Savannah, Georgia

On Georgia's border with South Carolina sits Savannah, the sleepy grand dame of America's east coast cities.

More than 20 city parks or 'squares' lie within the downtown area alone and each are resplendent in the green-grey hues of the spanish moss that drapes itself from every bough of every tree.

The Savannah Historic District is one of the largest national historic districts in the nation and boasts so many 17th and 18th Century homes that most don't even rate a mention in the tourist brochures.

The driving part of our visit involved motoring up and down the beautiful tree-lined avenues at slow speed, looping counter-clockwise around all of the squares along the way.

We parked close to City Hall, taking the elevators down to River St and the Savannah Riverfront.

The free Savannah Belles Ferry took us from City Hall Landing across to the International Trade and Convention Centre and back to Waving Girl Landing, offering views the entire way of the historic waterfront.

We walked back along River St, paralleling the streetcar line as we strolled past former wharves and moored paddle steamers.

Later we drove out to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, just across the border in South Carolina.

There we drove the four-mile nature trail, seeing more examples of glorious tunnels of oak and spanish moss.

We also spied an alligator or two, including a baby stretched out on a log in the lingering afternoon sun.

We are happy to be heading back to Florida for Christmas though, not only because we'll be with dear friends, but also because the weather forecast for Savannah predicts a minimum of minus four degrees Celcius from the day after tomorrow.

Historic St Augustine

This place is dripping in history. 

St Augustine was founded in 1565, making it the oldest continuously inhabited town in the continental United States.

Castillo de San Marcos, a fort completed by the Spanish in 1695, is the centre piece.

The boys roamed the bastions and delighted in pretending to launch cannon balls at unfortunate pirates.

The town itself and its cobblestoned streets made for a delightful late afternoon stroll.

Buskers in several locations provided a chill soundtrack as we window-shopped through the quaint laneways.

High revs at Daytona

Daytona Beach is a wide, hard-packed stretch of sand where cars (even sedans) drive along all day observing the 'road signs' placed at intervals along the beach.

The nearby Daytona International Speedway is the home of the Daytona 500, lauded locally as "America's Great Race".

It's the race that kicks off the NASCAR season each year.

On a day when rookie hopefuls were pushing their vehicles' limits, vying to become NASCAR drivers, we rocked up to tour the famous track.

So through pure luck we scored the chance to watch cars almost as powerful as the NASCAR sedans flying around the track at top speed.

Our "all access" tour took us to places including the private 'sky' suites and took us through the tunnels into the infield to see the garages, the pit area, the driver's meeting room and victory lane.

Back at the beach, the boys have now spent two full afternoons chasing massive flocks of seagulls before soaking in our hotel's hot tub.

The Everglades

At the Everglades National Park's Royal Palm Visitor Centre, the vultures are so brave that the parks service supplies blue tarps to protect parked cars.

The Anhinga Trail, departing from this spot, was a great little boardwalk and cement path looping past anhinga and cormorant diving birds and their nests, plus alligators, turtles and fish aplenty.

The pa-hay-okee overlook, further along the main road, was an incredibly short boardwalk and tower looking over a dwarf cypress 'forest'.

The Rock Reef Pass, just prior to the overlook, was a massive three feet above sea level!

After lunch at the Flamingo Visitor Center's cafe, looking out on to Florida Bay, we backtracked, stopping at numerous prairie overlooks.

The following day, taking the Tamiami Trail westwards across the northern reaches of the National Park, we stopped in at the Big Cypress National Preserve's eastern visitor center.

Here we absolutely hit the jackpot, with more alligators, birds and fish visible in that section of the Tamiami Canal than we had ever seen anywhere else previously.

Florida Keys

After working our way down Florida's Atlantic Coast, from Cape Canaveral to Miami, we have changed the pace and spent four nights in the Florida Keys.

We had driven through Miami's South Beach during a throbbing Sunday session.

An overweight gent in a bikini was directing traffic ("yes, he's going swimming when he finishes work") and ladies who had forgotten their clothing ("oh, they're so silly") were gyrating on roadside stages.

I was very happy I have boys that are 3 and 5 and NOT 13 and 15.

In contrast, the Keys have been a world apart.

Staying in Key West, 90 miles from Cuba, we've been digging into the local fare - Cuban sandwiches, conch fritters and key lime pie and I have reconnected with my dear old friend, the margarita, in a big way.

The tourism here thrives on the claim this is the most southerly point on the continental United States, but my thinking suggests that if it's an island, it's not part of the continent at all. Still, I didn't fancy debating the point with a community who tried to proclaim itself the Conch Republic just a few decades back.

In fact, Key West is the last in a string of islands that stretch out off the south eastern corner of Florida and which are connected together by bridges, just like a pearl necklace.

Making your way there via the Overseas Highway and its multiple bridges, including the Seven Mile Bridge featured in movies like True Lies, is perhaps the coolest part - at least once you get down towards the middle keys and away from the 'same old, same old' in the upper keys.

The beaches don't rival Aussie favs, but the laid-back vibe, tropical breeze and swaying palms reminded us very much of Belize, except we weren't constantly hassled to buy drugs.

The pool at the hotel even had a couple of iguana visitors climbing the palm trees.

A Sliming a Day

To stem the tide of tears from the sweet sorrow of our parting with Bessie, we did the only thing two parents of small children who love SpongeBob can do and checked ourselves into the Nickelodeon Hotel for three nights.

Joy of joys, there were complimentary slimings every day.

And bunk beds...

And three TVs!!!!

Happy Days.

Bye Bye Bessie in Myakka

In a fitting farewell to our beloved Bessie, we visited the wild and scenic Myakka River.

The Myakka lies inland from Florida’s west coast, south of Tampa.

