of our receptionist, we had dinner today at Oceana on the corner of Bourbon and Conti Street – very Creole, very tasty. Now it’s 9 pm local time and we are … tired
9-24-24
Sleep in first. No alarm clock. Vacation. We can’t pick up the rental car until 11 a.m. anyway, so no stress this morning.
And so the reception desk organizes a cab for us to Alamo at the airport around 9:30 a.m., where we pick up a red Toyota Corolla Cross after some paperwork. We head north on the I-10 via Baton Rouge, take a break for a snack shortly after midday and change to Highway 61N, the Blues Trail. We soon find the first markers on detours before arriving in Vicksburg at around 5 pm. Our accommodation for one night, the Corners Mansion Bed & Breakfast, turns out to be a very lovingly furnished brick house from the 1870s; Macy and Joe are great hosts. We are dog-tired and call it an early night, the heat is intense here in the south, and a cooling thunderstorm in the evening brings little refreshment. Out of the window we see the Mighty Mississippi, including a picturesque – albeit cloudy – sunset.
Wednesday, September 25
If you go to bed early, you can get up early. And once again we were awake before the alarm clock. Shower, get dressed, pack our bags and load the car. We have a busy schedule today, we want to be on the road shortly after 9 a.m., so we have breakfast half an hour earlier than usual. The Corners Mansion is a bed and breakfast and the hostess sits down to breakfast with her guests (we are two couples) in the dining room. A really nice, open-minded lady who also knows a lot to talk about. In no time at all, it was 9:30 am and we were on our way north. Our first stop today: Indianola, home to the B. B. King Museum, one of the many MUST-sees on this trip. Too bad we only had 1 hour, there are many interactive things to learn about the life and music of this exceptional musician.
On to Clarksdale, where we had arranged to meet an expert on the Delta at 2pm. Chilly Billy, who can tell us a lot about the blues and the Delta and the people who have lived here and still live here today. The two and a half hours fly by.
We move into our home for the next three nights, a vacation apartment in the middle of Clarksdale. From here we can experience and see a few more things that Billy has only touched on today. For example, a visit to the Ground Zero Blues Club. Within walking distance of our accommodation.
We actually had dinner on the very first evening in Clarksdale, at the Ground Zero Blues Club, with live music. The Delta Kings, three men: drums, bass, guitar(s). The ambience is pretty boldly minimalist. The music makes up for it!
9-26-24
There is a breakfast restaurant right next to our accommodation: avocado toast for Aurelia, a breakfast platter for Werner. So fortified, we set off for the day, first on foot to explore.
First to a … well? Blues Trail Marker, that’s right, Ike Turner’s. Just around the corner from us. And there’s a geocache too.
Then it’s on to the Delta Blues Museum. Everything that’s anyone in the blues is represented here. Unfortunately, like the B. B. King Museum, photography is prohibited here too. So one or two souvenirs had to go into the rucksack.
A detour to Cat Head, Roger Stolle’s store, the biggest blues nerd in the universe according to Chilly Billy. Here, too, small souvenirs had to go into the rucksack, of course.
A quick shop at Family Dollar and then a well-deserved break. It’s 3:30 pm local time and the 26 °C feels more like 40 in the sun.
Tonight we’re deciding between Ground Zero – Blues Jam – or Red’s Juke Joint – Edna Nicole & Delta Avenue. Either way: live music.
Friday, September 27
We have slowly adapted to the day-night rhythm and no longer wake up in the middle of the night, but at around 7 / 8 a.m. without an alarm clock. It’s about time.
We have an appointment today, as we did last night, with Don D., a member of the guitar community „AMers“, which can be found at activemelody.com. Werner has been a member for several years and had asked for tips for our trip in the community forum. As he had mentioned Clarksdale as one of our destinations, Don immediately sent us a message to let us know when we were here, as he lives in Clarksdale. After Werner had set off alone with Don last night, the three of us went on an excursion today. South of Clarksdale is the Dockery Farm, probably the birthplace of the blues. Fortunately, the buildings have been preserved and it is now a freely accessible historic site.
