Pensacola, FL

Don't ever let anyone tell you that the South is the place to go in January to get out of the cold!  We watched the gauge on the dashboard all morning and it didn't get up to freezing until about 2 p.m.  The good thing was that the rain from yesterday stopped and the sun was shining and the sky was clear.  However, the wind was still blowing straight out of the north.  You know those huge American flags which are in front ofcar dealers.  Well, I had never seen them fly straight out until today :-).

We took US 90 out of Lafayette.  It kind of curves around in the delta country south of I-10 and was much more interesting than miles of the same Interstate scenery.  Passed through a lot of country where the main industry seemed to be associated with offshore drilling - drilling equipment, pipe suppliers, refineries, etc.  Combined with that, we passed a lot of fields planted with a different crop which we didn't recognize.  After consulting our handy AAA guidebook for the area, we figured out that this is big sugar cane country.  The fields were in various stages - some being plowed, some in furrows, and some with mature plants.  To provide some confirmation to that, we saw various pieces of farm equipment which were used for harvesting the sugar cane.  I guess people with machetes are passe' these days.  The equipment looked like the harvesters used for corn except they were only big enough to handle two rows at a time - same principle though.  We also passed one or two sugar refineries - kind of looked like the factories up in North Dakota. 

The other main industry in this area (other than tourism) is shrimping.  Think Bubba Gump!  Have to try one of those shrimp po'boys while we're down here. US 90 finally curled back up to New Orleans and we got back into traffic full time.  Got back on I-10 right by the New Orleans Dome and stayed on it over to the Mississippi line.  Passed through the area where I had been during the aftermath of Katrina in December and January of 2005/2006.

When we crossed Lake Pontchartrain (had to look that one up, never can remember how to spell it), we got off I-10 and back on to US 90 along the gulf coast.  Always a fun drive, it's a beautiful road with white, sandy beaches on one side and magnificent homes on the other.  A lot of the homes were destroyed during Katrina, but some have been rebuilt.  There are still a lot of vacant lots where the homes were demolished.  Casinos have been rebuilt and look like they are doing a thriving business. I felt sorry for the poor folks walking the beach (there weren't many) who planned on vacationing the first week in January because the weather would be nice and warm - WRONG!

Swung back up to I-10 because it was getting late in the afternoon and we wanted to get to Char's.  It took us to Mobile and between a tunnel and a long bridge, we got across Mobile Bay.  Pensacola is not far from the Florida line, so it didn't take long to get to Char and George's.  The warmest part of our day was the greeting we got when we pulled into the driveway.  More on the Semple family and their newest home in the next post.