Alligators exist aplenty here and we spied many big boys sunning themselves on the banks.

But even more cool were the flocks of vultures circling overhead and those perched high above us in the trees and hopping their way along the banks of Upper Myakka Lake.

The birdwalk stretching out onto the Lake afforded us a chance to view a multitude of wading birds from a different perspective.

But everybody’s favourite experience in the Park was the canopy walkway and tower.

The view out over the palm canopy from the top of the tower was spectacular and the climb up helped rid the boys of some of that excess energy.

At our campsite, Nath chopped the last of our wood then built the fire to beat all fires.

We drank the last of our ‘good stuff’ (the magnums of Aussie red wine we’ve been buying here in the States at dirt cheap prices) and sat around the fire until late into the evening.

Unfortunately our time in Bessie has come to an end. 

Following this visit to Myakka we drove back up to the Tampa/Orlando area and handed her over to her new owners.

The fact we quickly found willing buyers prevented us from fulfilling our secret wish of putting a brick on the accelerator and driving her off the end of the Florida Keys to become a diving attraction.

Ahhhh Bessie.... Lots of good times..... We’ll never forget you.

Now for some non-Bessie adventures....

The mother of all LEGOLANDS!

Finally! After teasing the boys with two visits to Legoland Discovery Centres, we have finally made all their dreams come true and taken them to the real deal.

But not just any Legoland, because Florida's Legoland is the biggest in the whole world!

Wooooooo hoooooo!

Indy, after some initial trepidation, is now a huge rollercoaster fan. He went on every single one in the park and rode The Dragon four times!

The Imagination Zone Build & Test and Hero Factory areas were big drawcards for the boys (despite us parents saying "Hey, you can build freestyle at home boys! Let's check out the rides").

The pirate cove waterskiing show "Brickbeard's Bounty" was fun and Miniland and the Star Wars zones had lots of interactive buttons for the boys to press.

Apart from the rollercoasters, most of the rides and attractions catered to both Indy and Dash and they got to meet some of their Chima heros who were roaming the pathways.

But the most fun we all had was in the World of Chima Quest for Chi ride (luckily we took wet gear with us!)

What a fantastic day out!

Gulf Coast and the Blue Angels

Florida's gulf coast has some of the whitest sand we've ever encountered.

Rivaling Whitsunday's Whitehaven Beach for whiteness, the pristine sand stretches across hundreds of miles of coastline.

It's easy to see why Floridians love their sunshine.

What's not to love about that super squeaky sand between your toes, dolphins at play just out from the breakers and amazing birdlife.

Topping off our trip to the Gulf Islands National Seashore, where we camped for a couple of nights, was the fact that the Blue Angels, America's naval aviation superstars, took their F/A-18s up for practice runs over our heads.

On the very day we visited the National Naval Aviation Museum (which is itself a plane-ogling extravaganza) the Blue Angels took off for the first time in months (having been previously grounded thanks to the politics of the US Federal Shutdown).

At close range, we watched their amazing aerial acrobatics - marvelling as they flew straight at each other, then in close range side by side, then rapidly shooting straight up and straight down, leaving jet trails and gut-vibrating soundwaves in their wakes.

The next day, on the National Seashore, they entertained us once more, this time as we relaxed and played on the beach.

Moving further eastwards along the coast, we dropped into Saint Marks National Wildlife Refuge and learnt about the amazing ongoing effort to repopulate the area with whooping cranes.

You might have heard of them before - they're the birds that follow an ultralite 'mummy' south for their first migration!

We also saw a few more alligators - this time baby size - awwwww so cute!

New Orleans

After exploring the Barataria Preserve section of the Jean Lafitte National Park and spying yet another alligator, we headed straight into downtown New Orleans.

Driving through the garden precinct, we were instantly delighted by the beautiful two and three-storey homes decorated with the most delicate wrought iron balconies and adorned with basket after basket of hanging ferns and other tropical plants.

Staying near one of the canals, we caught a shuttle bus into the centre of New Orleans for two days of exploration.

Could we have chowed any harder? No!

Between Cafe Du Monde, Central Grocery, Mothers on Poydras, the Coffee House and Camellia Grill we have now tried several serves each of local treats including Beignets, Muffuletta, gumbo and etouffee amongst other delights.

We travelled on all of the streetcar lines, soaking up the atmosphere of the different precincts.

The boys delighted in spotting the 'jewels' (mardi gras necklaces) hanging randomly from trees and electricity wires throughout the city.

We marvelled at how this big city has rejuvenated itself post-Katrina.

The Superdome is now a shining bronze beacon, but will it ever live down what happened there?

Elsewhere in the city and the surrounding bayous you can't help but feel a sense of foreboding that all of the hard work completed (and still being undertaken) to rebuild might all be in vain in this hurricane-prone region.

The boys bopped and bounced along to dozens of street buskers and we visited the National Parks jazz museum in the downtown precinct to learn a little about jazz instruments.

We strolled through the flea market and farmers market and up and down the streets of downtown, including the famous/infamous Bourbon Street.

We all loved New Orleans!

The creation of a creole

The French-speaking Acadians we heard so much about during our travels through Canada's maritime provinces really got around.

When they were expelled by the British from those parts, one of the places where they found refuge was in the swampy marshlands of Louisiana.

Here they built new lives and when their children were born those American-born Acadians became known as 'creoles', a people distinctively different from those arriving fresh off the boats from Europe.

At the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site we gained insights into the lifestyle and typical homes of those creoles.

A short video provided historical context before our docent provided the boys with costumes and took us on a guided walk through the homestead.

Marie very patiently answered all of our questions, with the boys' queries mainly focusing on the chamber pots and Matilda, the resident cat.

It made for a really informative afternoon spent with a very kind and patient lady - thanks Marie!