On the way back, a stop at „the“ Crossroad, although scholars disagree on where the historic intersection of 61 and 49 used to be. Therefore, they agreed on the current intersection, where the famous sign is located.
Now a short break, then dinner before we meet up with Don at 8 p.m. in Red’s Lounge, a typical juke joint that still exists. There will be live music again, with Edna Nicole & Delta Avenue. Cheeerio!
Saturday, September 28
Sleeping longer works quite well, but the alarm clock had to stop at 7:30 am, even if it was a little late last night, because we have to vacate the accommodation by 11 am. And we know all too well from previous road trips what has to find its place in three days. So first we had to pack, including the freshly washed laundry (there was a washing machine and dryer in the apartment, great!) back into the suitcases, by 9:30 everything was stowed in the car, we were turning into professionals. One last check to make sure everything was out and off to breakfast. Werner faced the adventure of the menu in the Yazoo Pass next door every morning and always tried something different. Aurelia fell in love with the avocado toast and ordered it again and again, sometimes with an extra fried egg, today with double avocado.
At around 11 a.m. we rolled out of downtown Clarksdale and headed north. But we stopped again at “the” Crossroad for a few photos without rain. Hurricane Helene, which has devastated parts of the west coast of Florida in the last few days, can be felt all the way to Tennessee. The cooler temperatures and the rain of the last few days probably had something to do with it.
On the way there was a photo stop at a cotton field right next to the highway. A small dirt road to a farm (a direct exit, so to speak) and we were in the middle of the cotton. Imagine turning off a highway or expressway onto a dirt road. Unimaginable. Normal here.
In Memphis, we headed for the BassProShop Pyramid, the largest BPS in the USA. We were overwhelmed by the range on offer. Outside with boats and ATVs, inside a huge area for anglers including a small water landscape with fish, everything is simply gigantic and varied.
On to the Westin Memphis Beale Street, we don’t need the car for the next few days, we drop it off at the valet parking and enter our room. And as usual, after just five minutes it looks like we’ve been here for days.
After a break, we continue on towards Beale Street.
Sunday, September 29
Sleep in, without an alarm clock. And doze off again after waking up and checking WhatsApp. That’s a vacation.
At some point, however, we set off across Beale Street, which was still deserted, to a nice restaurant for a late breakfast. A bit of souvenir shopping at „The Schwab“ and because we didn’t fancy the planned museum („Museum of Civil Rights“ and „Music Hall of Fame“ were on the agenda), after a few laps „around the block“ we went back to the hotel for a refreshing siesta.
The siesta turned into a lazy Sunday, including watching American football from bed into the evening.
Monday, September 30
7 a.m. alarm clock. Quick breakfast in the room – every hotel room has a coffee machine and we have a packet of cookies just in case – and shortly before 9am we set off on the Memphis City Tour in a minibus with Derryl, our good-humored guide. He drove us all over the city, along the Mississippi, past the BassPro Pyramid, the Lorraine Hotel, St. Jude’s Hospital, through old residential areas and to the Peabody Hotel, where a column of ducks is led to the central fountain in the lobby twice a day – a spectacle with lots of tam-tam and a liveried entourage. Wonderful. And Darryl knew what to say about everything, wonderful.
The highlight for us, however, was the tour of Sun Studio, where we were told about its origins in an exhibition (all behind glass!) and also got an idea of the birth of rock’n’roll in the original, still existing studio rooms. Music recordings are still made here, and you can hire the studio by the hour as a soloist or as a band – but you have to plan well in advance.
After a small snack and a break (we’re not 20 anymore), we sat down for a nightcap at the hotel bar. On the three TVs above the bar MNF and especially the Tennessee Titans vs Miami Dolphins game interested the bartender
Tuesday, October 1st.
The alarm clock rang at 7am today because it was a travel day. By 7:30 we were actually both properly awake, made the first coffee for Werner and got ready to go. An hour later, the suitcases and rucksacks were ready, and so were we. A small breakfast downstairs in the restaurant – yoghurt and fruit for Werner, avocado toast for Aurelia -, the car out of the valet parking, upstairs with a suitcase trolley, everything back into the car with the help of the young man who fetches the cars and – bye-bye Memphis.
