These will go like hot cakes, don’t hesitate – get yours now!

A couple years ago I did a calendar of some of my favorite images of Peru. I got to thinking, since I took over 17,000 images on our six month RV trip south – I should do the same this year! So here is the official launch of Road Trip 2011 calendar. It includes 13 fabulous images from our 26,000 km (over 16,000 miles for my American friends) in full color glossy pages in 8.5×11.
The calendars will retail for $20 plus GST, shipping is extra if needed – I just charge you what it costs me. Shipping will be added to your total if you order online here. If you pick up your calendar I’ll give you a cash refund for the shipping cost.

CALENDARS MAKE GREAT GIFTS – ORDER A FEW!

Calendars are great gifts, staff or co-workers and those hard to buy for people. The best part is even those tough to buy for guys on your list will like it because there’s cars in it! I went with a theme this year of Road Trip as that’s exactly what our journey was – one big one at that! So the images are things along the Roadside, or things that were once on the road. We even hit Route 66 a couple times so look for some cool diners and gas stations.
Here are the images that appear in the Road Trip 2011 calendar. It’s a slide show, so just click the picture to start it. Of course they are much more impressive in print but this is a good teaser.

Click to play slide show

Odell Station on Route 66

This photograph of the Odell Station on Route 66 in Illinois is one of Rob’s (my husband) favorite images. He says he has a lot of good energy around it. We were running out of light and I wanted to make it to this town to photograph this station. We got there and it was all but dark and no lights on the building. So we started photographing with our car headlights on it for any light at all. We tried using a flashlight on it and as we started running around lighting bits of the station up – the motion sensors came on and we had an “aha!” moment. So we used the lights to our advantage – each one set off in a different exposure, some of them at long at 8 minutes. Then I worked some magic in Photoshop to combine about 9 different shots into the final image you see here. Is that cool or what?

I just remember having to go to the bathroom the entire time and when you’re doing the Pee Dance 8 minutes for each exposure is a loooooong time!  What you don’t see in the image is Rob running around setting off the motion sensors and then hiding behind the posts or around back of the station while the exposure finishes. Trust me, he’s in the picture a lot, but he’s always hiding out of sight.
I asked him why he likes it so much and he told me that after a great day exploring Route 66 with me, we got to this spot as the sun was just setting. It was quiet and peaceful with virtually no other cars around to interrupt us. The stars had come out, the sky was clear and the air was so very fresh. His helping me set up the shot and running around the building setting off the light sensors just allowed him to fully appreciate the place and be fully present during the making of the shot. He says he was in pure joy for a good hour.
Back to the Road Trip 2011 Calendar.

To order your Road Trip 2011 calendar please click on the Add to Cart button below to make your payment by Paypal. If you’re in Edmonton I’ll be keeping a list and you can come pick your calendar from me directly once I get them. If you require shipping and billing to the US, please use the button below for US Orders.

Canadian orders here!

USA orders here! Quantity/price One calendar $20.00 Two for $40.00 Three $60.00

For orders of more than three calendars please email me with a quantity as I’ll have to get a quote on shipping. Then if you want to proceed I’ll send you a custom invoice including the freight.

Related posts:

1. Road Trip 2011 Calendar
2. Dawg House Diner in Dwight on Route 66
3. About Rob and Darlene
4. Day 6 – Two Days in Pahrump Nevada

Well, this is a bit overdue but better late than never right?

As some of you may already know, we’ve actually been home in Edmonton for over a month now.  Life has been a bit hectic to say the least but I wanted to do a quick update post to let you know what’s happening and when you can expect to see the rest of the trip.

Over 160 Days and 17,632 Miles On The Road

In Front of White House

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms

Victor in Front of Stephen King's House

Niagara Falls Lady of the Mist

Where Route 66 Begins in Chicago

Al Capone's Grave Outside Chicago

103rd Floor of Chicago Sears Tower

Joliet Prison (Blues Brothers Opening Scene)

Family and Friends in Calgary

So we got back June 1st after spending 5.5 months on the road and traveling over 17,000 miles (approx. 27,300 km) in the RV and car combined.  It was quite a journey to say the least.  Once we got home we actually slept in the RV in our driveway for 4 more nights until we could get the house set up to live in again, and really the RV actually felt more like home at that point than our empty house.  The cats, given the choice with the doors opened, chose to go hang out back in the RV on the bed mostly.   We actually had to make them come in the house and not go hide in the basement somewhere.   So when we tell people we (cat’s included) really felt at home in the RV, we really do mean it!

The first couple days back we set about cleaning the carpets in our bedroom, bringing up furniture from its storage area downstairs, and setting up the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom again into a somewhat usable state.    After about a week it finally felt real and we were in the house full time again.

Our Trip Up the East Coast

To give you a quick update on the rest of the trip since our last post, here’s a summary.   After leaving New Orleans we spent a week in Orlando (well Kissimmee), a week in Savannah, Georgia, and headed up the east coast stopping in North Carolina, Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York City, Cape Cod Maine, into the Canadian maritimes, and finally west to Quebec for my photography convention.  

While in Virginia, Rob did a road trip out to see Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. He’s the farmer from Michael Pollan’s book “The Omnivores Dilemma” and from the movies Food Inc and Fresh. The farmer we buy our eggs and chickens from here in Edmonton is a student of Joel’s and uses the same farming practices. Rob had Polyface Farms on his “Must see” list before we even left. When he got to the farm, they were building a new store and Joel was there cutting his own trees to create lumber for it. Rob was able to shake his hand and share with him how important the work was that he was doing.

In Bangor Maine, we parked the RV in front of Stephen King’s house and took a photo. Our car, towed behind us, was blocking the entrance to his house. Someone leaving the house honked at us as they maneuvered their car around ours. Whoops.

After convention we spent a few days in Montreal and then headed back into the US to avoid the ridiculously high gas prices in QC and ON.   We had been paying about $2.65 per gallon in the States and in QC it was $1.35 a liter which works out to about $5.40 a gallon, yikes! You can see our entire trip log map for a good overview of our adventure.

Our Drive Home From Quebec

We also both wanted to see upstate NY and I wanted to visit the birthplace of Kodak, Eastman Kodak house in Rochester, NY.  

Rob had never been to Niagra Falls, so while parked in Rochester, we drove our toad to the US side first where we took the Lady of the Mist boat ride. Then crossed the US/Canada border to see the falls from the Canadian side. After a few hours there, we drove up to the wine region where we visited 5 wineries before having supper in St Catherines (sushi).

