Georgia: I was down in Savannah eating cream and banana

Southern charm is everywhere in Savannah, Georgia. A national historic site, Savannah is a handsome town with 18th and 19th century architecture, 22 green city squares and a cobble stoned waterfront.



Three different operators give trolley car tours around town and they seem to cover the same route and point out the same sites. We took the cheapest tour, Oglethorpe, because it looked the best, but it wasn’t so great – average really. They would have a better chance of being the best if they didn’t spend so much time justifying why their tour was cheaper than the others and just getting on with providing a great tour!
Anyway, our driver/guide gave us a good overview and helped us get our bearings. He spoke very fast to get everything in and said he was “fixing” to do stuff a lot.



We got off the tour in Market Square and spent the rest of the day wandering up and down soaking in the atmosphere.

Movie buffs will find this interesting – beside a wall in Chippewa Square a famous bench sat and on that famous bench a famous speech was made…

“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.”



That famous scene from Forrest Gump was filmed right here and now the locals know the park as Bubba Gump Square.

However, the bench was just a prop - you can see it in one of the town museums – and there never was a bus stop there either.



Dinner was at a little place on the waterfront where I had the best chicken, strawberry, pecan salad ever – and a pretty darn good piece of key lime pie!

Louisiana - The forgotten blog: Bounding on the Bayou

Well now how did that happen? I left out a whole adventure from the blog – and one of the coolest things we got to do – our Louisiana swamp tour.

Thirty minutes south of New Orleans and on our way to Florida several different operators run tours of Cajun country. I can’t think of why we chose Cajun Encounters other than their pamphlet looked good – and we chose well.

In the heavy southern air we waited with around 50 other people in the small (and airconditioned) gift and snack shop. When our local guides arrived we were split into two groups and boarded our river boats.

The journey began in a wide, open river. Here we saw a variety of birds and turtles and unique plant life.



The river winds and gets narrower - you are now entering alligator territory - Big Al’s to be precise.



Our guide tells us that Big Al is rarely seen by groups but his girlfriends frequently stop by. We were lucky as it didn’t take long for one of the giant females to appear.



We soon found out that gators like marshmallows and wiener hotdogs and they are a great way to get the animals to hang around so you can get a good look at them.

A short detour off the main river and we found ourselves in swamp land – green, lush and full of life, Spanish Moss drips off every tree.



Our guide joked that we could get out for a walk here if we wanted, but had to follow it with a disclaimer that just a few weeks ago an Australian girl and a Swiss guy took him up on the offer and were soon up to their waists in swamp water.



Back on the river we sailed passed a community of waterside properties.

Thankfully most of these houses escaped sever damage during Hurricane Katrina however one family wasn’t so lucky. The wind and flood waters carried their home up river and there it remains on top of a riverbank.



A few more gators later and we were back at the visitors centre. Next time you're in Louisiana you have to take a swamp cruise.

Florida: Oh my it's Harry Potter!

Thousands of families and screaming children here we come as we took our second ride on the theme park circuit.

This time we visited Universal Studios and its sister park Islands of Adventure – home to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

That’s right, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter the newest addition to the park that opened around May this year and a must see for any Potter geek like me.

We arrived at Islands just after 9am and already the massive crowds were evident. Thankfully most of them must have headed straight for Potterland at the back of the park because we managed to get on the very scary Hulk rollercoaster easily.

Several of the rides were similar to ones in LA but different enough to still be fun.

We were able to beat the insane wait times by taking the single rider line which let us get on rides in less than 10 minutes and many times we got to sit next to each other anyway.



The park is divided up into sections including Jurassic Park, Superhero Island, Seuss World for the kiddies and, of course, Harry Potter.

Jurassic Park is next door to Harry Potter and by midday there was a line right through the dinosaurs just to get into the Hogsmead (the Harry Potter village for the un-Potter-educated) let alone get on any rides or into any of the stores.

I managed to give Nick a good laugh by accidentally wandering into the Jurassic Log flume “splash zone” just in time for a giant wave to hit me in the back of the head.

It didn’t take long to dry off and after killing time on various rides the crowds had dispersed enough for us to visit Hogwarts (the Harry Potter school for the un-Potter-educated).

Walking through the Hogsmead Gate it’s hard not to think you’re right there in the middle of the movie and you are only brought back to reality when you remember the throngs of people everywhere.

The attention to detail is exceptional.

Chimneys and snow-topped roofs reach up over the cobbled streets and windows are filled with Wizarding treats.



Olivandi’s Wands, the candy store and the Owl Post are all real stores and all have real queues of people outside just to experience more of the incredible detail.

