My Road trip Dallas, Texas to Orlando, Florida
*All work including photos and writing on this page is my own, except the link to the three videos, freely available on Youtube.
This was a road trip we hadn't planned to take at all until the day we did it! We were flying from Portland Oregon to Orlando on standby tickets. The plane went via Dallas and then we got stuck in Dallas. After staying overnight in Dallas and not getting on the first flight the following day either to Orlando we decided to drive. Alamo held our car hire reservation for 24 hours in Orlando, so we were going to lose that. We asked Alamo in Dallas if we could pick the car up there instead. After paying a reasonable fee we picked up the car there in Dallas instead and off we went.
I have mentioned before on the West Coast how liberal those states are. These Southern States on this road trip are very Conservative States. As I am writing a factual blog I will include that information. I am not saying one is better than the other, as we are all different and like different ways of life, but this is a fact that many guide books don't mention, that could be of interest to some people.
Myself and my husband took it in turns to drive and we drove through Louisiana, Mississppi, Alabama and finally into Florida. The scenery was mainly marshy coastal roads along the Gulf of Mexico when we got into Louisiana and on from there. We did notice the large, well maintained Texas roads suddenly deteriorate once we crossed state lines into Louisiana though.
In Louisiana we stopped for a break and coffee just on the Outskirts of New Orleans. This was a nice area and I would recommend stopping in New Orleans. I wish we could have stayed overnight here.
Louisiana is famous for it's Cajun and Creole cuisine, depending largely on what race that person is from, although nowadays one would hope people of all races would cook and eat both styles of cooking. The state is named after King Louis XIV of France. This state maintains a strong French heritage. The music of Louisiana is Jazz Music and the Mardi Gras is hugely important here, attracting visitors from all over the world.
A lot of the roads here along the coast seem to be like board walks over marshland, presumably to protect them from flooding. It gives you a good view of local wildlife.
Next we entered the state of Mississippi, famous for the river, music, particularly blues music and cotton,
We stopped for lunch at a Cici's Pizza buffet ( A favourite place of my kids, even though they are now adults.) It was a Sunday and the restaurant was full of families from the local church in their Sunday best. It seems it was a predominantly black area and we enjoyed that, looking at all the families dressed up so beautifully and having a great family lunch. They were very friendly and didn't mind sharing their restaurant with these foreigners, even though we weren't dressed as well as them. It was an honour to experience that fly on the wall look into these peoples lives, as I said they were all very nice.
Next we headed into Alabama and I drove right through the heart of Mobile, Alabama, which looked like a nice city. We didn't stop there though as my husband was asleep.
Alabama houses the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama, which was Martin Luther King Jr's church and Rosa Parks Museum. It is where the civil rights movement began. It is also famous for peanuts, lots of snails, as well as having a very good College Football team and they love BBQ food.
We stopped briefly in the evening here for fuel and drinks/snacks close to the border with Florida.
Alabama houses the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama, which was Martin Luther King Jr's church and Rosa Parks Museum. It is where the civil rights movement began. It is also famous for peanuts, lots of snails, as well as having a very good College Football team and they love BBQ food.
We stopped briefly in the evening here for fuel and drinks/snacks close to the border with Florida.
We finally arrived in Florida near Pensacola on the panhandle, where we were so exhausted we stopped at a service station for a nap. I would have liked to stop the night here too along this coast. We then continued south to Orlando.
For more on Florida see my blog on that.
Finally we arrived in Orando
Above Chick Fil A on arriving into Orlando and below Universal Orlando, then Disney Springs below that.
Be warned, do not attempt a road trip in Florida in May due to it being love bug season and swarms of these insects cover your vision on every horizon whilst driving. You need to stop regularly to clean your windscreen.