We were lucky to make it back across the border to our RV when the border crossing guard simply could not figure out how we were driving back to our RV which was already in the US. He could not fathom how we drove 2 vehicles around the country and Rob had to explain gently that we towed our car behind us. It was a very unusual exchange of words and we had to be careful about how we described our situation.

From there we started our final journey west and eventually north, stopping in Chicago where we went up the Sears tower to the 103rd floor, saw the start marker of Route 66, had Chicago style deep dish pizza and toured the art gallery. Rob took a day to himself to visit some Blues Brothers filming locations, and Al Capone stuff including his grave site.

After Chicago, we made our way through Millwaukee and North Dakota where we actually saw nothing (there’s a story there but you’ll have to wait for it) and Unity Saskatchewan and Calgary, AB – both of the last stops to visit some of our older family members Rob’s uncles (in their late 80s) and my Grammy also late 80s.

Most of the stops along this journey were short 3-4 days with the exception of Florida and Savannah which were a week each.   So we did a lot of moving, and a lot of touring and seeing new places.  It got really grueling and tiring after a while and I think eventually we were both glad to be in one place for an extended time.    We both even enjoyed the fact we have more than one room we can each go escape to, or friends to go visit for coffee or lunch and have some time apart for a while after having been together basically 24/7 the whole trip.   A little separation was nice as we settled back into our life here.

[Rob's note: Imagine getting married and then living in a small little box for 6 months guys.]

So, you can expect to see posts sporadically quite honestly.   My sister has had a new baby and I’ve got art shows to get ready for this summer, and as well we are attempting to do a house renovation and finish our unfinished basement into a rental suite.  Yes we are nuts!   So we haven’t forgotten about our readers and fans and will get it all caught up eventually, just be patient with us please!

[Rob's Note: we're also preparing for our next adventure, living in Peru for 2 months with a hike up to Macchu Pichu and then a month in Ecuador where we will visit the Galpagos Islands too]

Stats

Miles Traveled: 17,632
Oil Changes: Three. One in Texas, one in New Brunswick and one for the car in North Carolina.
Miles Per Gallon: lowest was 6.25 and best was 7.75 miles per gallon.
Best Fuel Price: $2.39 a gallon in Texas
Worst Fuel Price: ~$4.60 a gallon in New Brunswick
Fuel Anomaly: Paid $3.99 a gallon in Death Valley in the car, but only got $10 worth so we could get out of the valley.
Total Fuel Cost: Approx $4,000 in fuel.
Most States in a Day: 5, from New Jersey to Cape Cod
Border Crossings: Crossed the Canada/US border 6 times and the US/Mexico border once. Twice for Rob.
Interesting Facts: Crossed two of the worlds longest bridges, across Lake Ponchatrain in Louisiana and the Confederation Bridge in PEI Canada.

Photo Credits and Note: All the pictures on this page except for the last one were taken either on Rob’s Blackberry Bold, or our pocket camera.

More Stats and interesting facts to follow in a post on it’s own

Related posts:

1. Places Visited
2. Home at Destiny RV
3. About Rob and Darlene
4. Day 48 – Tombstone to Van Horn Texas

Day 93 in New Orleans, we got a late start on this day and hopped on the 3:45 pm shuttle bus to the French Quarter. Once there we found the St. Charles streetcar and headed right to the Garden District. I’m not sure what Rob was expecting it to be like but he said later it wasn’t what he thought. I think he was imagining a big park or something like Central Park in NYC.

The Garden District of New Orleans is a neighborhood located a short distance from the French Quarter. The area was first developed between 1832 to 1900 by wealthy plantation and business owners of the day, who did not want to live in the Quarter with the Creoles. It may be one of the best preserved collections of historic southern mansions in the United States. Originally there were only one or two houses per block, each surrounded by a large garden, thus giving the area its name.

In the late 1800′s many of the lots were subdivided which has produced a pattern of each block having a couple large southern style mansions, and being surrounded by Victorian style houses on the rest of the block. So this area is now known for architecture more so than gardens.

Victorian home - garden district

Here are several of my many photographs of New Orleans Garden District. You can still see evidence of beads and decorations from Mardis Gras on many of the streets and houses.

Chickens in the city, New Orleans

Rob was thrilled to see people keeping chickens in the city.  He wants to get some.  They had a little coop to go in and everything.  He says he’ll write more about the chickens separately, but for now – here they are!

This was in one of the gardens, I snuck a photo in between the fence bars

Looks like a great place to sip a Mint Julep

There was a photography crew just leaving this house as we walked by and we learned it is being featured in a magazine for the restorations this owner has done on the home. I keep running into photography shoots everywhere.

"Colonel Short's Villa" or the "Banks House" in the historic Garden District

Doesn't this house just scream "Gone with the Wind" to you?

"Colonel Short's Villa" or the "Banks House" in the historic Garden District

Interesting - things to tie your horse to!

Face of New Orleans Saints on a tree - Who Dat!

Garden district streetcar

New Orleans streetcar - Canal Street

After a day taking photographs of the Garden District all day, we were looking forward to spending St Patrick’s day in New Orleans. Our evening plans were to be in the heart of the French Quarter off Bourbon Street and more than likely finding a parade. Pat O’Brians would be a good place to start Rob figures… with their signature drink, the Hurricane.

Related posts:

1. New Orleans Café du Monde and French Market
2. Day 91 New Orleans Plantations
3. Day 92, New Orleans French Quarter
4. Day 85 – Dolphin Connection dolphin tour

After a morning exploring other parts of the French Quarter, enjoying coffee at Café du Monde and then the French Market, we spent the rest of the day and evening completely immersed in Jackson Square and its history. Street musicians, artists and landmark buildings like the nearly 150 year old St Louis Cathedral and the incredibly cool Pirate’s Alley filled our time, while jazz in Preservation Hall and Pat O’Brien’s Hurricanes filled our senses. New Orleans Jackson Square in the French Quarter; the heart of the Crescent City.

Outside a shop, loved the light and the bottles in the window

And inside the same shop, had to see what it looked like from the other side

Interesting shop we found. They had antiques, junk and a suit of armor. Rob bought a wrought iron Fleurs de Lis.

Evidence of the New Orleans Saints big Superbowl win were everywhere!

"Who Dat?" is the slogan for the Saints, this one is suggesting that they ARE dat!

