Sunken Gardens, St. Petersburg, Florida

Today it was time for Doug to head to Kansas City to see his new niece, Ava.

On the way home, Marlon and his mom, Angie, visited Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Sunken Gardens was founded in 1903 on six acres purchased by George Turner.

Flamingos and other exotic birds are featured in addition to the plants of the gardens.

You can find a lily pond complete with lily pads and fish.

Palm Plaza contains many different species of palm trees.

The golden shrimp plant will bloom year-round under the right conditions.

Koi, also known as Japanese Carp, make a nice lifelong pet as they have an average lifespan of 70 years.

Did you know there are over 20,000 known varieties of orchids? Here's one.

Brugmansia are more commonly known, thankfully, as Angel's Trumpets. While pretty, they are quite toxic, and possibly deadly, if consumed by human or animal.

The pink flowered plant here is a crown of thorns plant also known as the Siamese lucky plant.

Here is an unknown plant.

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To be continued...

International Market World, Auburndale, Florida

Today was our first visit to International Market World, a flea market held Saturday and Sunday, in Auburndale, Florida.

If you don't see what you want, just keep looking.

Alligator shows and circus acts can be viewed every day.

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To be continued...

Madison, Florida Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park

Driving to our last overnight stop in Madison, Florida, we stopped for lunch.

Our night was spent at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park, but Yogi and Boo-Boo were no where to be found.

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To be continued...

New Orleans, Louisiana Day 2

Our only full day in New Orleans was very wet.

Walking around the French Quarter, we happened upon the visiting film crew of the CBS Daytime Drama The Young & The Restless. They were in town for some on-location shooting scheduled to air around Thanksgiving Day.

The Presbytere, one of the Louisiana State Museums, houses the new interactive multimedia exhibit "Living With Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond" which opened on October 26, 2010.

Unfortunately, our full day in New Orleans was Election Day and all the Louisiana State Museums were closed today.

The first New Orleans streetcar line dates all the way back to 1835!
This is Natchez IX, a sternwheel steamboat which has been running harbor and dinner cruises since it was built in 1975. It temporarily relocated to Baton Rouge following Hurricane Katrina.

One of New Orlean's newest attractions is the Southern Food & Beverage Museum located at the Riverwalk Marketplace.

Little white lunch buckets full of red beans and rice were common at the workplace in New Orleans in the mid-1900's.

Prices at the turn of the 19th century were quite a bit less than those at the turn of the 21st century. Who says we don't have inflation?

Southbend has been making commercial cooking equipment for over 100 years. Here is a range from around the time the company was founded.

Here is a modern range from the company. Complete with its own PC!

Here is a range from Munchkinland.

While at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, you can learn how to distill your own rum and gin, just like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Marlon has decided bartending may be a good profession for him.

Eddie Gabriel was known as "The Rhythm Man" by tapping taped thimbles on the metal tray he carried. He died during Katrina at 95 years of age.

In 2009, Rick and Monica Defenbaugh donated these file cabinets full of literally thousands of recipes they had collected over the years.

Yeah, the drawers really are filled with recipe cards! The couple discovered recipes on the internet in 2002 and now print their recipes instead of writing them on index cards.

How about a little something from the Katrina Deli?

Yummy!

Shop here for all your Mardi Gras needs.

This would be a great place to relax on a nice dry day.

The rain of the day provided us with the opportunity to catch this nighttime picture which we thought was pretty neat.

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To be continued...

New Orleans, Louisiana & French Quarter RV Resort

Our final major destination before reaching Florida was New Orleans, Louisiana.

On the way, someone lost their load of big, rusted metal pipes.

Our entire trip from West Yellowstone has been dry, but it looks like we may be heading into some storm clouds.

The skyline of Downtown New Orleans includes the Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints.

The French Quarter RV Resort features rv sites with red brick pavers and plenty of room.

The office is designed to remind visitors that they are very near the French Quarter.

Amenities at the French Quarter RV Resort are among the nicest we have seen.

The best amenity is its close proximity to all the festivities of Bourbon Street.

On a stroll down Bourbon Street, we spotted some horse-mounted police.

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To be continued...