We left New Orleans anxious to explore a part of the country we had not visited, the Mississippi River Delta. Our explorations started in Natchez MS.
We set up camp about 20 minutes outside of town at Natchez State Park. 
The location put us close to the Natchez Trace, Mississippian Mounds and Vicksburg.
The Natchez Trace is 450 mile plus trail system that connects the bluffs of the Mississippi River to the hills of Tennessee. These trails have been in use for thousands of years, first by Native Americans and later by European settlers. You can still walk on parts of the original Trace and add your footprints to thousands that previously walked the paths.
In 1938 a parkway was constructed to commemorate the the original Trace. Now instead of walking you can drive the 444 miles from Southwest Mississippi to Tennessee. 
The Parkway allows for easy access to a number of ancient mound sites. These mounds where constructed as sacred places by the ancestors of the modern day Natchez, Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians. We visited the Emerald Mound (the second largest of the Mississippian mounds north of Mexico).
It’s an impressive structure constructed by hand starting in AD 1350. 
The view from the top where the tribe’s leader would have built his house.
We traveled the Trace up toward Vicksburg and visited a number of historic sites along the way.
Mount Locust Inn and Plantation is one of the oldest structures in the area. It was built in 1780. As traffic on the Trace increased with the influx of settlers, the owners started to feed and house travelers creating one of the few inns on the Trace. 
The slave cemetery was a stark reminder of how this country was built.
The Mississippi River was of vital importance to both the North and the South. The Union needed to control the river to allow troops and supplies to pass into the South. The Confederates also needed the river for supplies and recruits. By late summer of 1862 only Vicksburg and Port Hudson LA blocked Union control of the Mississippi. After fierce fighting and a siege of 46 days the Union prevailed. Close to 20,000 died during the battle and siege. Touring the the park will take between three and five hours. We arrived late in the day and really just got a quick overview. 
Battery De Golyer
The Park has over 1,000 monuments commemorating state battalions and officers who participated in the battle. This is the Illinois memorial.
Also on display was the resurrected remains of the Union ironclad gunboat Cairo. The boat was sunk in 1862 with an electrically detonated torpedo. We toured a Confederate ironclad in Kinston NC which made for an interesting comparison.
On the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River sits the town of Natchez. Before the Civil War the area was home to more millionaires then any other place in the US. That wealth was generated by the thriving cotton plantations. Many of these planters were investors from the North who came to Natchez to make their fortunes. Instead of living on the plantations they used slave labor to build homes near the river.
We enjoyed walking the grounds of these antebellum homes and admiring the gardens. 
This home was built on the bluff after the Civil War and was one of our favorites.
We enjoyed wandering and reading the many historical markers explaining the towns long history. 
As always we like to checkout the local flavor of wherever we find ourselves. Steampunk Coffee served up excellent coffee and conversation. Highly recommend. Sorry no photos. It was across the street from the local brewery where our conversations continued. 
Highway 61 continues up the backbone of Mississippi and we’re on it. 
We like to park the Tin Can on the west bank of the Mississippi River at Bayou Segnette State Park. 
Our front yard
Louis Armstrong greets you as you enter the ferry terminal. 
Some of Carlos Rolon’s work as seen at NOMA.
Three of the larger stages are set up along the river. During the first day of the festival we started smelling diesel fuel but couldn’t identify the source. Turns out a ship docked to hard and punctured its fuel tank. We found this out when the ferry was canceled. 
The clean up
Magic on the street
Wait in line for fresh beignets
And then there was this guy
Yes, he did land it.
Fats Domino’s piano
The costume takes a year to construct and is used for only one Mardi Gras season. 
But our New Orleans visit was more than just music and history. There are lots of neighborhoods to explore and this time we chose to revisit some old favorites and check out some new ones. The Garden district has some beautiful homes and as we missed out on a tour of the Lafayette Cemetery last visit, we made a point to tour it this time.
Since we were nearby, we wandered over to the Irish Channel neighborhood for lunch. Bon Appetite’s choice for restaurant of the year is located on Jackson Ave. 
The jasmine was in bloom and scented the air everywhere. After an afternoon of wandering, we bellied up to two for one cocktails and conversation with the locals @ Barrel Proof Whiskey Bar. (We had too much fun to document that though.)
There’s always something to celebrate in NOLA.
We spent two nights here and realized that we’ll need to head back at some point to explore the area more completely. What we did find during our stay was miles of white sand beaches and crystal clear turquoise water and an abundance of wildlife. 