Pirate’s Alley New Orleans

Rob was pretty insistent that he wanted to try absinthe so we found the original absinthe bar, Pirate’s Alley Cafe and Olde Absinth House, and he ordered one while I watched.  It’s quite a process, I’ll let him tell you about it.   I just liked the old bar and the fact it used to be a jailhouse for pirates back in the old days.  Pirate’s Alley itself is really interesting and on a weekend you’ll find artists around the fence in behind the cathedral.

Pirate's Alley Cafe and Olde Absinthe House

Absinthe

Inside Pirate's Alley Cafe and Absinthe House

I just loved the light and shapes happening here

Jackson Square in New Orleans French Quarter

Finally we stopped to rest in Jackson Square, which is THE place to hang out in the French Quarter.  You’ll usually find street musicians, artists, skateboarders, fortune tellers, magicians, people dancing, buskers and all sorts of interesting things going on at any given time.   The square was originally called Plaza de Armas, and was renamed Jackson Square after the Battle of New Orleans in honor of General Andrew Jackson.  It was also declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.   In the middle of the square is a statue of the general on a horse dating back to 1856.

Statue of General Jackson and the St. Louis Cathedral

Jackson Square Landmark Buildings

Jackson Square has many landmark buildings around it as well, and the history in the area is astounding.  The finalization of the Louisiana Purchase was done nearby in the Cabildo (old city hall) and opposite that building is The Presbytere which was used for both commercial purposes and even housed the Louisiana Supreme Court.   Both buildings were built in the 1790s and are registered National Historic Landmarks.

Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans French Quarter

The St. Louis Cathedral is one of New Orleans’ most notable landmarks, standing tall with it’s triple steeples that look down on Jackson Square and the statue of General Jackson. The landmark building was completed in 1727 and has gone through many disasters, both natural and “man made” in the years since. We noticed that a pope had presided over mass in the St Louis Cathedral recently, but for the life of me, can’t find the details about it. We remember seeing it though.

St Louis Cathedral

Inside St Louis Cathedral

Jackson Square, the Cabildo building

artist in Jackson Square

Jazz band in the square

These guys were really good

This guy gave me the finger and I had it in the frame and I didn't take the photo. I wish I had, it was classic. He looked right at me and flipped me the bird.

Television and Movies Filmed in Jackson Square

During the 18th and early 19th centuries, disobedient slaves were executed in Jackson Square.   More recently it has been featured in many a TV show and movie including:  Angel Heart, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the HBO TV series Tremé (which we managed to walk through a set of, more on that later) and even an episode of Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine.

As we stood on the corner of the square, we overheard a tour guide telling his clients that part of a scene from Interview With a Vampire was filmed inside and the building was used for the fire scene as they burned the French Quarter and left by boat for Paris.

Anyway, after watching a band play in Jackson Square for a while, Rob went to go find somewhere to sit and have a cold drink while I wandered around some more and took photographs.  I also popped into a gallery near the cathedral that featured some great local photography.

There are many different tours available in the French Quarter, one of them being by mule or horse buggy.  While we didn’t do one this time, I did on my last trip to the city and it was well worth it.  Comfort of sitting, a local guide and you can pick which places you can stop and get out at like one of the cemeteries.

Mule buggy tour leader

He told the mule she was naughty because she head butted a lady that was walking by. So he told her she had to kiss him to make up and this is what happened. Too cute!

Street Musicians

You can practically find musicians on almost every street corner in the French Quarter at almost any time of day or night.   If you stop to listen please support them by tossing in a few dollars, this is how they make their living. In fact, Rob suggests everyone have a wad of single dollar bills for just this purpose. Stop, listen, and leave a tip.

Street musicians are everywhere in the Quarter much to everyone's pleasure

Iconic Places You MUST SEE in the French Quarter

The French Quarter is a place of history. There are some things you simply MUST do when you’re here. These are are top “things to do in the French Quarter”

Pat O'Briens, home of the original Hurricane drink

Pat O’Brien’s

When I was in New Orleans in 2005 Pat O’Brien’s was on our Must See list and we were told to have the Pat O’Brien’s world famous Hurricane drink.  Little did I know then in that 8oz drink was 4oz of rum!  Three Hurricanes later and finding the bathroom become an issue (you have to climb a winding spiral staircase to get to the bathroom).  My advice:  drink slowly, make sure you have a DD or someone to watch over your drunk ass after having a few, and be aware of your drink count.  They are very tasty and go down way to fast like Koolaid – don’t say I didn’t warn you.  They also have some other great specialty drinks like the Cyclone and they sell the Hurricane drink mix in powder and liquid form to make at home.  We bought some and had a Hurricane party for friends which was a big hit.   Their piano bar is usually hoppin’ too and one night we witnessed a marriage proposal and engagement of a young couple.

Preservation Hall, home of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - and simply a MUST DO

Preservation Hall

Preservation Hall, home of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band – this is a definite MUST DO!   Blink and you’ll miss it as Preservation Hall is a very unassuming, hole in the wall place and if it wasn’t right next to Pat O’Brien’s it would be almost impossible to find.   No flashing lights.  No billboard.  Just an old sign that notifies you that you’re there.   Oh that, and the line up will give it away any time after 6pm too.   Preservation Hall is all about the music and nothing else.  There’s no food or drinks and not even bathrooms.  It’s a small $12 cover fee to get in and you can stay for one or all three sets if you get in to the 8pm show.   Inside there’s about 6 wooden benches, pillows in the floor and the rest is standing room only.   Get there early to line up, usually by 6pm and if you get in for the 8pm show you can choose how long you stay, then it’s all done by 11pm.   Buy a CD too!   I didn’t the first time and regretted it the whole five years until I was back this time.   The music is old-time jazz at it’s finest – just go!

[Rob's note: I requested they play Happy Birthday for Darlene. We went there on her birthday]

Pirate’s Alley

I’ve already mentioned it once but it’s worth another. Pirate’s Alley is located right beside and behind the cathedral.  Pirate’s alley is a treasure trove of neat little places to discover. On weekends artists often display their work around the fence behind the cathedral. You can pop into the Faulkner Book shop which was the home of Nobel prize winner writer William Faulkner. It’s crammed with books of all kinds literally from floor to ceiling and is almost overflowing. Upstairs is still a private residence and I’d loved to have had a peak up there, but that was not in the cards this day.

