On the Way Home

Sadly our time in South Carolina had come to an end.  We attended Sacrament meeting with Holley's family, then went home to change and start on our way home.  We wanted to go a different route home--into Florida--so we needed a few extra hours to travel.

Sunday night we stayed in Panama City Beach, Florida.  Monday morning we put on our swimsuits and walked down to the beach--less than a mile away.  It rained on us a bit and we wondered whether or not we should go.  But this was our time to be here, so we decided that since we were going to get wet anyway, we'd continue.  The rain stopped just as we got to the beach and the sun started to come out.

Glenn had fun chasing the seagulls.

Here we are putting our toes in the soft sand and in the water of the Gulf of Mexico!

We didn't venture as far out as we had in South Carolina.  The water was a bit more choppy and it wasn't as hot of a day--it was the morning and it had just rained.  

And the rain started to come back.  The clouds seemed to be a great distance off, but we heard some thunder, saw the darkening clouds and determined that it was a good time to leave.  Just as we left the sand, the rain came down!  It poured on us too!  We were drenched by the time we reached our hotel.  What a funny morning!

After getting cleaned up and dry, we headed on our way.  We drove the southern route across Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and finally Louisiana.

Here we are coming into New Orleans.  

We stopped for dinner and some sight-seeing in New Orleans.  We looked up a restaurant that was a traditional spot to go to--The Old Coffee Pot.  It's kind of hard to read in the second picture, but this restaurant was established in 1894.  

We arrived there at about 5pm--just as people were getting off work and not really starting their night life yet, which was perfect for us.  We were the first people in there for dinner and had great service.  We ordered the Triple D--this had been a featured restaurant on Food Network's show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  

And the Jambalaya Pasta.

Both were really good!

Then because we still had some daylight left, we went walking around the French Quarter.

We saw this poster at a souvenir shop and laughed so hard!  

And of course we had to stop at Cafe Du Monde for some famous beignets!!

Yummy!  And we didn't get powder sugar all over us--that's pretty impressive, especially with how much sugar they put on them!

We had a beautiful sun set in the down town area.

Just on the opposite side of where we were standing to take this picture, some street musicians were playing.  I caught just the very end of their little performance.  But what a fun thing to see in New Orleans!

 

That night we drove a bit further and stayed in Baton Rouge.  The next morning we continued on our way home.   We stopped at the Candyland Cottage & Ice Cream Shoppe in Rayne, LA.  We saw all kinds of fun treats and candy, including the world's largest gummy bear!  I didn't take a picture, but it was pretty big.  We each chose a candy to eat on the way home.

Finally we made it back to Texas, and back to Austin.  What a great trip!!