Darryl, with whom we had done the city tour the day before, had specifically pointed out that we should definitely drive over the big bridge on Interstate 40 over the Mississippi into Arkansas, just cross over, turn around in West Memphis and back again. He was right, the view of the city from the bridge is great. Another hook ✔️
Our first stop today – after refueling – was to be Nutbush, a tiny spot northwest of Brownsville, the place Tina Turner sings about in „Nutbush City Limits“. But it’s not a city, nor is there a real city sign where it would otherwise say City Limits. Nutbush is a collection of perhaps ten houses, none of which can be described as large or even representative. But there is a state-of-the-art cotton gin, a machine for processing cotton, in a large barn. It was noisy and dusty at work today.
Overall, there is not much here to suggest Anna Mae Bullock, the town’s famous daughter. A sign on a building in the center of town says that this is the birthplace of Tina Turner (but according to Wiki it is Brownsville, or Wiki doesn’t know any better because Nutbush is part of Brownsville?) And a section of „Highway number nineteen“, which Tina Turner sang about, is signposted as the Tina Turner Highway.
We continued northeast on the I40 for around 200 uneventful kilometers to Nashville. We bought some fruit and snacks and special M&M’s and continued to the hotel, where we roughly settled in so that we could jet to the hotel bar in time for happy hour. ZISCH. Nice conversations with a couple from Chicago on the right and Robert, a businessman who runs a golf club and proudly talked about his Porsche, on the left. A small dinner and off to bed.
Wednesday, October 2.
Here at the Hyatt House at Vanderbilt in Nashville, breakfast is included, which is now rather rare, at least in the hotels on this trip. However, it is a rather rudimentary breakfast, coffee from a pump jug, all disposable crockery and cutlery, even the „glasses“ are made of plastic. But it was good, it made a decent impression and it was filling.
The downside of the breakfast thing – we had to be downstairs quite early, they started clearing up at 9:30. However, our day event didn’t start until 3pm today, so we spent the morning doing laundry and „office work“, writing reports doesn’t do itself. In no time at all it was 2pm, time for a snack and then we were sitting in the lobby from 2:59pm, very excited! We were waiting for the driver for the „Best City Tour in Nashville“ and kept an eye out for him. Exciting thing. In the meantime he had contacted us by email, he would arrive around 3:09 pm, so much traffic.
Then there it was, shiny black, huge. The Tesla Cybertruck. And as always, when a rare vehicle appears somewhere, passers-by immediately stood around it, cell phones out, and that went on all afternoon. John drove us around Nashville for a full three hours, showing us the huge buildings of Vanderbilt University, Belmont University, Music Row, so many music studios, the building where Taylor Swift has her Nashville City penthouse, old and new stately homes, Broadway, the AT&T building, also known as the Batman Building, the Tennessee Titans stadium, an old fort and, and, and. I wonder how many photos and videos the car (and we) ended up in today? John of course has advertising on board, a colorful treadmill in the back of the trunk, so to speak, whose blind he left open. He really showed and explained a lot, often accompanied by the right music or photos on the huge screen in the Cybertruck. It was really well done, three full hours of program exclusively for us. You could tell how much he enjoyed it himself.
We wanted the tour to end at the Riverfront so that we could go straight to the Hard Rock Café for dinner, the first HRC on this trip. And of course there was also some shopping We have a nice wish list with us.
A quick cab back to the hotel, another early breakfast tomorrow and then we’re off again, there are still a few destinations on our list.
Thursday, October 3
We wanted to set off early today, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Johnny Cash Museum were on the agenda and they are supposed to be packed every day from midday. So we had an early breakfast (8:30 am on vacation IS early) and were in the car by 9:30 am. The navigation system guided us the almost 3km to the Music City Center parking garage just before the Riverfront (with Apple CarPlay from the cell phone), and one block further on we were standing in front of the CMHoF.
The history of country music from its beginnings to the present day, with lots of pictures and video material, really well organized. Original musical instruments, mainly guitars, but also stage suits and dresses of the country stars were on display. From Patsy Cline, Hank Williams and Charly Pride to Loretta Lynn, Elvis and Johnny Cash to the Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain and Taylor Swift. Lots of original (?) gold records, whole walls full. And at the very end, the actual Hall of Fame with the names of the really important artists and their reliefs on bronze plates. „Will the circle be unbroken“ is written in large letters all around. Impressive.
