We briefly visited John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, Florida.
An interactive map:
Entrance:
Visitor center aquarium:
Gift store:
Cannon Beach:
Far Beach:
exploring
Attractions and other places we visit.
Biscayne National Park
Biscayne National Park is one of the rare national parks that is mostly water, on the coast south of Miami, Florida.
We visited for a sail, paddle, and snorkel trip.
Our boat:
Heading out:
Birds:
Map; we sailed out to Coon Point on Elliot Key:
Snorkeling; I used my 360 camera, but had some technical difficulties, so didn’t get many pictures:
Other boats:
Raising our sail:
Some paddling into the mangroves:
Sitting up front on the way back:
Lighthouse:
A fun excursion.
Everglades National Park
We explored several areas of Everglades National Park in Florida.
A map of the park:
A map in a visitor center:
Entrance sign:
The Royal Palm area of the park was closest to our campsite, with some nice walks:
Can you spot a turtle?
Here it is:
Also nearby is a relic of the Cold War: the HM69 Nike missile base:
Gulf Coast Visitor Center was under construction, so they used a modular building:
West Lake:
We were amused by Rock Reef Pass, elevation 3 feet:
Universal Studios Florida Theme Park
On the other two days, we visited the Universal Studios Florida Theme Park.
The Simpsons characters:
Spongebob Storepants:
Jenn in a pineapple under the sea:
Coming soon:
Springfield:
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter:
Knight Bus:
Diagon Alley:
San Francisco:
New York:
On another day, we started at Starbucks for some coffee:
The Brown Derby Hat Shop:
Beverly Hills:
Kings Cross Station:
Diagon Alley:
We did the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts ride:
Frozen butterbeer:
Diagon Alley dragon:
Back to the Future:
Finally, we got some Voodoo Doughnuts on the way out:
More fun stuff. We’re not so interested in Universal properties, other than Harry Potter, so we basically went to the parks just for that, but enjoyed exploring the other areas too.
Universal Islands of Adventure Theme Park
While staying in the Orlando area, we spent four days at two of the Universal theme parks. Two of the days were at Universal Islands of Adventure Theme Park.
Hogsmeade:
We enjoy the Butterbeer there:
We did the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride:
We checked out many of the shops, and bought a few souvenirs, including some sweet stuff from Honeydukes:
Dinosaur selfie:
Comic area:
Leaving Islands of Adventure at night:
Another day, we started out with cheese curds and margaritas at Margaritaville:
Then went on the Hulk roller coaster, which was the first time we’ve both ever been on a real roller coaster, with inversions and everything. We survived!
Then we went on a much more gentle ride, Storm Force Accelatron:
A Hulk popcorn snack:
Spiderman ride:
And Skull Island: Reign of Kong:
Natural Selections for another snack:
Hogsmeade:
We were going to go on the Flight of the Hippogriff ride, but they had a major delay, so we bailed:
Time for more butterbeer:
Cat in the Hat and Things:
Hat:
Finally, we enjoyed some Green Eggs and Ham:
Fun times. Tomorrow, the other Universal park.
Carrabelle
We didn’t really do anything during the three weeks we stayed at Ho-Hum RV Park over the holidays. That seems to be fairly typical for us, just taking some downtime to relax. Especially with some very busy times coming up after this (stay tuned!).
Ho-Hum is in a kinda out-of-the-way area, but near a town called Carrabelle (population 2,778). We did go to one restaurant, the post office, and the local grocery store; that was pretty much the limit of our exploring here. There are definitely a few more things to do and see, e.g. we considered going to check out a couple of nearby lighthouses, but we’ll save that for our next visit.
Here’s an interactive map:
We had lunch at Marine Street Grill:
Next to the post office is the world’s smallest police station:
The Gulfside IGA Plus grocery store is a little small, but had almost everything we wanted:
(There is a Walmart 45 minutes away, for people who use that as a marker of civilization.)
Clock and memorial:
We do enjoy cute little towns, and this is definitely one. We’ll have to make a point of exploring it more when we’re here again.
USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park
We explored the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama.
It includes exhibits of various military planes, plus a submarine and the eponymous battleship.
Aircraft exhibits:
The USS Drum is a WWII-era submarine, the oldest American sub on public display:
The WWII-era USS Alabama battleship:
Fascinating.
Fort Morgan State Historic Site
We explored the Fort Morgan State Historic Site in Alabama, at the end of a peninsula between Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Here’s an interactive map:
Museum:
This fort had quite an interesting history:
Battery Schenck:
Battery Thomas:
The famous phrase “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” was (perhaps) uttered near here, something we previously encountered in Idaho at the Farragut Museum at the Brig:
The fort:
Tunnel into the fort:
Another battery:
A fascinating historic site.
Lambert’s Cafe
I usually don’t do a blog post about a restaurant, unless it is particularly remarkable. Lambert’s Cafe fits that criterion.
We went there for lunch, and it was quite the experience. Their claim to fame is “throwed rolls” — they have a guy roaming around, throwing freshly baked rolls to patrons. Which sounds like a bad idea, but is actually rather fun. (And this from a guy who doesn’t do “fun”.)
They also have people circulating with bowls of “pass arounds”, side dishes that they ladle onto a paper towel as soon as you sit down and your plate throughout the meal, including Southern staples like fried okra, black-eyed peas, fried potatoes and onions (my favorite), and several more.
There was a line to get a table, which usually makes us bail, but we opted to wait; it wasn’t a long delay:
A sign indicates they don’t do doggie bags, which appears to be out-of-date, as we were offered a box for our leftovers:
Pretty much as soon as we sat down, they provided some fried okra; our first time tasting it (not bad, less great once cooled down):
Menu:
We were also tossed some rolls, as advertised. They were super tasty, nice and soft:
We ordered sodas, which arrived in huge mugs (hard to tell the scale, but these were substantially larger than normal, even by American standards; the menu says they are 34 oz, which is about three cans of soda):
Jenn ordered chicken and dumplings and a couple of sides (included):
I ordered meatloaf and sides:
As mentioned, throughout the meal staff would come by offering additional sides; we tried several of them. It is possible to just order an empty plate and make a meal of the “pass arounds”, which would be plenty of food.
Throwing rolls:
When we were done (stuffed!), they provided a doggie bag and box, and even to-go cups for the leftover sodas, which we hadn’t encountered before; nice that they’re not wasting all that:
Quite a unique experience. And taking typical American over-consumption to the next level. Highly recommended, if you’re not on a diet!
New Orleans Steamboat Natchez Sunday Brunch Jazz Cruise
We did a brunch cruise on the Natchez, the last authentic steamboat on the Mississippi River.
Live steam calliope playing:
A video:
Lunch boarding info:
Dining room:
Our table:
Gumbo and salad:
Buffet:
Brunch:
Dessert:
Bow:
Gift shop:
Paddle wheel:
A video:
Life vests in the ceiling:
Boiler room:
Engine room:
Three short video clips:
Bar:
Near the waterline:
New Orleans:
Sister ship City of New Orleans:
Ferry:
Creole Queen:
Cruise ship:
Throwing a leader line:
Pulling the line:
On the winch:
Disembarking:
Posed photo (I really need to learn how to smile in a way that’s visible behind my mustache in such photos):
Natchez info:
A fun brunch cruise.