The beach was a five minute walk from camp, across the dunes on a boardwalk.
This guy made sure we stayed on the boardwalk when we crossed the dunes.
Both evenings we walked the beach we watched schools of Rays riding the waves into shore eating as they went. Quite a show.
The beaches are as deserted as they look. One evening we had to share the beach with this guy.
This Park is across the bay from Pensacola and has a long military history. Fort Pickens is located a couple of miles from the campground along the Florida Scenic Trail.
We saw lots of birds along the trail. Particularly impressive were the numerous Osprey.
But it’s also fun to see the familiar as well. 
Fort Pickens is a brick and mortar structure competed in 1834(construction was done primarily by slaves) and remained in use until 1947. From 1886 to 1887 Geronimo was held prisoner here. The Fort was active in Mexican- American War, Civil War, Spanish American War and the two World Wars. 
The Blue Angels are based across the bay from the Fort and practice every Tuesday. We weren’t there for practice but did see them fly over the campground in formation. For us the attraction of this area is the the beach and wildlife.
While we didn’t see many people there was evidence that we weren’t alone. 
Hopefully, we have the opportunity to come back for a longer stay. 
We stay in Skidaway Island State Park. The campground is tucked into a beautiful Live Oak hammock near hiking/biking trails. 
We have visited Savannah numerous times but this visit was special. Pat’s sister Doty and her partner Carroll meet up with us during their first trip in their new camper. We had a blast exploring the area. 
On Tybee Island
Hiking Skidaway Island
Derek Gripper of South Africa
Jenny Scheinman’s Mischief & Mayhem (Todd Sickafoose, Niles Cline and Jim Black)
Etienne Charles performing his Gullah Roots suite.
Manual Theater
Savannah is both beautiful and historical. The city is laid out as a grid with public squares interspersed. The squares began their lives as areas for grazing livestock. Today they feature gardens and monuments. 
From this balcony General Lafayette addressed the citizens of Savannah in 1825. 
This cemetery contains the remains of a signer of our Declaration of Independence and numerous veterans of the Revolutionary War.
The Owens-Thomas House
Photos courtesy of Carroll
We just liked the sign.
The former A.S. Varn & Son Oyster and Crab Factory
We spent our last evening @ camp visiting with a couple whose blog we follow. Laurel and Eric were visiting the area and we made plans to meet for dinner. It was great to finally meet someone whose blog has helped plan many of our trips. We had a fun time but forgot to take a photo. Here is a link to their blog.
Here it’s all about the sand. The campground is tucked into the sand dunes and is about a three minute walk to the Gulf beach. 
Gallberry blooms
For us the most fun was on the gulf beach. We never made it to the tip of the peninsula because beachcombing for shells and the soft sugar sand kept us slowly following the 7 mile beach.
The cavern is located in a floodplain of the Chipola River system. Instead of palm trees there is a mix of pine, tupelo cypress, southern magnolia, sweet gum mixed in with palmetto and an abundance of wildflowers.
The Park offers a number of multi use trails that allowed us to explore the surrounding woods. 
We saw a variety of flowers blooming. 
Atamasco Lily
???
Columbine
And some fauna as well.
While touring the cave a fellow spelunker told us about the highest waterfall in Florida. A waterfalls in Florida? We needed to check this out for ourselves. 
Here it is in all its glory(76 feet tall). This is where a stream drops into a sinkhole and disappears into a cave. 
Speaking of high points, we also visited Britton Hill- the highest natural point of Florida. At 345 feet it’s actually the lowest state highpoint in the US. You may not know that there is an organization of high point enthusiasts. These folks visit all 50 state high points. Not many people can claim all 50 but we actually have a handful under our hiking shoes.
After a few days in the woods we are heading back to the Gulf coast for more beach time.
Site 114 in the River Campground
Camping is hard work.
The Park features a nine mile network of mountain bike trails. Great fun.
The Park also offers lots of wild life viewing opportunities. We spent every morning checking on the Bald Eagle nest along the paved bike path. A fifteen week old eaglet and its mom made for some must see birding(sorry, no photos). But there were other wildlife sightings as well.
The Park is home to Hobe Hill- the highest point(86 ft) in Florida south of Lake Okeechobee.
Part of our motivation for making a stop in Jupiter was to connect with Pat’s High School buddy Lynne. 