We skipped the Johnny Cash Museum as it was already past midday and we were more in the mood for live music and a snack next door in the Johnny Cash BBQ Bar. And we also had to do a bit of merchandise shopping. Broadway here in Nashville is in a completely different category to Beale Street in Memphis. It’s a hive of activity here day and night. Live music in every building, sometimes several times from different floors, no matter where you walk or stand, you can hear familiar sounds. There is also music on the street itself. Simply beautiful.
We walked all the way down the street to the Hard Rock Café, then turned around and made our way back to the garage and back to the hotel for a siesta. That has an after-effect.
In the evening we weren’t in the mood for much action, a small snack and a nightcap at the hotel bar. We prepared our suitcases for tomorrow and went to bed early, tomorrow we’re heading south, it’s going to be a long day.
Friday, October 4
7 a.m. Alarm clock, shower, finish packing, breakfast, check out, load the car and off we went. At 9:30 a.m. we rolled towards the interstate, first destination today – Huntsville Space & Rocket Center, after a 2 hour drive we were there. The engines for the Saturn rockets, which were used for the Apollo missions, were developed and built here by a team led by Wernher von Braun from the early 1950s onwards. There was a lot of history to discover here and numerous exhibits to marvel at. As we still had another 2-hour drive ahead of us and also wanted to buy some merchandise, we walked through the exhibition more quickly. You could certainly spend a lot more time here, certainly half a day or longer.
Friday afternoon and full streets, so it took us a good 2 hours to reach Birmingham, the capital of Alabama. The first suburbs became noticeable long before we reached the actual city, to the right and left along the Interstate. Like Nashville, Birmingham is very hilly and surrounded by woods. Everything is simply spread out, there is space.
The Best Western is located in the south-east of the city, from here it is a good 70 km to our highlight tomorrow. However, it was not possible to get a hotel room closer to here in June – at least not at a reasonable price – because there is a NASCAR race at the Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. And we have tickets for Saturday. YES!
After another excellent dinner at the nearby Outback Steakhouse, we finished work early today so that we could leave early tomorrow.
Saturday, October 5
Talladega Superspeedway!
NASCAR!
Ok, all said 🤣
Getting up early and having breakfast worked out pretty well and shortly after 9:30am we were on our way, arriving at the Talladega Superspeedway parking lot around 11am (we had secured „preferred parking“ last night). Then we actually just wanted to ask for directions to the right entrance and found ourselves in a golf cart, shuttle to the OV Hill South entrance and also had a nice small talk with the driver.
Qualifying ran from 11am, one after the other for different races today and tomorrow. Wow, it’s loud here 🤣 and sunny.
At 3pm we started the first race of the weekend, our very first NASCAR race.
United Rental 250.
40 cars.
94 laps on the oval.
The anthem and the obligatory flyover (three military helicopters).
Introductory lap, then another slightly faster lap behind the pace car and then a flying start for the high horsepower cars. The field stayed together in a pack for a long time, with pit stops in two stages with tire changes and „pressure refueling“ similar to the DTM. The noise as the cars passed the start and finish line was deafening. But that’s the way it has to be at car races. Our seats in row 27 were in fact only six rows from the track.
Fortunately, there were none of the mass crashes that occur quite regularly in Nascar today, but there were occasional retirements after spins or bumps and then, shortly before the end, a major pile-up that led to the race being interrupted – all the cars were behind several safety cars just before the entrance to the pit lane, while the debris and dirt was removed by several service vehicles and sweepers. After about ten minutes, the race was restarted behind the safety car for the remaining three laps. However, we took advantage of the opportunity and got out of the dust before the masses set off, back to the car and back to the hotel in Birmingham without any problems. Shower off the dust, change and head back to the nearby outback for dinner.
Tomorrow we’re off to Tallahassee, Florida. Just a short stopover on the way to Cocoa Beach. However, we are keeping an eye on the weather developments in Florida, especially the path that the impending storm Milton will take, if and when and, above all, how hard it will hit the east coast of Florida.