Central Grocery

Central Grocery is home of the original Muffuletta, a sandwich of mammoth proportions made out of a whole ciabatta bread. Although we didn’t have one here on this trip, I did partake of the grocery’s sandwich last time. It’s a big sandwich so either bring a big appetite, only get 1/2 or 1/4 or one, or share with friends like I did. It’s full of Italian meats and cheese and a wonderful olive spread that’s to die for! They have a little eating counter at the back – grab a drink and take a load off for a while.

Coop's Place

Coop’s Place

So after cruising around on my own for a while I went and found Rob and we headed to Coop’s Place for a really fast dinner. We wanted to catch the last shuttle back to the RV park and had less than an hour by the time we got to the restaurant and got a table. It’s a dark tiny little place and we picked the dishes that would be delivered to us the quickest so it wasn’t the best opportunity to sample their wares. It is recommended highly by most locals and is another of the little hide-aways that make this city so unique. We vowed to come back and give it a full chance to impress us. What we did have was very good but too rushed to enjoy it. We’ll be back! Besides, we had to eat here – Coop is Rob’s nickname from his days at Peak Potentials.

Café du Monde

As I described in an earlier post about Café du Monde, this is THE place for coffee in New Orleans. Their café au lait and beignet are New Orleans in a cup and a pastry.   Serving the French Quarter for 150 years, everyone and their dog has been into this place. Expect to hear “Don’t line up. There is no line up. Find a seat and sit down.” over and over again as the line up’s begin.   There ARE NO LINE UPS.   Find a seat.   Make a new friend at a table and have a coffee.  Highly recommended.

New Orleans French Quarter Restaurants

If you’re looking for suggestions for New Orleans French Quarter Restaurants, we’d easily recommend Coop’s Place, the Central Grocery and without a doubt, hands down, the place to find clean food in New Orleans is Meals From the Heart, just a little down Decatur street in the French Market.

Another restaurant in the French Quarter is Mother’s. Absolutely fantastic place to eat. It’s just on the outside edge of the French Quarter, over near Harrahs Casino

Returning to the RV park we had a chance to see a free show from a Neil Diamond impersonator.   Apparently he was traveling by RV also and did the show for the park in exchange for their parking fees – very smart!   His 2 year old son came out and did an Elvis impersonation to open the show and Neil himself was very good.  Had to remind myself a couple times it wasn’t actually the real singer.   We didn’t take any photos of it, we just enjoyed the show.

The French Quarter of New Orleans offers the visitor many restaurants, music, art and landmark buildings like the Saint Louis Cathedral. Of the places you must see in New Orleans, make absolute sure you line up and hear a set or two in Preservation Hall. Get a drink from a walk up bar and then get in line. Just do it! Make sure you check out Pirate’s Alley and if you decide to sit in one of the chairs in the photographs above, know that a scene from Treme was filmed there where you sat. Check out the old bookstore next door too. Jackson Square in the French Quarter is the heart of New Orleans. Imagine hundreds of years of musicians, poets, artists, generals and lovers as you stroll the area.

Related posts:

1. New Orleans Café du Monde and French Market
2. New Orleans Garden District
3. Day 91 New Orleans Plantations
4. The Alamo

Day two in “The Big Easy” (one of New Orleans other names) started off by actually getting on the shuttle bus from the RV park this time relatively early in the morning.  I think we got on the 9:30am, first one out.  We headed straight for Café du Monde’s famous coffee stand at 800 Decatur Street.

Sidebar anecdote:  funny thing, on my first trip here I was expecting to hear French spoken quite commonly.  Many of the street have French names and of course there’s the French Quarter. Nope – not even a little bit. In fact, names I’d expect to be pronounced in a more French way were completely murdered, in my opinion. Decatur is one of those. I expected it to sound more like “deck-a-tour” and when I said it that way they looked at me like I had two heads. They said it “dee-katter”. One of the odd things I noticed anyway. So don’t try and use your French here, it’s long gone.

Café au lait and Beignet

Anyway, established some time in 1862 Café du Monde  has been serving café au lait and their famous beignet donuts for 150 years.   Taken right from their site, here is the history of this coffee stand:

The Original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market. The Cafe is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It closes only on Dec 25th and on the day an occasional Hurricane passes too close to New Orleans.

The Original Cafe du Monde is a traditional coffee shop. Its menu consists of dark roasted Coffee and Chicory, Beignets, White and Chocolate Milk, and fresh squeezed Orange Juice. The coffee is served Black or Au Lait. Au Lait means that it is mixed half and half with hot milk. Beignets are square French -style doughnuts, lavishly covered with powdered sugar. In 1988 Iced Coffee was introduced to the cafe. Soft drinks also made their debut that year.

This is the sight you’ll see as you approach the sidewalk café.   What appears to be a long line up gets quickly cleared by an anxious server yelling “No line, no line!  Find a table and sit down!”   So you do and often it’s to share with another couple, which we did, or join a partly empty table.  No space is wasted here and quick turn over is their goal – get you in, get you served, get you out – so they can serve more people I’m guessing and make more tips.

I’m sure I saw the lady in the photo below 5 years ago too, and in the TV show The Treme which we actually stepped into the set of by accident one other day (more on that later).    She’s the one that ushered us in hurriedly.  I learned later that they take the customer’s order, go to the back to get it, and PAY for it themselves.  Then they have to collect from the customer to cover what they paid and hopefully get a tip.  I hope they pay less than we would if we walked up to the window, but it makes sense then why they want you in and out so fast. The more served per hour, the more tips they can make.

Cafe Du Monde Beignets

Here we see people of all ages and backgrounds enjoying their beignets.  I have to admit I did have some, while Rob abstained.  But the Cafe Du Monde chicory coffee is out of this world!   I love the little girl with powdered sugar all over her face.  She was watching me take her photo, but didn’t seem to mind.

In the photos below you can see the staff, busily serving their tables.  After they collected a plate of beignets and poured the coffees, they’d go pay the cashier waiting for them at the end of the line.  I watched for a while and it’s a steady stream of coffee and donuts coming out.  You’ll also notice the staff counting their money, I saw that quite often too.  I’m sure they wanna make sure they are making more than they’re paying for the coffee.

Then of course there’s Cafe Du Monde take out, so here are three tips on taking stuff home with you.

1. order any canned coffee and/or souvenirs from your server when you order your coffee and beignets.
2. do NOT buy the canned coffee from any of the stores down the street or in the French Market.  A can of coffee is $5.45 in the café and you’ll find it as high as $9 a few steps away.   We ended up paying about $8 a can just because we didn’t want to get back in the take out line at the café.
3. go to the Café du Monde gift shop at 813 Decatur Street literally across the street.  They have the same prices as the café and can ship stuff if you need that service.   See photo of the sign below so you know what to look for.