We spent an afternoon on Jupiter Island walking the beach and collecting shells.
From Jupiter, we traveled inland to central Florida to visit with Pat’s brother Mike and his wife Donna. 
We had purchased tickets for Ben Wendel’s Seasons Band jazz show in Winter Park at the Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts. Wow, what a great band and performance, (Gilad Hekdelman, Matt Brewer, Aaron Parks and Kendrick Scott).
Their new home is near Mt. Dora, which is a picturesque town on a lake. 
The 1/4 mile boardwalk gives you the opportunity to check out the local fauna.
Baby Alligator
Brown Water Snake
Night Heron
A fun time was had by all. 
And down the road we go.
Much of the beachfront has been lost throughout the Keys and storm debris was visible wherever we went. 
In spite of all this we did enjoy the sun and crystal clear waters of the Keys. We came to Fiesta Key to spend some time with Pat’s sister Mary and her husband Jeff. 
We camped about 70 miles from Key West. It’s as close as we were going to get for some time- so we couldn’t resist a visit to the Conch Republic.
We went to all the hot spots, including a tour of the Audubon House and a walk through the Truman Annex(lovely homes and gardens).
We strolled through Mallory Square 
and saw this monster Disney Cruiseliner. 
Fiesta Key is only 2 1/2 miles from Long Key State Park. We had tried to reserve a spot at this park pre-Irma and got closed out. That was a bit of good fortune as the campground no longer exists. We did bike down for a look around. 
Bits of stag horn coral littered the beaches.
Always on the look out for some local flavor we stumbled on the Florida Keys Brewing Co. Good beer with a laid back island vibe in their beer garden. Recommended.
That’s it for the Keys. We head up the Atlantic coast toward Jupiter and a get together with Pat’s high school friend Lynne.
That’s the commuter train not far from the Tin Can. It is amazing what you can ignore when you find a location that perfectly fits your needs. If the campground was a parking lot beside a train track, the park itself was lovely. It had a 2 1/2 mile walking trail(Pat was happy) and beautiful grounds. Despite the urban setting there are a lot of birds. One day we saw a flock of wild green parrots come through. They are really noisy.
We didn’t spend a great deal of time in camp. The idea was to explore the area. We made the short trip to Hollywood Beach to check out the boardwalk and ocean. Hurricane damage was still visible.
While checking out the commuter train station we saw a sign for a Farmers Market. We never pass up a chance for local flavor. This market was a sprawling affair that included food vendors, crafts, coffee and lots of ethnic fare. 
Shelly contacted a friend from elementary school who spends part of the year in Boca Raton. Andy and his wife Carolyn served up a lovely meal while we reminisced. Great fun. 
We woke early, walked to the commuter train and headed into Miami for an overnight visit. 
The plan was to meet Shelly’s sister Ellen and her husband Rory for a couple of days of fun in downtown Miami.
We checked into our hotel and then headed to Little Havana for lunch and sightseeing.
We where pleasantly surprised by all the public art throughout the city. Here’s some of what we saw in Little Havana. 
What visit to Miami would be complete without a visit to South Beach. We soon realized that we were too old for the frantic pace of this part of Miami. However we did enjoy walking around and enjoying the architecture. 
The entrance to the former Versace home.
On South Beach with Rory
From South Beach we rolled on to the Wynnwood section of town. This part of town has been turned into an outdoor museum with its world famous murals. 
We want Miles!
Miami is a surprisingly attractive city, interesting architecture and lots of public art. 
We moved our base of operations from the state park to the Naples KOA–Think parking lot with a full hookup. 
It’s not as bad as it looks. There are plenty of friendly people, there’s a salt water swimming pool and we’re usually out exploring during the day. A ten minute drive from the KOA was Eagle Lakes Town Park. A great place for walking, biking and watching birds.
There’s a 2 1/2 mile boardwalk that winds through a wet prairie, Florida pine forest and cypress swamp. The last hurricane took its toll on the trees in the sanctuary. 
In spite of of the damage there were still plenty of birds and other wildlife. 
We saw birds, butterflies, snakes and turtles.
While visiting with Micheal and Vickie we explored Naples. We spent the day at Delnor-Wiggins Pass State beach.
Another day we met them for a late lunch to explore historic 3rd Street in downtown Naples and a sunset stroll on the Municipal Beach by the Pier.
Palm Cottage(1895) oldest house in Naples 
Tincan Travels 