Sunday, October 6
Alarm clock 6:30 😳 Shower, get dressed, pack, load the car.
We skip breakfast, it wasn’t that great. A quick coffee in the room, plus fruit and an energy bar, which is healthier and tastier than the buffet at the hotel.
At 8:30 a.m. we rolled off towards the interstate, a tight 500 km today to our stopover near Tallahassee. A break to refuel, otherwise it was an uneventful drive along I-65 South, Highway 231, I-10 East and we arrived at The Lodge at Wakulla Springs in no time. It is located in a state park on the Wakulla River, a great nature reserve with a wealth of flora and fauna. It’s actually far too good for a single overnight stay. The house was built in the early 20th century and the charm has been preserved.
To stretch our legs a little, we first took a walk around the house and ended up at the jetty, where a boat tour – the last one for today – was about to start. The captain, a park ranger, gave us a lift and told us to pay for the ticket later at the hotel reception. How good that we obviously looked trustworthy.
The 45 minutes flew by, the ranger showed us lots of animals (alligators, turtles, insects and all kinds of birds) and told us nice anecdotes from his three years in Wakulla State Park so far.
Back in the room, we read the latest weather forecasts for the approaching Hurricane Milton, and the information that the Falcon Heavy launch from Cape Canaveral, which we had been looking forward to so much, had been definitively canceled by NASA was not exactly reassuring.
During dinner in the hotel restaurant, we made a decision: we will NOT go to Cocoa Beach on the east coast of Florida tomorrow, because the area around the Space Coast is on the route that Milton will take. We can stay here at the hotel, initially until Wednesday in any case, and we want to call Canusa on Monday to see what options we have for the trip home, whether it stays with the planned flight from Orlando on Saturday or we fly earlier and / or from another airport … we’ll see. Since the Falcon Heavy launch on Thursday will certainly not take place, nothing will keep us here. Too bad, but this is hurricane season.
Monday, October 7.
Our wedding anniversary ❤️
slept for a long time, then went down to the first floor for a leisurely breakfast – this building really is a stunner. After breakfast, we went to reception to enquire about other possible excursions and boat trips and were unfortunately surprised to be told that the hotel – because it is located in a state park – was likely to be evacuated, possibly today, possibly tomorrow. 50:50. When asked what he would advise his parents to do, he found us a room in a nearby hotel. The area here is pretty safe, he said, there was no damage in Helene two weeks ago, but the state park would very probably be closed in Milton too out of caution and then it would have to go hopscotch and he would spare us that.
So we went straight to packing and stayed 20km southwest in a hotel right on Coastal Highway 98. When someone takes a trip…
After checking in and settling in (we were allowed in very early), we set off again towards the coast, which was our plan for today anyway. We also had to buy drinks and snacks in case we didn’t want to or couldn’t leave the house on Wednesday (and Thursday?) due to strong winds and rain.
Alligator Point is a narrow strip of land off the coast, less than 100 meters wide in places, with lots of nice vacation homes on stilts. But you didn’t get the impression that a hurricane was on its way. Only a few of the buildings were secured with shutters, many of them had cars and boats parked underneath them.
The good thing about this nice hotel here – next door is a country club with a good restaurant, which we wanted to try out tonight.
We wanted to!
Think again!
Closed Monday to Wednesday.
But Tripadvisor knew what to do and we drove 5 miles southwest along the Coastal Highway. Hamaknockers. And it’s as delicious as the name sounds.
And tomorrow – Tuesday – we’ll sleep in again without an alarm clock.
Tuesday, October 8
And we slept really late, so late that it was too late for breakfast at the hotel, which is only available until 9am.
First item on the agenda today – the Governors Square Mall in Tallahassee. It’s Tuesday morning, not much going on, we can park right in front of the (correct) entrance. There are still three souvenirs on the list, which are quickly packed. And what are we bringing for US? Something from the BassProShop, of course! In Memphis, the store was so big and full (on a Saturday) that we hadn’t really looked around. But today in the small BassPro here in Tallahassee we found everything, including things we weren’t even looking for.
