We left sunny and tropical Orlando, Florida and drove up the Florida panhandle. We spent night one in Tallahassee. We have never been up the panhandle of Florida and the foliage and scenery is very different. From Tallahassee we travelled to Carrabelle Beach. This is a tourist area and is very beautiful. Paul and I are avoiding interstates and taking the “long way” to places. We see more and discover some great places. Of course we have to put our way points in the GPS as she is always taking us the fastest, direct route.   We stopped to use the washroom at the beach and found a history lesson there.   The sand at Carrabelle Beach was soft and so so white! Reminded us of the Exumas, Bahamas (o.k. just a little). Destin, Florida was our next day and did some last minute shopping before we leave Florida. There is a store in Florida I just love, Bealls…. and I knew once we leave Florida then no more of that store. On our walk to Bealls, this is what we saw….   A barbequer’s dream! These are everywhere. Many restaurants here cater on weekends and these are conveniently hitched on the back of a truck and off one goes for a great beebee Q! I know some boys personally that would love this because it comes with a smoker and everything. Destin to New Orleans next day. We love the website www.hotwire.com because we can get deals on hotels. Pick a price and area and book a hotel, then once you’ve paid for it, you get the name of the hotel. We booked the Astor Crown Plaza right downtown for a nice low Canadian price. Beautiful hotel right in the center of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Well, we being a tourist and not too familiar with New Orleans got an eye opener when today Mardi Gras starts! There is good and bad to this. First, the costumes look great, and lots of people around. Second, there are hundreds and hundreds of people around and if we wanted to spend Friday night in New Orleans, we had to pay $429 for the night at the hotel!! Needless to say we decided to leave this morning after a wonderful one night in New Orleans. Everything is decorated, from balconies, to storefronts to the people walking the streets.   This bar is special because it has probably fifty beers on tap. Many bars do offer this but this one advertises it just a little.   The fog from the Mississippi River coming onto shore was a mist. I had to snap a picture … the 2 persons coming up the stairs are not pirates. They are just normal everyday people here in downtown French Quarter of New Orleans. On Friday night after a great dinner we saw people on these balconies. These balconies had so many people on them I was concerned they would collapse. They stand on these balconies and throw beads to the ladies below. The more beads you have around your neck the more popular you are. (Of course, one can just buy your own beads and place around your neck!). During the parades the favourite place to be is in a balcony. Today while driving we saw a sign that said: DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS, THIS IS A PRISON AREA Today we had lunch in Lafayette while watching the Men’s Olympic hockey team win their game against the U.S. We cheered a bit but a couple at the bar cheered very loudly. We assumed they were Canadian and it turned out they were here from Nova Scotia. No one else was watching the game.

Canadian Connection

The Acadia region to which modern Cajuns trace their origin consisted largely of what are now Nova Scotia and the other Maritime provinces, plus parts of eastern Quebec and northern Maine. Since their establishment in Louisiana the Cajuns have developed their own dialect, Cajun French, and developed a vibrant culture including folkways, music, and cuisine. The Acadiana region is heavily associated with them.