Hit the Road Jack... and Brett and Michele

Well, how y'er all doin'?  My southern accent is getting very refined and I could almost pass as a local.  For the past 8 days Brett and I well and truly hit the road (7,000kms of road!) and this time instead of headin' north to the snow, we headed south to the sand and the sun - woo hoo!  It's been a jam packed week, so settle in with a nice glass of wine...

Our first night was in what the locals call "RVA", for us not locals it's Richmond Virginia, home of tobacco and of many significant battlefields from the Civil War.   So for a bit of a history lesson, here is an extremely summarized synopsis of the Civil War.  Sadly, it all stemmed from slavery.  The (mostly) Southern States formed the Confederacy as they wanted to break away from the USA (the yankees), mainly because Abraham Lincoln vowed to wipe out slavery and the Southern States were not too happy with this direction, so wanted to break free.  The Civil War lasted 4 years and was the most deadliest war the US has been involved in - over 750,000 people died.  Needless to say, the Yanks won.

On our way to RVA we stopped in at Washington DC, where I had a nice walking tour planned out for us, but unfortunately it was raining, so the tour happened via the car instead raincoats on we checked out the white house (through the fence).  The city was abuzz as Obama's second inauguration was happening the following Monday, so everything was in full prep to bring in a million people (and since the inauguration the number one question is whether Beyonce lip synced the Star Spangled Banner or not).  To get to RVA, we went through Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia (DC) - bringing our state total up to 20 after day one.

 The White House

 Abraham Lincoln Memorial

The reflection pool

Day two we headed south in search of sunshine and travelled through North Carolina, South Carolina and landed in Georgia (up to 23 states).  Whilst in North Carolina we stopped in at JR's - a place advertised for the previous 100 miles with sign after sign after sign about being the world's largest everything (cigars, cigarettes, make up,  army gear) store - I couldn't resist and I wasn't disappointed.  This place was huge (even bigger than Walmart!) and was basically a hotch potch of everything.

Whilst in Georgia we stayed 3 nights at a beautiful place called St Simon's Island (the Island).  It was beautiful island on the south coast of Georgia with amazing plantation style homes, beautiful golf courses (one we drove past had a little visitor on the bank on the lake- Happy Gilmore style)...

The shot is a bit dodgy as I couldn't get close so I didn't get hit by a golf ball...

....gorgeous beaches, 

 ...and these amazing oak trees in a variety that I had never seen before, but they just mesmerised me.

Whilst there we travelled to Savannah (a place that was on my bucket list after seeing a tv show in the 90s), where again I had a lovely walking tour planned, and which again was spoilt by rain - I swear there was someone not wanting us to get exercise this trip.  Anyway, we did get to see the beautiful old city, which again had amazing architecture, a really eclectic scene on the river front and 22 squares that the city was actually designed around (these are small park areas, but were historically communal spaces used for gathering water, making bread, celebrating holidays and victories etc) - there actually used to be 24 squares, but 2 have been 'lost' (one to a freeway, the other to the courthouse).  

Whilst in Savannah, I also took the opportunity to try out one of my food network favorite cook's - The South's 'First Lady', Paula Deen's, restuarant, Lady and Sons.  After my welcome serving of corn bread (like a pancake made from Polenta) and cheese biscuit, I chowed down on a pulled pork sandwich.  Wow, this was pretty spectacular and it was served with potatoes that had like the KFC coating on it... mmmm, mmmm, mmmm (no dinner for me that night!). .. Don't worry, I only managed to devour half of it.

Whilst in Georgia we also went to Jekyll Island, (unsuccessfully) hunting for Alligators.  

We also had a meal at Iguana's - highly recommended by the locals - where we had amazing 'shrimp' and we discovered Hush Puppies, not slippers as I always thought, but little fried balls of delight!... Southern food is definitely not good for my backside!