Tripadvisor had told us that there was an automobile museum in Tallahassee, so we went there. The nice lady at the entrance told us that it is the private collection of an enthusiast and that he has been buying car after car throughout his (so far 85-year-old) life. Even today, a new acquisition has just been pushed into the huge exhibition. And it’s not just cars, but lots of pretty things around them, mannequins in period clothing, petrol pumps and much more. – It was clear to see that the man loves cars.
And then we still had to look for the Gulf (of Mexico). Everything is quiet at Shell Point Beach, about 10 km south of our hotel. Here too, as in Alligator Point yesterday, no signs of an approaching tropical storm, no barricaded doors and windows, no evacuation, on the contrary there were vacationers on the beach, people were fishing, children were playing, everything was quiet.
A break at the hotel, then later dinner where it was so delicious yesterday, at Hamaknockers
Wednesday, October 9
We slept late again. Breakfast in the room with our own provisions. The sky is overcast today and we’re starting to feel a bit camp feverish. But we got a nice list of excursion destinations from reception yesterday, so we wanted to visit one or two today.
But…
As we were about to leave, it started to rain. And it didn’t stop until well into the afternoon. So it was a lazy day, mainly spent in the hotel room with the TV on the weather channel on mute, reading, dozing and occasionally looking out of the window to check the weather. A rest day is a must.
Towards evening it cleared up and we headed off to Hamaknockers. Third evening in a row and it tastes great every time. The waitress recognized us straight away and greeted us nicely.
Back at the hotel, the TV coverage of Milton continued, landfall was expected at around 9pm and it was already very wet and stormy in Tampa and Siesta Key. Already >100L of rain per square meter, with another >200L expected in the coming hours. This hurricane is so devastating that the news in Germany is reporting it and we have to regularly reassure friends and family that we are in a safe zone! Other than some wind (not a storm) and light rain (persistent for hours today, but not heavy), nothing is felt here in Crawfordville.
Thursday, October 10
Today we made it – with an alarm clock! – actually made it to breakfast at the hotel! Well, it’s just an American hotel breakfast. Plastic crockery and cutlery, paper cups for the pre-brewed coffee from the pump pot, scrambled eggs, sausages, toast, cream cheese, jam and peanut butter. But it’s filling.
We set off early, early for a vacation, and had a few geocaches on our list. Some of them were a bit too bumpy for us, others were easy and quick to find. Once again, geocaching proved that you can get to places that you wouldn’t otherwise find.
Our first destination was the small town of Crawfordville.
Then we headed to San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park in the beautiful village of Saint Marks.
There was no geocache at St. Marks Lighthouse, but this beautiful place was still on the list today. It’s hard to imagine that such a devastating hurricane hit southern Florida yesterday. Two weeks ago, a ranger at the lighthouse told us that Hurricane Helene had caused the water here to rise a good 1m and washed fish from the sea into the freshwater ponds behind the beach, giving the birds plenty to eat. But Milton spared the entire region completely. And today we were out in bright sunshine and glorious blue skies. He said that the tide was extremely low along the entire coast today, as the high tide was in the south of Florida. In a few days, as it drains there, it will normalize again.
Our next destination today – Panacea, the Rock Landing Marina. However, the geocaches we headed for here were all far too private for our taste and we felt like we were being watched, which is no fun.
Back to the hotel and a break before heading to the restaurant next door tonight. Right, the restaurant next door – where we wanted to go on the first evening because it is said to be famous for its seafood – is really great. It belongs to the country club and is only open Thursdays to Sundays and there are lots of locals there to eat, whole families and larger groups too.
Seineyard platter: 8 shrimps, 8 oysters, 8 scallops, grouper fillet, all „blackened“ for Werner.
Grilled shrimps wrapped in bacon for Aurelia.
And now please go to bed soon.
But first we have to pack, because tomorrow we’re off to Orlando so that we don’t have to stress ourselves out on Saturday, but on the contrary – if everything goes well – we can still visit the Kennedy Space Center before our flight home (on Saturday evening.
Friday, October 11
Travel day.