Berty’s Every Flavour Jellybeans and Chocolate Frogs are for sale at over the top prices along with a variety of magical treats.



You can even step inside the Hogs Head tavern and grab a frozen or cold Butterbeer – I got mine from a roadside stand.



I don’t know how they did it, but my mug of ice cold Butterbeer tasted exactly as I’d imagined it to in my head. Very sweet and butterscotchy with a light fizz and a creamy foam on top – and no, it wasn’t alcoholic, but that would be nice. Nick said it reminded him of creaming soda,

Now, onto the rides. First up a coaster for the smaller park visitors (and the not so small), Flight of the Hippogriff, a cutesy wooded rollercoaster that swoops through the gardens around Hagrid’s home and a real Hippogriff.





Upping the scary stakes considerably, the duel dragon coaster has you whipping around loops and corners while a second coaster races around beside you. You can choose to fly with either the Hungarian Horntail or the Chinese Fireball and each is a different ride.

Thanks again to the single rider line we were able to pretty much jump on and off over and over again.

The third and final ride in Potterland came with the largest line we’d seen all day and it didn’t appear to be getting any shorter. So we joined the masses in the 90 minute queue for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter that you into the heart of Hogwarts.

Though we waited a long time, I don’t think it really took an hour and a half to get into the castle.



Just before entering the Harry Potter magic begins with a tour though the herbology gardens. Once inside I was dis pointed I couldn’t bring my camera as riders with mini digitals snap away at the amazing sights.

These descriptions will probably bore anyone who’s not a Potter fan so I don’t mind if you skip ahead now.

First you enter through a grand hall passed statues of the founders of Hogwarts, a giant Gryffin and glass tubes filled with coloured sand showing how many points each of the four houses has accumulated.

Next you come to endlessly high walls covered with talking and moving paintings, including a lovely one of Dawn French, created by flawless technology it’s hard to believe they’re not real.

As you travel deeper into Hogwarts your next stop is the headmaster’s office (just like the movie!) where by further amazing technology Professor Dumbledore welcomes you to the school.

I can’t say enough about the attention to detail. Everywhere you look there are little touches that help pull you into the fantasy – cabinets full of odd and ends, dust, worn drapes and flags, floating candles, the list goes on.

Inside a classroom Ron, Hermine and Harry appear from underneath the invisibility cloak to let you know they’re about to lead a tour before Hermine makes it magically snow from the ceiling.

A final stop by the Sorting Hat and you’re on you way on an exciting ride through the school grounds and a game of Quidditch using live action, giant scenes and special effects.

By the time we got off at 9:30pm the queue was still as long as when we went in.



With two more HP movies still to come I think the crowds will be there for a long time.

More magical, happy pictures from Hogwarts here

We're in Miami!

Hot, sticky and mainly sunny - that's Miami in the middle of summer.

We stayed in Bal Harbour just north of the main Miami Strip and home to one of the most over-the-top rich-persons' mall ever, restaurants and a crowded family beach.

It's also home to a large number of Jewish delis, supermarkets and Kosher restaurants - and a lot of Orthodox Jews.

A few minutes drive south of our hotel are the famous sandy spots of Miami and South Beach.

From the afternoon we spent walking around the shops, restaurants and boardwalks of Miami Beach the people range from standard to stunning and everyone seems to spend a lot of time on their appearance.

Miami and South Beach are just how you’d expect them to be – endless white sand, blue sea, highrises and people everywhere. The waterfront strip is lined with restaurants and the occasional tourist store and to get anywhere you have to fight your way through the line of waiters trying to thrust menus and happy hour vouchers at you.



Along the Miami waterfront and among the busy streets are rows and rows of beautiful art deco buildings. It reminded me of a larger, more tanned version of Napier.





Lincoln Mall is the main shopping and eating area and runs right up to the beach. Supposedly in the winter high season it’s the favourite place for the rich and famous to shop, but we didn’t catch a glimpse of anyone.



Speaking of famous, the Jersey Shore gang were in town for the second season of their show, but we didn’t manage to see any of them either though I’m sure they wouldn’t be hard to find if you really wanted to.

Nick has been on the hunt (ha, pun) for a patch for his backpack, but Florida seems to be a patch free zone. I think we visited every souvenir, tourist and surf shop we could find and not a patch in sight. I guess people like fancy trinkets these days – like magnets.

One our second day in Miami we were ready for the seaside. For a more relaxing beach stop we drove south to the state park, Bill Baggs Cape in Key Biscayne.

Just like the more popular main beaches, Bill Baggs has the white sand and clear waters plus an old lighthouse - and a lot less people.