So from Georgia, we continued our journey south to Florida.  This time we stopped at Cape Canaveral at the Kennedy Space Center.  Brett did a tour of the place, whilst I dog sat Jack and took the opportunity to hunt more for alligators.  I didn't see any bathing in the sun, but I did see an omnious pair of eyes poking out of the water staring at me.  There are over 6,000 alligators on the island, and as the local 'catch and release' expert told me "make sure you keep the lil' fella away from the water - it's full of the gators".  No need to tell me that, Jack was already completely freaking and wouldn't go anywhere near the water.  Mind you, I wanted to get him in the car quick smart as there were eagles flying over head and looked at the ready to swoop us up.  The more interesting stuff was happening inside - some quick facts on the Space Center - it is a 140,000 acre island, full of gators, rattle snakes, bob cats, Opossums (not related to Australian possums), Wild Hogs and turtles (all living very happily as the island is a refuge), with a shed with the world's largest garage doors and the world's largest painted American flag (the star section is bigger than a basketball court and you can drive a bus down the lines without touching the edges ), rockets (unmanned) being launched into space much more frequently than we realize (three in the next month!), the spaceship reenters the earth's atmosphere above Australia and 45 minutes later it's touching down in Florida (I need to get me on that flight next time), and generally, it's just really cool stuff there.  Here's some pics.

 One of the space pods

The Launching Pad

 

Control Center

 The big arse shed!

 A space Shuttle

We spent the night at Key Largo right on the Marina there and just enjoyed the sunshine!

We drove the next day down to Key West, and hit another one from the bucket list - driving over the seven mile bridge.

The Seven Mile Bridge

We saw the most southern house in the US and the most southern point.  Key West is also where Ernest Hemingway had a house.  

A cock roaming the streets (they were everywhere!) in Key West

 Ernest Hemingway's house

One of the locals

The most southern point of USA

This day was jam packed as we also travelled through the Everglades (another one on the bucket list - yes, it's a long list), and this is where we finally saw a crap load of alligators.  I saw one and got so excited.  By the time we got through the park, I reckon we saw over 100 of them, lazing on the side of the swamp land.  Check out these fellas.

We stopped that night at St Pete's (St Petersburg Island, right near Tampa).  This place was spectacular.  We got a special deal on the hotel, known as the pink castle, which was right on the Gulf of Mexico.  I used the pool all night and all morning (I think I was a mermaid in a past life) - it was just delightful.  Jack also liked it, he was given a special welcome pack on arrival (the dogs get treated better than the humans!) with some snacks and bowls.

So, it was time to leave the sun and sand and we headed back north to Nashville, Tennessee (state number 24), Country Music Capital of the World!  It was bloody cold here - below 0, which was a shock to the system!  This time we purposely did a driving tour as we didn't arrive until late - we ate at the classy establishment - Hog Heaven (literally, a hole in the wall).

checked out Broadway (home to the many 'honky tonks'), Music Row (where all the record labels are), and even saw where they are filming the tv show 'Nashville' (don't think it's out in Oz yet, but the reviews are very good).

So, this was our last stop before doing a long drive (13 hours!!!) home yesterday.  Brett is officially a driving machine, and well, I'm the GPS, though I talk back more than a regular one ;)

Now, back in the big smoke, we've really hit reality.  The temperature is -10 celcius!!!!  Craziness.  I don't do cold very well - my hands feel like fine sandpaper (even though I am moisturising them every hour), and my eyes are stinging so bad because they're dried out.  Last winter was really nothing in comparison to this one.

One last thing I wanted to share was a visitor we had in our backyard.  At first I thought what a gorgeous little creature this was (about the size of a large cat), but then after googling it,
I change the word gorgeous for disgusting...

It is an Opossum - these are basically like large rats, and like to scurrage through the rubbish and they carry all sorts of diseases.  We're making sure we keep little Jack away from him!

Ok, signing off now.  I hope I can write soon (as long as I don't freeze to death!).
Michele