New Orleans French Market

A short stroll north up Decatur street and you get to the French Market.   As the sign below indicates it was here well before the café, and is the oldest city market in America.  It has changed quite a bit since my fist visit in January 2005.  The junk and tent stalls have been replaced with permanent stalls with secure windows and doors and the vendors have gone from dollar store nick nacks to really nice hand made crafts, food items, art, produce and more.  A place locals and tourists alike visit.

This happy guy’s name is Oscar.  He makes resin jewelry that is very colorful, just like him.  I talked to him for a while and listened to his story of Katrina and how his life has been different since that day.  He talked about how hard it was to come back and for him there were no customers, no tourists, so his market had disappeared here.   He told me he lived in another city, I can’t remember where now, and started coming back on weekends once the market reopened and finally moved back home.  But it was a tough go for him and many other locals.

I talked to two other ladies as we ate lunch and they live in East New Orleans and said many things are still not opened like stores, schools, clinics.  They have to travel farther now to find those things.  All of the people I talked to were super nice and seemed eager to talk about their experience to someone that was really listening.    I feel for the people of New Orleans who, in many ways, have been treated like second class citizens in their country.   I bought a couple books on the disaster, one on a group that rescued stranded pets after they had been left behind by their owners.  The sad thing was the city told the people to leave them behind, that they’d only be gone a day or two at most.  2-3 weeks later many of those pets were still tied up to leashes, left in homes with 8′ of water, or left to wander the streets to find food.  Some were found still treading water as they were tied to something and couldn’t get away.   I don’t want to get on a rant, but this was a disaster of mammoth proportions that was utterly and completely preventable and it’s shameful how the government on all levels (municipal, state and federal) responded.  (stepping off my soap box now).

Anyhow, continuing on  - we had what was probably our best meal in New Orleans at a place in the French Market that I’d found out about on the internet (what a great resource hey?!).

Meals From The Heart

Meals from the Heart advertises low sodium, low fat and no transfat – fabulous!  In a city full of rich, heavy foods this was a great find!   We totally loved the food and have recommended it to others already, and they loved it too.  If you are looking for a nice light, clean meal – this is the place to go.  They also do catering and bulk orders – take home a couple dozen crab cakes today!

Rob's grilled salmon, brown rice and veggies

I had the crab cakes with lemon remoulade sauce, and fresh organic greens - yummy!

Chef Averill Lazard who created our fabulous meals at Meals from the Heart

Related posts:

1. Day 92, New Orleans French Quarter
2. High Desert Market and Cafe Bisbee
3. New Orleans Garden District
4. Day 91 New Orleans Plantations

St. Joseph Plantation

Inside St. Joseph Plantation's foyer which is on the second floor

We were the only ones on the tour and we which we led by an older lady (not a family member though).  She carefully recited her speech on the stories of the house, but if we interrupted to ask a question she got a bit flustered and had to start that room all over again as she’d memorized it, or so we figured.

Bedroom at St. Joseph Plantation

The tour and grounds were okay and mildly interesting but the plantation itself was still being restored and wasn’t in all the great a shape.  They didn’t have a lot of furniture, it was pretty simple.  Not what I would have though of when you say “plantation”.

We did learn that the kitchens in those days were outside the main house in a separate building.  That was mostly because the stoves were wood burning and fires were very common, so to keep the house safer the kitchens were separated.

St. Joseph plantation kitchen

Stove - St. Joseph plantation

Kitchen St. Joseph plantation

I took a few photos of the outside, the grounds, and the slave cabin.  Every plantation seems to advertise their slave cabins as “the most authentic” or “in the original locations”, etc, in the area.  More on this later but I wondered how different they could be at this point.  They all looked pretty much the same – a plain wooden two room shack, that housed entire families of up to 5-7 people.   It’s bizarre to see how much disparity there was between the plantation homes and how the owners lived and how the slaves were forced to live.   I often wondered how people that owned plantations now, felt about their sordid pasts – more on this later too.

Slave cabin St. Joseph plantation

Slave cabin St. Joseph plantation

Slave cabin St. Joseph plantation

Laura Plantation

Our next scheduled stop was Laura Plantation.  It proudly advertised that it was named “Best History Tour in the United States” by Lonely Planet Travel and was awarded the title of “Top Travel Attraction” by the Louisiana Office of Tourism.  I was starting to think they make up awards just to sound good and draw a crowd.  This one however, was way more impressive than the first one.

We paid another $30 to join a tour with about 20 other people, being busy was a good sign we thought.  We were quite impressed with the information, the stories and the actual house at Laura Plantation (so named after the last actual lady to run it).

Kettles like this were used to boil the sugar cane

Laura Plantation main house

They use figures on boards to represent the characters in its history going back 3 generations.  Inside the house were many photographs of Laura, her parents, her grandmother and the rest of the family.  This was a Creole plantation and as such was colorfully painted, compared to those of their European neighbors which were typically white with large Greek style columns.  We learned that Creole families did not wish to show their wealth at their plantation homes because their business partners and buyers would think they were making too much money and that their prices were too high.  They chose instead to furnish them simply and have second homes in New Orleans in the French Quarter or Garden District which were much more opulent.

Figure depicting Laura's grandmother, the first women to run the plantation

The tour covered three generations of this family, starting with the grandmother (who we learned ruled with an iron fist), Laura’s mother and finally an unwilling Laura (who didn’t want any part of the plantation and had actually left but inherited it and got stuck running it).  The homes along the river were built with living quarters on the second floor and pantries and dining room on the ground floor.   (this was due to the river flooding it banks often enough to become an issue, until the put in the levee years later).  This family also had a heavily fortified wine cellar as the grandmothers husband had come from Italy where his family were wine makers.  The family then brought the first wine to this region and sold it from their cellar (notice the bottles in the photo above with the female figure).

Slave cabin Laura Plantation

Slave cabin Laura Plantation

During this tour I started up a conversation with an African American man.  I was curious what he thought of the history of the plantations regarding slavery.   His first answer when we stared was something like “I’m curious myself, that’s why I’m here”.   Then once we got to the slave cabins, I asked him again and he had a very different answer.  He felt very odd there and that if it had been him forced to endure what they did he couldn’t have done it.   I pointed out that if his ancestors had felt the same he wouldn’t be here today.  It definitely makes one think about life and how can one human being treat another the way those people were treated?   But the sad reality was that it wasn’t just one person doing it – it was many.  Another sad thing is that racial discrimination and hate still abound in the world today and we’re no closer to eradicating it.  I urge you to visit places like this – stand in a slave cabin and look up at the big house and wonder – could you have done it?   What will you to do today to help stop hatred?

