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It’s a trip for a wedding in Pensacola but we’ve added some sights Read more
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  • Ant TravelsFlorida Mississippi Louisiana
    Day 1

    We’ve arrived in NO but ..

    May 25, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    So it’s the pre wedding excursion and we fly to New Orleans but … we prepare well and get to Heathrow and then it’s a hour and half delay because of technicalities and IT issues. The flight is good - movie catch up .Empire of Lights and Tar and others… we land and then they announce that the luggage didn’t make the flight with us ! We get off and discover that “not many” means only about 15 bags travelled ! We all try and register the missing baggage reports but IT strikes again . We finally get through a very pleasant customs and get the hire car … and we’re off ! So we don’t know when it might arrive …maybe tomorrow’s flight ! Where will we be over next 72 hrs ? … well we are staying in one night hotels so we shall see ! Bad for us but worse for the lads party on a golfing holiday …no clubs! …and bad for those off on a cruise ! Fingers crossed ! We are lucky to be here - the luggage less lucky ! It is warm though ! Must buy a T shirt !Read more

  • Ant TravelsFlorida Mississippi Louisiana
    Day 2

    Plantations and Hot sauce !

    May 26, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    So we’re up very early as we cannot sleep! It’s a welcome breakfast that feels like lunch and we head west past Lake Pontchartrain and onto Oak Alley plantation - it’s a very impressive old sugar plantation near the Mississippi levees . Fantastic old oaks form drape the ground and form a canopy alley of views ! Then we drop down to Berwick and it’s impressive old lighthouse and bridges . We take a leisurely drive up to Avery Island , a wildlife sanctuary , and home to the world famous hot sauce of Tabasco ! It’s a spicy lunch before we head north to Layfayette and Cajun country !
    Still no luggage update from
    BA but I have a new t shirt !    Read more

  • Ant TravelsFlorida Mississippi Louisiana
    Day 3

    Fred’s Lounge , Cajun Louisiana

    May 27, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    So luggage ! Up early and another attempt to find a bag ! Website has no info so a call to customer services and we have dialogue and register the loss - despite believing the BA person at the airport was doing it ! There is no update!

    We head up the road to the world not so famous Fred’s lounge ! It’s a bar that had been holding a radio programme if the Saturday morning Cajun dance for 70 odd years! It’s unassuming and folks gather for the 9am kick off ! We sneak done local breakfast in first - a kolache and a boudin , sort of spicy sausage rolls and the obligatory doughnut! And we’re ready to go ! The place is filling with tourists and locals - well only the locals can dance properly , the rest bluff! Some crazy characters , some great music with accordion and pedal steel guitar and of course local commentary and radio adverts from the MC! It’s crazy and the good times roll !
    It lasts most of the morning but we slope away after an hour or so
    We cross the flatlands of Louisiana which is punctuated by ponds/ lakes of crayfish nets and onto the Mississippi River .
    It’s funny what you notice - it’s all chapels and churches, and billboards about lawyers - “car crash ? See xxx”. Odd !
    Past Atchafalaya National Wildlife refuge and then a flow drive up the Mississippi river mainly levees but the odd bridge and silt works and even a huge canal !
    We finish at beautiful Natchez and a great old house for the night
    It’s another t shirt purchase day , plus some socks and then another useless chat to BA to update on where we are staying for delivery and discover where the bag is - still in UK it seems !
    We chill in Natchez under the hill with a big view of the Mississippi!    Read more

  • Ant TravelsFlorida Mississippi Louisiana
    Day 4

    Yeah, I’m going to Jackson

    May 28, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    A leisurely start and a look around our lodgings - the Linden House , an old antebellum mansion from 1785 - with a front door porch that’s supposedly the inspiration for the Tara front door in the Gone with the wind movie - don’t quite why that’s famous but hey ! The house is very stylish and we have a special breakfast beneath another shoo fly or as we discover it’s called a Punkah- as in punkahwallah!
    A drive through historic Natchez and a visit to probably its most infamous site which is also very low key given it’s history ! It’s called the “Forks in the road” and it was the crossroads where all the slave trading happened! Apart from some plaques telling the story it’s just a small piece of grass!
    We head east on the Natchez trace parkway. It’s an attractive quiet tree lined drive that led from the trading roots centring on Natchez from up and down Mississippi and east to Nashville.
    We look at the Emerald Mound which an ancient 1300- 1600 First Nation site , covering 8 acres it’s the second largest in USA!
    Continuing on we pass Loess bluff which is an ancient glacial layer of soils left after the ice age of 3-30 miles wide and the trace path cuts through it . There’s also an old house called Mount Locust dating from 1780 on the trace which served as a stopping off point for the boatmen to get home - their boats couldn’t go back up the river so they had to walk home!
    Taking a slight detour off the Trace for a while we are amazed at the old multi Greek revival pillared 30 room mansion of Windsor ! It sadly burned down in the 1860s but weirdly all the stone pillars remain here in the middle of nowhere!
    The day is heating up but the Mississippi petrified forest site is impressive and very well shaded!
    It’s a late lunch and I am allowed / indulged to take in the last jukejoint The Blue Front Cafe on highway 49! It’s been there since 1948 and today run by a famous blues man Jimmy Duck Holmes ! It’s very quiet today and take a snack and drink and buy a CD off Jimmy !
    It’s been a good day -albeit no sign of the luggage still and Leeds got relegated and sadly Leicester too and sadly not Everton!    Read more

  • Ant TravelsFlorida Mississippi Louisiana
    1
    Day 5

    Red bluff and Nawlins’

    May 29, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    It’s back to New Orleans before we get to Florida and maybe a bag will appear !

