British Invasion Continued....

On Wednesday, it was time to head back to Florida. We did our traditional stop at Leisure Tyme in Pensacola, got our minor maintenance done and saw a bit of Pensacola. Jean and I earned big points for a morning at the National Naval Aviation Museum. With 150 restored aircraft and over 4,000 artifacts representing Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Aviation, it was quite a challenge to stay interested while the boys wandered through this huge museum.

On Thursday, we left Pensacola, late- and didn’t get into Rock Crusher Canyon in Crystal River, Florida until dark. It was our first time parking the coach in pitch blackness. Without hand signals, I was at a loss as to how to direct John to back in the coach into our tiny site. I’m sure we woke up a few neighbors with our less than quiet directions.

After the excitement of Mardi Gras and the Cajuns, Crystal River was a wonderful break from all the action. Jean and Gordon got to experience our winter life in Florida- lunch at Margarita’s with HUGE margaritas and great fresh fish, Sunday afternoon in Homosassa at the biker bar.

And with a few days to recoup, we convinced Gordon to make his famous curry. (Jean and I did the laundry – and came back with an extra pair of men’s undies. We passed them back and forth- thinking they belonged to John or Gordon – then realized that we had picked up someone else’s briefs.

While we were shopping, the guys decided to get creative. This is what we were greeted with when we arrived back home!)

On Monday, we left Crystal River, heading towards Sanibel Island. We stopped for lunch in Tarpon Springs and wandered through the harbor-side tourist area, picking up tacky tourist trinkets and having a great Greek lunch at Mykonos.
After two weeks of living together in our 350 square foot motorhome, we thought we’d arrived in heaven when we got to Sanibel. Lani and Rich, John’s oldest and dearest friend, recently moved from their ocean front home in Half Moon Baby, California to a gorgeous home in Sanibel. They also have a condo right on the water that they use for guests and for rental. They offered us this three bedroom bit of heaven and we moved right in. Within minutes, the Brits were off walking the waterfront, checking out the pelicans and, of course, Jean got her bit of sunshine.

We joined Rich for a tour of Sanibel and Captiva Islands. We saw the effects of Hurricane Charley (2004). Captiva had only recently reopened – three years after the storm. We had lunch at the Mucky Duck and then met at Rich and Lani’s house for wine and cheese and a gorgeous sunset on the beach. Then it was back to their house for a wonderful Lani dinner. Oh, and we got to meet Burly, their new golden retriever “puppy”, for the first time.

The following day, we explored Sanibel and took the tour of the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge This 7,000 acre mangrove estuary is home to over 200 species of birds, alligators, raccoons…. The 5 miles drive through the park was gorgeous.

After lunch at the Hungry Heron (the biggest menu in the world!), we made a stop at the Sanibel supermarket to pick up fixin’s for our dinner - Shrimp fettucine a la Gordon.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back- to the Orlando airport for Jean and Gordon and back to Rock Crusher for us.

The British Invasion!!

The Brits are back! Jean and Gordon arrived in Orlando and they had enough time to get settled in the motorhome with us, down a few margaritas and we were off for our Mardi Gras Adventure. On Thursday, we got into Mobile and managed to find the Baptist Church Parking lot where Charlie and his group of American Coach friends were parked for the Mobile Mardi Gras. Leave it to Charlie to find a spot directly on the parade route. We were the “SOB’s” of the group (“Some other brand”) –the only non-American Coach in the party. But, we were welcomed nonetheless and invited to a feast in the parking lot before the parade.

This was Jean and Gordon’s first Mardi Gras experience and we were doing it all. Mobile actually claims to be the first city in America to celebrate Mardi Gras and has a full 2 ½ weeks of parades and festivities. We managed to collect a huge trash bag full of beads, stuffed animals and moon pies (those southern treats of chocolate covered marshmallow graham crackers).

The next day we were off, slowly making our way through the tight downtown streets of Mobile and on to Rayne, Louisiana for the Cruisin Cajun Mardi Gras Rally.

On Friday, the Brits finally met the Cajuns and it was a match made in heaven. The accents (on either side) didn’t seem to inhibit the conversations and before long, we had both Jean and Gordon out on the dance floor. Since Jean was turning 60 this summer, we decided to do a little pre-birthday party for her at the Friday night dance. She was the center of attention at the Cajun Birthday tradition – first, the birthday girl is seated on a chair in the center of the dance floor while all the men dance around her singing Happy Birthday. Then, she has to dance with each and every one of them.

On Saturday, the Cajuns have their own Mardi Gras Parade, complete with floats and beads. We took our trash bag of treasures from Mobile and donated to the cause. That night, we were all decked out for the Mardi Gras ball. Even the guys wore their “Mardi Gras” ties.

With their first rally under their belts, we headed to John and Brenda’s to experience life on the bayou. The parties continued. On Monday, John and Brenda gathered the group to explore the area. We saw the cemetery where Brenda’s parents are buried, then stopped at Lake Verrett to get a little local color. The little bar by the boat launch was filled with characters. Brenda introduced us to “Blob” (everyone in Cajun country has nicknames). He entertained us with stories, had us howling with his story about bringing an alligator into the bar and sitting down with his new “friend” to have a few drinks.

After seeing Mobile’s version of Mardi Gras, we had to experience John and Brenda’s New Orleans version. We headed out early, bedecked in beads, for the French Quarter. After finding a parking spot, we followed Brenda (always in the lead!) for a stroll through the Quarter. An obligatory stop at Pat O’s (Pat O’Briens) courtyard for a early morning drink. The Brits tried their first “Hurricane”, while we opted for Bloody Mary’s. After years of Mardi Gras celebrations, John and Brenda have had their fill of the traditional Mardi Gras parades. So, our next stop was to get our place at the “Bourbon Street Awards”- the gay costume contest – and the best place to be on Fat Tuesday. The costumes were absolutely amazing! We particularly loved the “Mermaids”. On our way back to the car, we met up with one of them and he invited us to their Mardi Gras ball next year! The Mardi Gras experience was something to behold. The costumes (and, in some cases, the lack of costumes – people who simply “painted” their costumes on) were fantastic. But, as the parades ended, the streets started to swell with drunken revelers and it was time for us to head back home.