Slave cabin Laura Plantation

Cat - Laura Plantation

He was so impressed with the stories of Laura that Rob bought the book created from the papers and memoirs she left behind.  We rushed out after the tour as it was almost 6pm and we wanted to make that shuttle bus in less than an hour (remember it took us an hour to get here?).   We hit some traffic (I have to interject and say that Louisiana roads are absolutely some of the worst we drove on in the whole country) and got back to the RV park just to see the shuttle pass us on the driveway as we were heading in, and it was already heading out.  Damn!  Time for plan B.

Mothers Restaurant in New Orleans

We now had to drive ourselves in to the Quarter so one of us was now going to have to be the DD.  We got the Quarter (only a 10-12 minute drive) and parked at Harrah’s casino.   I knew where is was on the edge of the quarter and I knew there was parking – so we just did that and started walking.  We had no plan other than I wanted to go eat at “Mothers of new Orleans” (advertised “best baked ham” and last time I was there they had absolutely THE best sweet potato pie!) and wander the area and Bourbon street a bit for our first night.   We waited in line outside Mother’s, then again inside until our order was taken at the front and we were allowed to get a table (you can’t go take one until you’ve ordered).   I remembered the sandwiches being better, but the pie was still great!

Of the many New Orleans French Quarter restaurants, Mothers ranks up at the top for both authentic Louisiana cooking, as well as an old local favorite. Make sure you check it out.

Inside Mother's restaurant

The rest of the evening we did just wander.  It was Rob’s first taste of New Orleans so I wanted to give him a broad feel and we’d come back and do the things we wanted specifically another day.  We did see the famous tossing of beads by men (and women I might add) from  balconies on Bourbon Street as they yelled to young women below “show us your tits”, to which many of the women did oblige.   I must admit that on my first visit to Crescent City (New Orleans) I myself did indeed participate in the aforementioned behavior and received my fair share of beads.  I was however much more intoxicated on Hurricanes from Pat O’Briens and this time around I wasn’t feeling it.    If I recall correctly I even drove home that night.

Window shopping New Orleans style

You can find music in pretty much every bar on Bourbon street

Police patrol on horseback in the Quarter and I've seen the horses go right inside even

One of the MANY drinking establishments on Bourbon Street - we learned later that locals have secret spots where drinks are 3 for one.

A new look for Rob? We were shopping for St. Paddy's day hats

One of many diners in the Quarter dating back over 100 years

Bar we stopped to watch a band, had a one drink per set minimum. At something like $8 a drink they may as well just charge admission! We only stayed for one set even though the music was good.

Anyway, after touring two New Orleans plantations, eating at Mothers and walking through Bourbon Street, our first day was done. We headed back to our RV Park and prepared to do it all again the next day.  Our plan is to spent a total of six days in New Orleans, two of which we’ll catch up on some work, a blog post, etc – yeah that probably wont happen!

Related posts:

1. New Orleans Garden District
2. Day 92, New Orleans French Quarter
3. New Orleans Café du Monde and French Market

I was searching the internet for dolphin tours in the Portland area, and somehow I came across The Dolphin Connection.   A husband and wife team, Irv and Sonya Strong, that have been taking people out to MEET the dolphins for something like 16 years.  They know many of them by sight and have named them – and the dolphins know their boat and their sounds too.  They are located in Ingleside on the Bay, TX – basically around the corner of the bay from our RV park.

Their blog says they have their business up for sale and this might be the last year for them doing this, so I booked us in. We were supposed to go on the Monday but it was way too windy and in the little boat they use, we’d have been tossed around the waves in an undesirable manner.  So we waited a day and headed out Tuesday.

Sonya met as at the dock and right away we were loaded up on the boat and off we went.  No formalities, no waivers to sign, no payments first – just hop in and off we went.  I opted for a life jacket (with my paranoia of water) while Rob opted for none.  It was just us two and them – perfect.

Dolphin Connection - Sonya and Irv

See Dolphins or It’s Free

They talked about the dolphins and that their usual schedule has been a bit “off” lately, so we were sure if we’d see any today or not.  They guarantee an encounter with them or you don’t have to pay – hence why no prepayment was done before we boarded the boat – sweet.  Personally I’d rather pay and see them, then go out and see nothing for free.

Irv took us around the bay, looking in the spots where the dolphins usually hang out at this time of day.  They have patterns and tend to hang out in groups he said, but their pattern wasn’t following the usual routine in the last couple weeks so they were having a hard time predicting where and when to find them.  It’s a big ocean – lots of water to cover in a small boat.

We eventually did find one guy, but he wouldn’t come close enough for Sonya to touch him, he was playing coy with us.  But Irv did show us a cool trick where he speeds up the boat and the dolphin basically body surfs inside the wake.  We watched him do it for a while.  Not sure if it’s playing to them, they’re very playful animals, or an easy effortless way for him to get from point A to point B.   It’s like a kid putting on roller skates and bumper riding, same concept.

Riding the wake of the boat

We did see a couple more but nothing close enough for us to touch.  They just were not in the mood today and we didn’t find the big group Irv was looking for.  We still had a great trip though and as was indicated we were not required to pay, but voluntary donations towards gas were welcomed.  We left them some money anyway.

Also saw lots of pelicans, of course

Saw quite a few really large cargo ships too.

We said our goodbyes and thanked them for the ride and I took a few photos on the beach before we headed out.  I’m really hoping they hang in there for another year so we can go back in 2011 and give it another go with them.   Yup, that’s my intention – they will be there and we’ll go again and see the whole herd/tribe/gang – whatever it is you call a group of dolphins.

Texas sunset

Fish bones on the beach, left by the fisherman that cleaned and filleted them here

I thought it was pretty, even with the fish carcass

If you’re in the Corpus Christi or Portland Texas area, I highly recommend doing this dolphin tour.  It’s only $25 per person and you get a small personalized tour with people who know and love the dolphins.

Related posts:

1. Whooping Crane Birding Tour in Rockport
2. San Antonio Riverwalk
3. Day 55 San Antonio
4. Spanish Mission of Goliad

I had planned our entire Texas stay in Portland to make sure we stayed long enough to go to the Fulton Oysterfest, about 30 minutes north east of Sea Breeze RV park.  I had no idea what the Oysterfest was all about, but I love raw oysters so I wanted to find out for myself.