    Red Bluff was created by the erosion of the west bank of the Pearl River. Its red clay, soil, sand, and other colourful sediments. and it rises to a height of 350 feet .The bluff slopes sharply into the Pearl River floodplain and it’s impressive with shades of Bryce Canyon ! It’s a bit off the track but we’ll worth it ! Great colours! There was a road but well it’s been eroded and it’s remains edge the Bluff !

    It’s Memorial Day here and some places are closed so we head down to NO !
    We’re early so we take in a few odd sites - the art deco Lakefront airport a real wow! And since it’s near the hotel Dr. Bobs folk art but the Music box village is closed !
    Once settled in hotel in town we walk to Canal street and pay homage to Ignatius J Reilly and the confederacy! ( thinking of you John ! ) and then take in the sounds and smells and vibe of Bourbon street and the French quarter ! It’s wild and weird as usual . A meal in the Gumbo Shop and a walk past Preservation hall and we are home !

    Post script , whilst walking on Bourbon street we meet fellow passengers who appear to have hit their luggage yesterday !!!

    Post post script - Hugh and family have had delays and have not got further than Amsterdam ! Nightmare times !

    PPPS - I now have socks and underpants - the world can breathe again !    Read more

  • Ant TravelsFlorida Mississippi Louisiana
    Day 6

    The sea, the sea , the sea

    May 30, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Out of Nawlins and along the coast to the Seaside !
    I have my obligatory discussion / argument with the BA offshore customer muppets department. Todays catch cannot even find my record ! He cannot pass me on to a superior as he is just able to read his script ! Guess he’s waiting for AI to make his life easier ! I resort to the Exec club and after a 10 minute wait I finally get something not on a script. Yes the luggage is in London and maybe within 24 hrs it might be here ! Really ?
    It’s good to talk !

    Anyway we leave town and head towards Biloxi - complete with fishbone alley and lighthouse !
    A quick saunter around the mammoth and weird souvenir centre and we’re off down the coast .
    It’s not the most exciting of trips after Biloxi but eventually hit the coast on our way to Sandestin Beach .
    We relive the squeaky sand experiences and have a paddle as it’s pretty warm !
    For supper we make an amazing find of the Outcast Seafood restaurant - shrimp and crab , hot and spicy - the Big O !
    Tomorrow we head west for the wedding prep.. and maybe some luggage ?????    Read more

  • Ant TravelsFlorida Mississippi Louisiana
    1
    Day 7

    Seaside to Pensacola

    May 31, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Decided against a chat with BA offshore screen reading department but I see there is still no change to the online report . I forgot to mention the category’s of items in ones luggage ! Bizarre at best !

    A quick saunter down to Seaside the town made famous by the Truman Show but also home to a great family holiday and the discovery of very squeaky sand !
    The town is architecturally unique and there are echoes the other film Pleasantville . It’s one of the first communities in America designed on the principles of New Urbanism and feels very different and clean and the sand well ..the sand is very white ! The sand here is comprised of 99% pure silica quartz from the mountains . The quartz is ground to a perfect oval in each grain of sand. It is so fine in texture, it literally “squeaks” under your toes as you walk on it!
    Well it’s changed a bit ! Its still all pastel colours and wood boarded houses but there’s more of it all . However It’s all private beach now , entrance by wrist bracelet to the beaches ! It’s sort of an inverted Truman show where they are keeping others out !
    After our indulgence it’s a leisurely drive up the coast to Pensacola Beach and family and wedding !
    We’ve arrived and guess what no message over luggage yet !    Read more

  • Ant TravelsFlorida Mississippi Louisiana
    Day 8

    Pensacola Beach

    June 1, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 26 °C

    We’ve arrived ! It’s hot !
    We check in with family -all are good ! We swop war stories as to how or what went wrong or very wrong with our respective flights !

    We chill out and wander out to see if there are any clothes shops as the T-shirt is not really wedding gear !

    Pensacola beach is a fun place , neat and tidy and separated from the main town and it has some oddities !

    The BA website has updated and they have found the bag ! I’m wondering if that’s a comment on London or New Orleans ? They’re going to tell me when they have it out for delivery ! Despite this no message yet so which t shirt today ? And can I find a cheap Gucci suit ?

    It’s a short trip to the beach and to the pier ! It’s full of fishermen and they’re plenty of fish it seems ! The dolphins are busy , the terns are busy , the surfers are busy !

    The town is tourist trap !

    We found some shoes for me . There is no message on luggage !    Read more

  • Ant TravelsFlorida Mississippi Louisiana
    Day 9

    Margaritaville Beach Hotel

    June 2, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    W - day ! And it’s luggage day too - only a week late !!! And with no promised email or text ! It just arrived !

  • Ant TravelsFlorida Mississippi Louisiana
    Day 11

    New Orleans

    June 4, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Party’s over and it’s the drive back to NO !
    It’s a long drive made longer by a truck on fire / exploding on the highway 10 bridge into Mobile and we’re delayed about an hour!
    Once back in French quarter we take in sights and bars and restaurant and more sights and then the sounds of Preservation hall jazz ! It’s Gregg Stafford and the Preservation Legacy Band and an evening of Traditional New Orleans Music.
    After the jazz we pop into the home of the Hand Grenade drink - but only for a beer !
    It’s been trying to rain and after we get home the rain and wind and lightning arrive !
    It’ll be dry tomorrow - fingers crossed !    Read more

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