After our last skin-crisping outing to the beach we rented one of the giant blue umbrellas for $10 and saved ourselves further redness.

Sandier than when we left, back at the hotel Nick had a new adventure planned.

Nick is a massive fan of the TV series Dexter (if you haven’t seen it it’s about a serial killer who helps the Police catch serial killers) which is set in, you guessed it, Miami.

Being a little bit of a Dexter-nerd, Nick Googled locations for the show and while it’s mainly filmed in LA it turned out Dexter Morgan’s “house” was just around the corner from us.

A short walk from our room Nick quickly spotted the famous apartments. However something told us we were not alone.

The entrance to the building was plastered with “Residents Only” signs and “No Trespassing” warnings. The area in front of the actually Dexter room is open and in view of all the other apartments so it’s difficult to pop in for a sneaky picture.



While I was waiting for an overly excited Nick I saw a home-made sign on the residents’ notice board which, to paraphrase, said if you see any Dexter fans here taking photos or videos call this number and the police will be here in two minutes - a slightly over the top reaction if you ask me for visitors simply stopping by for a quick fan photo.

For our last night we drove back out to South Beach and walked out to pier. Even though it was after 5pm it was still hot and sweaty.



We paid a quick visit to the city’s large, sombre Holocaust Memorial funded by Miami’s large Jewish population.



After a healthy meal at Pasha we wanted to sample that famous local delicacy Key Lime Pie, but could we find any? Nope. We settled on Reese’s Pieces and Jujy Fruits instead.

Tampa, Florida

You may be wondering why this blog entry doesn’t have a snappy little title to go along with it, well, I guess I couldn’t think of anything particularly exiting to say about sleepy little Tampa.

Tampa is a nice city full of everything you need, but nothing that particularly stands out from a tourist’s point of view. A nice place to live but you wouldn’t want to visit – well, for too long at least.

Our first stop was actually in the next city across, St Petersburg, home to the world’s largest private collection of Salvador Dali paintings.

The collection was impressive chronicling right from his early to late career.

Aside from all the well-known Dali paintings and sculptures, one piece I loved was from the late 70s/early 80s was a small 3D hologram of Alice Cooper singing into a skull topped microphone.

After spending the morning up to our ears in art we went back to Tampa for some more culture – the old Ybor town centre (rhymes with eeoorr) built with a strong Cuban influence. It would be a great place for dinner and drinks, but on this sticky hot afternoon we just needed a place to cool down.

We took our lovely airconditioned rental car into the main Tampa downtown area and came across this stunning building.



Originally built as a hotel, it is now connected to the University as a museum.

Resuming normal transmissons - hopefully.

Hey reader people...

You may have noticed an absence of posts over the last few days thanks to a lack of decent internet access - well, that's all about to to change.

Please enjoy the backlog of posts from Florida.

Kara

Florida: Take me down to the Panama City (beach)

What comes to mind when you think of summer? White sandy beaches, crystal blue waters and too much sun? Well, that’s just what we got up to when we pulled into Florida.

Our first stop in the Panhandle state was Panama City Beach home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world (well, according to them anyway).

The main stretch of beach goes on for miles and is lined with hotels, hotels and more hotels, plus the occasional beach side shop.

I’m not sure why, but here the usually bright blue waters were full of snowflake like pieces of green algae/seaweed. But this didn’t put off the thousands of swimmers and sunbathers dotted along the water’s edge.

With only one full day in PCB we headed to St Andrew’s National Park where unspoilt beaches and walking tracks are a nice alternative to the high-rise covered main beach.

It cost us $8 for all day access to the park and once inside there are numerous beaches and wharves where you can set up for the day.

We settled on a small, enclosed patch of sand just left of a jam packed family zone.



Nick had bought snorkelling goggles from Wal-Mart the day before so headed off to try them out and soon discovered the little bay was full of schools of fish.

We really should have figured this out earlier as large seabirds hung around waiting for an easy meal. Out of nowhere the birds would fly straight up into the sky before dropping and diving below the surface for a feed of fish.

Nick made a quick run to one of the near by surf shops and came back with snorkels and goggles for all – and this is how I began my first snorkelling experience.

I was surprised how easy it was to get used to breathing through a small tube with your face in the sea. It was great simply being able to put my face under the water and see (contact lenses make this difficult most of the time) let alone having hundreds and thousands of mini fish swimming around you.

Floating through the more shallow areas mini-stingrays weaved through the sandy seafloor and brightly striped yellow and white fish came close to look at us. I wish I’d had an underwater camera.

After a full day in the water and sun, despite multiple sunscreen top-ups we’d still managed to get burnt – ouch.