Fulton Oysterfest Parade

We dragged our butts out of bed late as usual and headed out to get there for around 11am or so.  I had read on the official festival site that there was a parade and free parking at the old Walmart lot, which we just happened to stumble upon a few days ago.  So we parked there and got in line with the 200 or so other folks waiting for the free shuttle bus.  It came and took about 12 people, and round trip is 15-20 minutes, so we figured we were gonna be in line a while.

When we finally got to the festival site the parade was still going down the street, so I rushed to catch up to it.  I do love a good parade – Rob is indifferent to them. As it was coming up to St. Patrick’s Day soon there was lots of green, and locally made floats and school marching bands, and some uniquely Texan things.

Notice it says "adult day care" - what it means is it's a bar! LOL

Love the headline on this one

Only in Texas! Guy in a pick up playing a guitar in a parade

And then we entered the festival grounds!

Let the eating commence!   And so we did.  Rob started with the BBQ turkey leg – I think I got one bite.  Then we each had a dozen raw oysters, then another dozen later.   Rob thought we were going to have like 4-5 dozen each.  They were fairly cheap at $8 a dozen – and really tasty – but that’s still a bit costly, so we stopped at 2 dozen each.

Rob’s comment: As far as I’m concerned, any “fest” requires large amounts of the “fest” item to be consumed. If it’s a beer fest, one consumes large quantities of beer. If it’s an Oysterfest, the same should be true. That’s my opinion anyway.

First round

We even got filmed by a local TV station and ended up on their blog eating our oysters

This is how the shucking is done

They had a whole row of guys shucking non-stop and still couldn't keep up to the demand

The entertainment was pretty much non-stop too

Eating Oysters On Texas TV

We even got on local TV (of sorts). The Corpus Christi Caller Times, a local paper, had a camera crew out to the fest. She came by while we were eating and video’d us. She must have liked us because she came back 5 minutes later saying that her “white balance” was off and wanted to video us again. Later that night Rob checked the Caller Times website and found the video of us eating oysters.

After satisfying our oyster needs and listening to some country music, we went to browse the other tent with crafts, art and stuff for sale.  I actually found cowboy boots on sale for $10, so I had to buy a pair.  There was a photographer with some great bird shots from the area, and some great art.

Me trying on boots. Not my best look

Thought about getting this for my brother-in-law but not for $350 - sorry Troy

A typical Texas style outfit, mini-skirt and boots

Oysterfest Oyster Eating Contest

Next we saw a crowd gathering around the stage as the men’s oyster eating contest began.  We couldn’t really see that well but Rob got a few photos over the tops of everyone’s heads.  I’m not quite tall enough to do that without a ladder.  There were about a dozen guys in the contest and it lasted about 5 minutes.

Oyster eating contest - mens

Notice the plastic beer jugs with grey stuff in them? That's the oysters - they're basically drinking them

After the time limit was up, they had to sit and wait another 5 minutes to make sure they kept them all down.  Any that come up don’t count, or maybe that guys gets disqualified – not sure.  So after the waiting was done they announced the winners.  The top oyster eater swallowed down 200 of them in the allotted time!  WOW!  Impressive.  We didn’t get back the next day to see the women’s contest but I’m curious to know the numbers from that one.  That is a LOT of oysters.

Texas highway patrol - cool looking hey?

Bikes and boats by the marina

We bought this for the RV

shrimp boats

More shrimp boats

I thought this was a cool shot - this is all I got of him

Lots of birds overhead so I tried to get some good shots of them flying.  This one above I thought came out kinda funky with only half a bird.   The one below is one of a bunch of them we saw playing sort of leap frog.   They all sat on their own post, all in a row.  Then when a new bird came in for a landing, he’d almost land on the bird who was last in the row, who in turn would get up and fly up one to land on the next bird and so on until the one at the front got bumped off and had to go find a new spot.  We watched them do it again and again – our video camera batteries were dead so didn’t get video.  Animals do the funniest things – I’ve said it before but will say it again – if you have animals you don’t need TV!

This is one of the leap frog seagulls

Me with leap frog gulls in the background

Fulton Mansion

So we decided we’d had enough and headed back via shuttle to get our car.  On the way out of Fulton we took a detour to drive by Fulton Mansion.   It was closed already so we put it on our list to come back and tour next year.  The Fulton Mansion was built in 1874 it had features that were highly innovative for that time period including:  gas lighting, central heating and indoor plumbing with hot and cold running water.  Rob was interested in their water saving and recovery system – we’ll be going back for a closer look when we have more time.

Fulton Mansion

Great porch

All in all we had a great time at the Fulton Oysterfest and plan to do it again next year when we return to Texas.

Related posts:

1. Days 49-51 – Drama upon arriving in San Antonio, Texas
2. Day 48 – Tombstone to Van Horn Texas
3. Whooping Crane Birding Tour in Rockport
4. Day 62 Corvettes and the Beach

We wanted a chance to park the RV on the beach and do some beach camping on Padre Island, but since we didn’t take the RV south to Brownsville (and South Padre Island) we decided to drive it over to Port Aransas. Our mission was two fold, to get a photo of our RV on the beach, and to let Rob’s cat experience the ocean. We actually have a magazine article that we wrote being published in Good Sam “Highways” and they may use an image from this shoot so we wanted it to be spectacular.

Taking the RV to Port Aransas by Ferry

Getting to Port Aransas and Padre Island by RV requires taking a ferry or driving all the way through Corpus Christi and around from the south west. Taking Victor (what we’ve named our Winnebago Vectra RV) over on the little ferry was interesting.  It only holds about 20 cars and they put us in the middle of two lanes at the front in order to stay balanced.  Funny.

Parking the RV on the Beach

We got to Padre Island and found a solid packed spot on the sand for us to park our RV on the beach. With memories of the other RVer getting stuck in the mud back in San Antonio, we didn’t want to risk it.  Rob felt it was important that the cats got to experience the beach and the ocean.  He took Pumpkin out near the water in the sand and I brought Boo out a few minutes later.  They were none too happy about it and I wish I had video of Pumpkin backing up increasingly faster and faster as the water came towards her. (Rob here, um, we DO have video of that Dar)  Then she almost left with a nice lady that stopped to pet her.

