Florida Shutterfly Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Here's my recent photobook for our last trip - Florida in February. Wish I was there now!

Clearwater Beach: Beach + Dolphin + Deep-sea Fishing Adventure

Adam's parents rented a condo in Clearwater Beach, Florida for the month of February. They were so kind as to invite us down for a visit.

My parents went and visited them the week before, and got me really excited about our trip with all the photos they texted. It worked out well, because we picked them up at the airport Tuesday night, and then they took Chester home with them for the week.

Our flight left at 5:30 on Friday. Despite the Snowpocalypse (10+ inches of snow) and our cancelled taxi due to the horrible roads, we made it to the airport and out on time! 

 We were greeted in Tampa by crazy fog and humidity. But it was warm, which was glorious. Curt and Robin nicely picked us up at the airport and brought us back to the condo. It was an hour later due to the time change, so we didn't stay up long.

On Saturday morning, we slept in a bit, had breakfast, and then Adam and I wandered down to the beach for about an hour and a half. It was foggy but beautiful. 

We enjoyed the sand and waves on our feet, 

and I had fun collecting interesting shells.

We walked back to the condo at 11 and were excited to see that the sun was coming out. 

After changing, we all set out for our "deep sea fishing" adventure. There was a mix-up on the time, and we were an hour early, so we grabbed a drink and some apps at Crabby Bill's.

At 1, our four hour fishing adventure began. We went on the Above Average 2 with Captain Mike, which was the same trip my dad and Curt did on Monday morning.

It was really foggy out, which made the 40 minute drive out into the Gulf pretty creepy.

The highlight was when a dolphin followed our boat, jumping in the wake, for a while. It was very cool to see so close up!

I hadn't really wanted to go fishing, but it was the same price whether I went or not, so I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did! Once I got over the killing the fish part (okay, I never really got over that), I had a lot of fun. The fish were so beautiful that it made me sad to see them thrown in the cooler instead of back into the water. I was always happy when one was too small to save!

We caught grunts, red grouper, porgies, and hogfish. I even caught a pufferfish! It was so cute!

My best fish was a big gag grouper. It was really hard for me to reel it in. I didn't think I was going to do it! 

The guide said we couldn't keep it because it wasn't the right season - this made me ecstatic! It was too cool to not let live on.

Adam caught a really cool red grouper.

And Robin caught a keeper male hogfish.

The last hour we were out there, the sun decided to come back out and the fog disappeared. It was so peaceful.

Back at the docks, the guide laid out all the fish before cleaning it.

I was surprised at what a production it was, with random tourists stopping by to check out our catch.

I made sure not to watch, and took photos of birds instead.

We walked back to the condo, and then Adam and I left immediately to watch the sunset on the beach. We didn't quite make it in time, but I got off a few clicks before it disappeared completely.

On the way back, we stopped at Surf Style to get me something to drink for the condo. I couldn't believe it when we found Bud Light Mang-O-Rita! This is a flavor I've been hoping for ever since Lime-A-Rita was introduced. It better make its way north soon! We also saw Raz-Ber-Rita, but there wasn't enough time for me to consume a 12-pack of each. As it was, I needed a lot of help from Adam over the next few days!

Back at the condo, Robin was feeling tired so we stayed in for the night. She made up some of the fish we caught, and we enjoyed it with haricots verts. It was pretty neat to eat the fish we had just caught.

It was a great first day in the warmth of Florida!

Highlights:
Stef -Walking along the beach, the dolphin!
Adam - Deep-sea fishing, walking along the beach

New Orleans Day 5: A Night at Oak Alley Plantation

After a quick lunch in Slidell, we forgot to go to Mississippi, instead heading back towards New Orleans so we could travel along the River Road and spend the night in a cottage at Oak Alley. Here's a little map of our route -

 

 We made an accidental detour by the Superdome when I was a bad navigator and we missed our freeway exit. It allowed me to snap a photo of that horrible place (I may still be bitter from a certain NFC Championship Game...).

It was a short delay, and we were back the right way in 5 minutes. Along the road, we could see a few above ground cemeteries. They are so unique looking!

 

Our route took us along the east side of the river. I was surprised to see how close together the plantations were. At one point, there were nearly 500 plantations lining both sides of the river on the 70-mile stretch between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The plantation lots were narrow but stretched far back from the river. The reason for this being that the river frontage was at a premium, as this was how they transported their crops of sugar cane and pecan.

 

Unfortunately, during Reconstruction after the "War of Northern Aggression" some of these great homes fell into disrepair. Then, in the early 1900s Mosaic disease wiped out many of the sugarcane crops and led to financial ruin at many of the plantations. The great houses were then abandoned. Also at this time, the area along the River Road became much more industrial. In 1932, the Army Corps of Engineers completed the levee system along the river which wiped out many of the huge plantation gardens and ruined the view of the river from these houses.

You can still see the big plantation houses in varying states of disrepair along this stretch. There are many different house styles ranging from Creole (like Laura) to Greek Revival (like Oak Alley) and Italianate. There's even one considered "Steamboat Gothic" called San Francisco. It was closing when we drove by, so weren't able to tour, but I grabbed a few photos from the road. It's very unique looking.

We crossed over the river on a really high bridge to the west side of the River Road. 

 

By 4:15, we were at Oak Alley. We wandered the grounds for a bit and took some photos before checking in at 5. Oak Alley is famous for it's quarter mile allée of oaks. These oaks were in place long before the plantation house was even built, and are thought to be over 300 years old!

 

 We rented a whole cottage for ourselves as I thought it would be weird to share one. These cottages were old sharecropper cottages that had been updated. It had 2 large bedrooms, living room, bath room with dressing area, dining room, and full kitchen. 

 

 Because we were out in the country, we had arranged for food from the plantation restaurant to be waiting for us in the fridge to be heated up. Adam had chicken and sausage gumbo with rice and my salad. I had seafood au gratin with veggies. The food was okay, but worthwhile to avoid the hassle of going somewhere or making something.

 

By 7, it was dark, so we decided to take the flashlight, camera and tri-pod to do some exploring. The cool thing about staying on the grounds is that you are free to roam the plantation after closing. I was really excited to take advantage of it. The grounds were lit up beautifully, and there wasn't a soul in sight. It was spooky but amazing.

 

On our way to the big house, we made a kitty cat friend that followed us the whole time. I thought our new friend was adorable, but Adam was not amused.

In front of the house, we set up the camera and tripod, and had fun taking some long exposure shots.

 

We even got in on a few of them.

Adam did the smile perfect on his first (and only) try!

 

Then we walked back to our cottage in time to watch the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead. It was a really neat atmosphere to watch it in! Spooky and isolated.

Favorites:
Adam - Swamp Tour
Stef - Seeing gators and the swamp, walking along the allée of oaks at Oak Alley, especially at night