This morning it went quite quickly – within 1.5 hours we were ready to leave, including hotel breakfast as a basis for the day. However, we hadn’t planned to leave alone today and so there were delays in checking out and with the suitcase trolleys. Oh well. It’s understandable that many people want to return home today, two days after Hurricane Milton raged through Florida.
For us, we first headed northeast to Interstate 10 and then took it to Jacksonville, where we turned south on I-95 along the coast to Cocoa. Here we had pre-booked a hotel room for one night yesterday and we were very lucky: our hotel had electricity. We heard from other guests that they had been rebooked here because their hotel (right next door) had no electricity. The infrastructure in the USA is far behind Europe in this respect. Many overhead lines were damaged by the hurricane, but even within the cities many things run via pylons and that is extremely vulnerable. No wonder over 1 million households are without power after Milton. Along the way we saw many trucks (from different power companies from different states) with aerial lifts, all heading south. There is obviously a lot to do.
We took a nice break on the way and had a look at St. Augustine Beach. The place was on our list for our originally planned stay in Cocoa Beach anyway. It is historically the oldest town in the USA. Unfortunately, the pier was closed, probably because of Milton.
We chose this hotel here in Cocoa because it is strategically located: close to the Kennedy Space Center, where we want to go tomorrow, and also just under an hour’s drive from Orlando Airport, from where we want to fly home tomorrow. The downside: it’s right on the interstate and there wasn’t a decent restaurant in the area. So we drove further east on the 520 to Merritt Island. Technicians were tinkering with many of the electricity boxes along the way and some houses, restaurants and stores were pretty dark. But the outback just before the bridge to Cocoa Beach was brightly lit and so we had steak for our last dinner of the trip
Saturday, October 12
Last day and flight home.
This last day often tends to be a bum day on our trips. That’s why we’ve gotten into the habit of packing something exciting into the last day. And that worked out perfectly for today – also thanks to Milton. Today is the first day after the hurricane that the Kennedy Space Center is open to visitors again. The damage was probably limited, as the site had already been closed two days earlier and had been secured, just as many residents here in Florida are already very good at dealing with such events and preparing their homes and properties for them. Nevertheless, there was a lot of damage in Florida overall, especially due to the accompanying tornadoes and flooding.
Today we also left the hotel very early, with all our luggage in the trunk, and drove to the Kennedy Space Center. We were there before 9:00, bought tickets and were in line to get in at 8:45.
The site is set up a bit like an amusement park, but there is also a lot of information on offer. There are explanatory films in some areas, many exhibition areas are very educational and on a bus ride out to the Vehicle Assembly Building you learn a lot of interesting facts about space travel in general and the Apollo and Space Shuttle program in particular.
You could certainly spend a whole day or maybe two here if you had that much time and wanted to see everything, but we only had a few hours. By 2:30 p.m. we were already rolling back towards Orlando.
We returned the rental car directly at Terminal C, dropped off our suitcases and went through security in an hour. The flight, which was supposed to leave at 19:50, has already been delayed by a good 90 minutes, so we are curious to see when it will really take off? We hope to land back in Frankfurt around midday on Sunday, then we will make our way home.
Sunday, October 13
Back home again.
After we finally took off from Orlando on Saturday evening two hours late and largely slept through an unspectacular flight east through the night, the landing in Frankfurt was actually okay with a delay of just under an hour.
The routes from Terminal C through the border controls to the baggage carousel took a long time, there was simply a lot going on everywhere. Picking up the pre-booked rental car was also a test of patience at first, there were ambiguities in the rental conditions, but by 2 p.m. everything was done and we were sitting in the fully charged Polestar e-car, all our luggage in the trunk, rolling towards home. What was exciting: in purely mathematical terms, we couldn’t have made it with one battery charge, the employee at Sixt specifically pointed this out, but as experienced e-car drivers, an occasional look at the battery level and careful driving without a lead foot, we arrived around 6 p.m. with a remaining battery level of 15%. That’s possible!
We found the house empty, Benedikt had just been out for an evening ride with Pammy and we were delighted when they returned. The question remains as to who was happier, the dog or the master and mistress?
We gave Polestar, who made a good impression on us, some electricity at home and then gave him back in the evening.