Cats On The Beach

Rob placed Boo in the ocean in about 1/2″ of water.  She just sat there, motionless as the water came up to about 2″ and Rob had to go rescue her.  And NO it’s not animal cruelty or cat torture – they are THE biggest chick cats ever and so far their RVing experience has helped them to be more daring and relaxed when things change.  Now they will actually venture outside on their own, and not run and hide under the couch at even the sight of another person.  So they have grown and this was indeed another experience for them.  After the cats on the beach adventure, we got down to the business of getting the photos we came for.

HDR of 3-4 images combined, then us added

HDR of 3-4 images combined, then us added

The RV on the beach shots accomplished, we tried to find a spot near a marina to get some boats in the photo with the RV.  It was hard to find the right angle, decent lighting and access with a 34′ vehicle.  Not to mention by parking it in front of the boats – guess what – I can’t even see the boats, so it kinda defeats the purpose.

RV at the Marina

Rob texting while I shoot - or he's playing a game on MY iPhone

Around the corner from there we found some pelicans flying around and Rob even saw a dolphin out in front of a big freighter that was coming in.  We love pelicans – find them fascinating birds.  They’re so large but graceful and how they can fly just inches off the water is amazing.

Brown pelican possibly with dinner?

brown pelican

Look at the huge wing span of these guys!

I could watch them all day

With the sun setting we headed for Virginia’s (the place with the piles of oyster shells out back that I didn’t get to eat last time cause we found it too late) for dinner.  Rob parked in the biggest lot we could find nearby and put a note in the window so people would know we were not planning on camping overnight there.  Rob found an online RV Journal that discusses RV unfriendly towns and made note of a few of them. Apparently some towns are not RV friendly at all and in Flagstaff, AZ they may ask you to leave even if you just stop and park to eat dinner.   So now I understand why he left the note.

Beach Camping

While the idea was originally to do some beach camping on Padre Island and then go to Mexico for the day (which we did do), we weren’t actually able to pull that one off this time around. We’d both love the opportunity for beach camping, to let go of the tethers, unhook from the sewage line and do what they call dry camping. To back away from the computer, put out the awning and read instead of type so much would be a wonderful experience. Because of our schedule and events as they unfolded, beach camping was simply not going to occur.

Parking the RV on the beach on Padre Island was not only a safe experience, it was great for the cats as well. Dinner was good with a great view of the sunset over the water.  A great day in paradise.

Related posts:

1. Cats On the Beach
2. Day 62 Corvettes and the Beach
3. Classic Corvettes On The Beach
4. Pump and Boo’s Big Motorhome Adventure

We stayed at Sea Breeze for just over 5 weeks – and we will be back next year!   Summarizing our review of Seabreeze RV Park in Portland, we would say that this is a great place to stay. We loved the location, the people, the activities and the area.  You’ve already seen the owners and their classic Corvettes on the beach and the RV Olympics, so I’m not going go give too many details as I got an article on the place coming on the Good Sam magazine as well.  So I’ll just show some photos of the park to give you an idea of what it was like.

The sign says "Welcome Home" and they mean it.

On a scale of 1-10 we give Sea Breeze full marks – TEN!

Our stall H48

"The Place" clubhouse where events take place

games room - patio

Dora starting off the pot luck for St. Patty's day dinner

Dancers for St. Patty's dinner

I got in on the act and picked up the spoons to play

There are an incredible number and type of birds that hang out in and around the park.  Here are a few of them, most of these taken only steps from our door. If you’re into birding in Texas, this is the place to stay.

Blue heron in the creek at the park

Large egret - the littler Snowy Egrets also hang out nearby

Cardinal - I chased this guy around to get a photo of him. He has the neatest song too,

Egret

Ducks of course

Snowy egret

Brown pelicans

6 toed cat (6 on each front paw) - 12 pack as they called him that lives at Sea Breeze

Not a bad view hey?

The lights are from the city, Corpus Christi across the bay

And that marks the end of Texas for this year - cheers!

What We Liked About Seabreeze RV Park

• Location – end of a road, next to Nueces Bay opposite Corpus Christi with NO SECURITY because there’s NO NEED for security. 5 minute drive to Shamrock Fitness center, 5 minutes to a movie theater, close to banks and shopping and a short 15 minutes to Corpus.
• Birding – Texas is filled with birds and Seabreeze RV Park is no exception. As you see in the pictures above, many different types of birds live in the park and an area between the beach and the RV’s is designed for birds. I tried to convince Otto to put in a par 3 golf course hole here, but he declined. Otto said “That’s the birding area”.
• Fishing – although we didn’t fish, our neighbors did. You can walk right out off the beach into the water and cast your line, or drive a short distance and launch your boat. Our neighbor had a boat he used almost daily
• Laundry facility had accompanying television area. Can watch TV if you like, while waiting for laundry.
• 3 places to watch TV. The office (TV, and Pool table), laundry room, and “The Place” with a HUGE flatscreen.
• Pool and hot tub
• Covered games area offering Foosball, darts (and the pool table at the office)
• Large washrooms with showers in 2 different places for a total of 4 showers plus an additional 2 washrooms at the office.
• Daily “Happy Hour” at “The Place” where the guys meet to shoot the shit for an hour in the afternoon. Beverages optional.
• Morning coffee and “shoot the shit” at The Place, which was always very active.
• Every other week potluck suppers
• Immediately brought into the social aspect of the park, welcomed with open arms. That was a first for us.
• While the owners Otto and Dora don’t actually run the park, they are VERY active in the events. It’s their second home, so we saw them a lot.
• We liked that the full timers had their own section of the park. If they went to work early, they didn’t wake other campers.
• Vehicle vacuum and tire pump on site.
• The ONLY downside of the park is the location of the trash bin. There’s one trash bin located outside the park entrance that fills quickly. One must save trash locally and then take it with you leave, or make a special trip. With it being the only downside, we quickly adapted.
• Oh, and the price. It’s so perfect. Was the most affordable park we stayed at in our entire RV history.

Seabreeze RV Park in Portland is far and away the best place we’ve stayed at in our short time on the road. We think that it’s important to be able to call a place home and feel safe there. At Seabreeze, we were welcomed with open arms, included in events immediately and could not have felt safer or had a better view. I hope that our review of seabreeze offers you some insight into making the choice to stay here.

Related posts:

1. Whooping Crane Birding Tour in Rockport
2. Days 65-68 Sea Breeze Olympics
3. Days 56 to 61 – Sea Breeze RV and Goliad
4. Home at Destiny RV