When we planned this road trip all we had was a starting point, a finishing point and a date which we had to get there by. Everything in between we decided to make up as we go. So we picked up our car in Miami on the 5th January and had 7 weeks to get ourselves to Seattle. Easy. First stop on the itinerary was Cape Canaveral. We took the afternoon to drive north to Cocoa Beach where we would stay for 2 nights.That night Caleb had one of the best cheesesteaks he'd had so far that we went back the 2nd night for him to have it again :-)
The next morning we we drove out to the Kennedy Space Centre. This place is massive unsurprisingly. We spent the whole day here at the home of the NASA launch site. They have 4D cinemas, halls of fame, games & gadgets and so much more for a very fun day out. We saw some amazing historical artifacts and some incredible stories about the Gemini rockets which first took man to space. We saw the Apollo rockets that took man to the moon. It was really interesting to listen to how the Apollo reusable shuttle program came about, leading into the current generation rockets being designed and built for return to the moon, mars and beyond.
I got to stand right next to Space Shuttle Atlantis after watching a beautiful tribute video of how she was welcomed home to the KSS when she retired. It was so moving you could hear a pin drop in the crowd. In the main hall that sits under Altantis we lined up for the shuttle launch experience. Ever wanted to know what it was like during take off? Well this simulator sure gave us a bloody good insight. Set up like you're in the shuttle, you have the control room speaking to you from monitors, you have data screens showing all kinds of things and then you get the famous countdown before you are shaken silly during the next 8.5 mins it takes to reach orbit. Such a great experience I highly recommend!
Last but not least we took a ride out towards to the launching pad and past the massive building that built and houses the shuttles. Words can not describe the sheer size of this building so you just have to see it to believe it. As our day came to an end we walked through the hall of fame and the special area that was designated to the lives lost on Shuttles Columbia and Challenger. The work, knowledge and effort that went into these projects boggles the mind. The place is a great tribute to all of that. We would love to come back for the next rocket launch which hasn't been confirmed yet to complete our KSS experience.
We arrived late afternoon and as we drove down Canal St we knew this place was going to be fun. We were lucky to have a friend of ours meet us in NOLA to show us around. He and his partner had come out to Australia for our wedding and were a fantastic pianist/photographer duo we could ever ask for. Being a Louisiana native, he knew his way around the city and took us to all the hot spots we could in the time we had. First stop was a hot lunch spot where we tried Alligator bites, Crawfish beignets & voodoo Oysters. Oh my god it was all delicious. We walked it off by heading over to the French Quarter and stopped by the House of Blues for a drink and a chat with the local bartenders. We stopped in at a Pepper Palace where you literally have to sign a waiver to try their hottest of hot sauce aptly named The END. Very glad we skipped that one but we tried a few different sauces ranged between 6-9 on the hot scale and that was more than enough for me.
We walked through the markets, saw the famous Cafe du Monde and strolled past street performers ranging from jazz players to colonial times reenactments. It was all very busy and lots of fun. We ventured out for dinner and I tried Jambalaya and Gumbo for the first time. So good! We left the best till last and finally made our way to Bourbon Street. Our friend Hunter made sure we didn't miss anything so before we knew it we were walking down the street with a Hand Grenade frozen drink. We made our way to Pat O'Briens and had a ball at the dueling piano bar. Here they serve their famous Hurricanes so of course we had one each and that was the end of my cocktail run for the day. We left the packed bar and made our way down the famous street. There were street performers, food carts, people up on the balconies above and huge crowds on the road. NOLA definitely lived up to the hype. With a solid hangover the next morning we checked out of the hotel and made our way Opelousas, Louisiana where we would stay for the next couple of nights.We arrived mid afternoon at Hunter's mums house where we had a home for the first time in about 6 months. The lovely Jayne offered us her home for our stay and it was very welcomed. After a little rest and some netflix, the first week of our road trip came to an end as we headed to Breaux Bridge to watch our friend Hunter play a local gig and do what he does best in a bar as American as we'd hoped.
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Travel tip - Give yourself a full day to go to the Kennedy Space Station. Admission to the cinema, launch experience and launch pad tour is all included in your entry ticket.
Travel tip - Be adventurous and try all the different foods available in NOLA. You won't be disappointed and at least you can say you tried!
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