The Latest on Our Travels in Florida

Oh man. It's been over a week since my last blog and I feel like we've traveled so much. Sorry to those who read this blog on a regular basis for making you wait so long for another update. I guess I didn't feel much up to writing this last week.

Where do I start? Oh yeah, it was Pensacola, Florida. That was the last place of the beginning of our adventure in Florida. Or should I say that's where the adventure started? Anyways, Pensacola was nice. It's a beach town and known as a "Spring Break" destination for those young college students. There wasn't a lot of spring breaking going on while we were there due to the lack of it being Spring Break, but it was still very nice. The weather was awesome. Alex and I got some sun on the beach. We didn't get in the water because the water looked very dirty and brown. The beach was a rather small beach, but at least it was free. In Pensacola we had a hard time finding a beach area that was open to the public. I guess it's just that popular.

I'm trying to remember if there was anything else memorable about the town....It seems like we were there so long ago. Oh, now I remember. It had a really old downtown area. I saw a sign that said it was Florida's oldest settlement, but I thought St. Augustine was the oldest settlement, and then I found out that there are many towns in Florida that claim to be the oldest settlement. So, who knows where the actual first settlement is, right?

We ate at a really popular pub in Pensacola that had over one million dollar bills pinned to the ceiling and walls. It was at McGuire's Irish Pub and Grill and the story behind all the dollar bills is, when the place first opened in the 1970's the owner pinned her first dollar tip to the wall as a good luck charm, and ever since then patrons of the bar have been pinning dollars all over the place. I guess that first dollar bill really did bring some good luck to the place.

Alex and I worked our way along the Gulf of Mexico and stopped in Panama City. Panama City claims to have the most beautiful beaches in the world. Seriously, they are not lying. The beaches in Panama City were phenomenal. I think they are even better than the beaches back in Cali.
The sand was as fine and white as sugar and the water was the most beautiful aquamarine blue. As Alex and I laid out in the gleaming sun, it felt like we were on our second honeymoon. The town itself was not that amazing, but the beaches were fantastic.

After spending some time along the Gulf, we made our way inland to Tallahassee; the capital of Florida. I wasn't too impressed. So far, we have been to five different state capitals and I still think California has the best one when it comes to the building and the city as a whole. Austin, Texas came in a close second, but Sacramento has outshone all the ones I've seen. Florida has an old capital building and a new one. The new one was built in the 1970s and just looks like another dull skyscraper. When they built the new one, the plan was to tear down the old one, but the city protested and the old capital builing was preserved to it's original 1902 appearance, including all the original furnishings. Honestly I was eager to get out of Tallahassee. The city just seemed "dead."

We left Tallahassee and moved on to Gainseville, home of the Gators. It was the first college town on this trip that did not impress me. I really wanted to like it, but I just didn't. It seemed very commercial and there wasn't much to do that interested me.

Alex and I did go on a beautiful hike right outside of Gainesville, which I enjoyed thoroughly. It was in a forest-like area, well, I guess it was a forest, but not like the forests in California. The trees were really skinny and there were a few swampy areas, as well. I didn't see any aligators, but I hopefully will soon. I did get a good picture of a Cardinal while we were hiking and I think Cardinals are the prettiest bird.

We finally made it to the Atlantic Ocean! If our van breaks down now, then at least we can say we made it all the way across the USA. Lately, we have been getting a lot of looks as we drive by in our van because it's rare to see such an old car driving around in these parts from California. I'm really proud that we made it this far. It feels like such a huge accomplishment. There were times I wasn't sure if we would make it, but Maander pulled through.

We went to a VW car show in Daytona Beach. It was a two day thing and there were lots of different VWs there. We didn't even know about the show, but a guy in Tallahassee saw us and came up to our van and told us about the car show. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to go, especially since we were so close. I think we were the only people who drove out all the way from Cali. In my opinion it was too over priced, but I had fun looking at all the different V-Dubs.

Alex and I are now in Orlando, Fl, and we are making our way down to the Keys of Florida. We plan on being in this State for a few weeks. The weather has been in the 70s and 80s. We have been getting a ton of sun.

Traveling has been great, but I really miss home. Lately, I have been thinking about all the stuff I want to do when I get back to Sacramento. I love seeing new places and this traveling lifestyle, but I love seeing familiar faces more. I miss my family, friends and city.